MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2018 Regular Session

To: Rules

By: Representatives Bounds, Anderson, Baria, Barnett, Barton, Bennett, Busby, Crawford, DeLano, Eure, Haney, Ladner, Patterson, Read, Williams-Barnes, Willis, Zuber

House Concurrent Resolution 82

(As Adopted by House)

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION TO ENCOURAGE REVISIONS TO THE MAGNUSON-STEVENS ACT THAT WILL PROVIDE BETTER USE OF AND ACCESS TO THE NATION'S FISHERIES.

     WHEREAS, the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) has been an effective tool for managing commercial fisheries, ending overfishing for many species of fish, rebuilding fisheries that have undergone overfishing for certain species of fish in both the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, such as black sea bass, red porgy, king and Spanish mackerel, gag and red groupers, and it has further provided for the protection of long-lived and slow-growing deep-water corals; and

     WHEREAS, commercial and recreational fishing are fundamentally different activities that require different management strategies, and the act has been ineffective at allowing fishermen recreational access to certain fisheries once those fisheries have been rebuilt so that the fishermen are able to fish for certain species of fish in certain areas, such as, red snapper in both the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic, cobia in the South Atlantic and triggerfish in the Gulf of Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, the reauthorization of the act in 2007 created numerous challenges for the management of marine fisheries resources in the southeastern United States; and the inflexible requirements of the act to rigorously manage fisheries under strict annual catch limits have hindered the management of  recreational fisheries in the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, and this inflexibility has fostered a serious erosion of public confidence, trust and support for the fishery management system; and

     WHEREAS, it is the policy of this Legislature that revisions to the act are necessary to provide better use of and access to certain trust resources, with these revisions being:  to provide flexibility to rebuilding plans; to provide alternative management strategies; to increase public involvement and transparency when scientific data are developed; to facilitate greater incorporation of data, analysis, stock assessments and surveys from state agencies and nongovernmental sources; and to repeal Section 407 of the act and give the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council the authority to use alternative fishery management measures for recreational fisheries:

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN, That the Mississippi Legislature supports the adoption and implementation of the proposed revisions to the

Magnuson-Stevens Act found in the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act and the Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act of 2017.

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to the members of the Mississippi Congressional Delegation and to the members of the Capitol Press Corps.