Peltola drops another fisheries bill

U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, has introduced a bill to "amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to establish the Fisheries and Ecological Resilience Program and to direct the Comptroller General of the United States to submit to Congress a report on the competitiveness of domestic seafood producers in domestic and global seafood trade."

Here's a press release from Peltola's office.

Sounding the alarm

A proposed rewrite of the Magnuson-Stevens Act could unleash "chaos" in the U.S. fishing industry, including fishery shutdowns, rampant litigation, job losses, and higher consumer seafood prices, warns a national coalition of seafood interests.

Read the group's letter to congressional leaders.

Obama administration doesn't like Young's bill

The Obama administration last week issued a statement indicating Alaska Congressman Don Young's rewrite of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act might not pass muster with the president.

If Obama were presented with Young's legislation (H.R. 1335), "his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill," the statement says.

The Magnuson-Stevens Act is the foremost federal law guiding management of the nation's commercial fisheries.

Young says his legislation would reauthorize and "strengthen" the act.

But the administration statement says in part:

H.R. 1335 would interfere with the tremendous success achieved in rebuilding overfished fisheries by setting rebuilding targets that are not based on sound, credible science, and that unnecessarily extend the time to rebuild fisheries. In making these changes, H.R. 1335 introduces a series of ambiguous provisions that could improperly extend rebuilding periods, delaying the significant economic and environmental benefits of rebuilt fisheries to both fishermen and the Nation as a whole.

Young's bill passed the House Natural Resources Committee on April 30.

Washington watch

We have a major congressional hearing Thursday on "North Pacific Perspectives on Magnuson-Stevens Act Reauthorization."

Click here for details, including the witness list.

Hearing to focus on Magnuson-Stevens Act

A congressional committee will hold a hearing Wednesday on reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

Looks like a couple of Alaska industry players are on the list of witnesses, including Joe Plesha, chief legal officer for Trident Seafoods Corp., and Bob Dooley, president of the trawl group United Catcher Boats.