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Magnuson-Stevens advances, but not without a fight
Story Date: 12/15/2017
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Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 12/14/17
The House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday advanced out of committee revisions to the Magnuson-Stevens Act (H.R. 200 (115)) governing marine fishing and management in federal waters. The law is intended to prevent overfishing, but several conservation groups and Democrats are critical of the way it was written. Only three out of 12 amendments to the bill passed, and the bill moved out of committee on a party-line vote, your host reports.
What lawmakers said: Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who voted against it, called it a plan to "deregulate our oceans and fish everywhere until there's nothing left." He added: "Like most of the bills advanced by the leadership of this committee, this bill is extreme and has no future in the Senate." Many environmental groups also issued strongly worded statements condemning the bill.
GOP leaders, for their part, took issue with the idea that it was being rushed. "The idea we are jamming this through without ample opportunity is false," said Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), who noted that he had been working on this legislation for the past five years. "I recognize this bill is not perfect yet."
What about fishing criminals? After it was clear it wouldn't pass, Grijalva pulled back his amendment to address repeat offenders in the fisheries industry - such as Carlos "the Codfather" Rafael who last month started serving a federal prison sentence for violating federal fishing regulations. Although Young did not support this specific amendment, he and other committee members said they would work with Grijalva to revisit the issue.
Meanwhile, at the WTO: The final day of talks in Buenos Aires resulted in little progress made in reducing countries' subsidies for fisheries. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom called the talks' collapse as "horrendous," and USTR backed her up. "We share Commissioner Malmström's frustration over subsidized illegal fishing, which is an existential threat to the planet," USTR wrote on Twitter. "We hope to keep working with the EU & other interested members to tackle the divisions that have stymied progress on this issue and many others at the WTO."
Still, WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo remained more hopeful, describing the subject as "an example of an area which has matured,"
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