U.S. Imposes Catch Limits On All Managed Fisheries For First Time

For the first time ever, the U.S. this year will impose catch limits for all 528 federally managed species, a new policy one official said will become an “international guidepost” for sustainable fisheries practices. After years of political wrangling, a coalition of lawmakers, environmental groups, fishing groups, and scientists were able to insert language into a reauthorized version of the Magnuson-Stevens Act — which governs all U.S. fishing — that will include annual limits on all fish stocks by the time the 2012 fishing year begins for all species. Some species, including mahi-mahi and wahoo, will have catch limits for the first time. “This simple but enormously powerful provision has eluded lawmakers for years and is probably the most important conservation statute ever enacted into America’s fisheries law,” Joshua Reichert, managing director of the Pew Environment Group, told The Washington Post. Because the new limits were achieved in cooperation with regional fisheries councils, advocates predict a greater probability of success.