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Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act

Floor Speech

Date: July 11, 2018
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Animals and Wildlife

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Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 200, the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act. I am a cosponsor of this legislation.

Mr. Chairman, my State of Louisiana has a heavy presence of both commercial and recreational anglers, and they all know that reforms have been needed to our Federal fisheries data collection systems for decades.

In some cases, especially in relation to the red snapper fishery in the Gulf, rebuilding schedules, season lengths, and catch limits have been based off data models from the 1980s. Technology has come a long way since then, with universities and the Gulf States themselves utilizing new methods of data collection that are producing positive results that are at odds with the 1980s numbers that the Federal Government has been using.

This bill will go a long way in promoting a modern science-backed approach to management of our fisheries.

This reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery and Conservation Management Act provides flexibility and stability that will promote economic expansion through enhanced public access and opportunity for recreational fishing in saltwater.

Mr. Chairman, I thank my friend and colleague, Congressman Young, for introducing this bill, and I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support its passage.

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