Schumer Announces Long Sought After Oversight Hearing on 'Magnuson-Stevens' Fishing Regulations that are Crippling Long Island Industry; Will Push to Make Sure Long Island Fishing Industry has Seat at the Table for Hearings

Press Release

United States Senator Charles E. Schumer announced today that he has secured a commitment to hold congressional oversight hearings this fall on Magnuson-Stevens fishing regulations that have created excessively strict quotas, despite many healthy and growing fish stocks. Schumer secured the commitment of Fisheries Committee Chairman Mark Begich to conduct the hearing. The oversight hearings will begin the process of reauthorizing the federal fisheries law and allow for consideration of any needed changes to better reflect the realities of existing fish stock and the impacts the regulations have on local fishing industries.

"This hearing will finally give a national voice to the concerns that have been raised by Long Island anglers for years that faulty science and excessively strict quotas are decimating this industry," said Schumer. "It's long overdue for Long Island fishermen to be heard on Capitol Hill."

Schumer is also calling for a witness from the Long Island fishing community to testify at the oversight to give a firsthand account of how the current law impacts New York and how it can be improved during reauthorization. Schumer noted that most fishermen believe in conservation and stewardship of the fishing stocks they make a living from and therefore want to work with federal legislators and regulators on building a framework that can achieve both goals. Schumer will push for the hearing to devote time to discuss important New York issues at the hearing, such as the summer flounder and porgy fisheries and the inaccuracy of the Marine Recreational Fishing Statistical Survey (MRFSS) that federal regulators use to determine recreational catch.

New York fishermen have long complained that many of the nation's fishing stocks have been rebuilt and are healthy, but timelines mandated by the law have severely limited quotas for fishermen, hurting local fishing industries on Long Island and across the country. The fall oversight hearings announced by Schumer will kick off the process for reauthorization of Magnuson-Stevens and will, among other things, focus on mandatory timelines included in the Act for rebuilding fish stocks and the consequences those mandatory timelines have on quotas related to healthy fishing stocks. For many years, fishermen have been asking for more flexibility from the strict rules in Magnuson-Stevens which would allow regulators to pursue a more balanced approach that allows stocks to be rebuilt and considers the economic consequences to fishermen and local communities. Schumer has long argued that a blanket ten-year timeline for each stock does not take into account the different scientific elements and unique behavior of individual fish species and that rebuilding timelines and quotas should be customized by specific species.

"Sen. Schumer has championed efforts in Washington on behalf of our coastal fishermen back in New York, speaking out about the continued use of fatally flawed recreational data collection and a broken federal fisheries law," said Jim Hutchinson, Executive Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance. "The Senator gave impassioned speeches at a pair of national fishermen's rallies in Washington pledging to get New York fishermen a seat at a Senate hearing, and he's gone and fulfilled that promise once again, which really means something special to our coastal fishermen."

"We applaud Senator Schumer for his continued concern for and support of the working fishing families of Long Island," said Bonnie Brady, Executive Director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association. "To a fishing community, a ten-year timeline may mean a foreclosed home, no money for a child's education, a family on the brink, and a broken future. When stocks are clearly in recovery, no one's life should be marginalized or destroyed because of a fervent desire to do it all in ten years and not one second more, when a little more time could be allotted to achieve the ultimate goal, say in 12 or 14 years, and thereby allow everyone to keep the jobs, their lives, and their dignity, even while the stocks rebuild."

Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Management Act, reauthorized by Congress in 2006, when a fishery is identified as overfished, a Regional Fishery Management Council has two years to implement a plan to end overfishing, and, with limited exceptions, to rebuild the stock within 10 years. The ten-year rebuilding requirement has three exceptions that must be based on: the biology of the fish, environmental conditions, or an agreement between the U.S. and other nations. Other than these three situations, all overfished fisheries must achieve rebuilt status within 10 years. The problem is the ten-year deadline is arbitrary, may have no basis in science, and must be met without regard to the impact it will have on recreational and commercial fishermen, related industries, and the communities. For example, Schumer had to successfully fight for a statutory two-year extension of the rebuilding timeline for New York's most important fish, the summer flounder, in the last federal fisheries law reauthorization. Without this extension, New York's summer flounder industry, which affects both recreational and commercial fishermen, could have been severely limited or even shut down. The flexibility provided by this provision allowed regulators to craft a more balanced, longer-term recovery plan for fluke that did not decimate the fluke industry in one fell swoop. Today, the summer flounder stock is rebuilt and healthier than it has been in years, proving that arbitrary ten-year timelines are not needed as a blanket regulation for each species.

"The Long Island fishing industry is the lifeblood of communities throughout the Island so we must do everything possible to make sure federal fishing rules are allowing it to grow and thrive. Unfortunately, the industry is being stifled by regulations which are sorely in need of change," continued Schumer. "These hearings will help to publicly air the numerous problems with Magnuson-Stevens that Long Island fishermen face and lay out options for revamping the law and providing greater flexibility for those who make their living from the sea."

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