New legislation will improve U.S. fisheries resilience to changing ocean conditions

New legislation will improve U.S. fisheries resilience to changing ocean conditions

Published 20 June 2024 Web sites and blogs Leave a Comment

The FISH Act will support science and collaboration needed to secure a robust future for U.S. fisheries

WASHINGTON — Today a measure was introduced to help ensure fisheries in the United States are resilient to changing ocean conditions, including the impacts of climate change.

The Fisheries Improvement and Seafood Health (FISH) Act omnibus, which includes the Resilient Fisheries Act, will create a new program within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) dedicated to fisheries and ecological resilience. It will create a durable path for continued implementation of NOAA’s Climate, Ecosystems, and Fisheries Initiative, which aims to provide fishery decision-makers with the information, tools and capacity needed to make sound management decisions that account for changing conditions and threats such as warming oceans, marine heatwaves, ocean acidification and sea level rise.

“The FISH Act will ensure our fisheries are ready for the challenges — and opportunities — of tomorrow,” said Environmental Defense Fund associate vice president for political affairs Joanna Slaney. “Through investments in our fishery data systems, improved stakeholder engagement and effective collaboration, we can better prepare our fisheries to adapt to changing conditions, ensuring resilient fishing communities and healthy oceans for generations to come.”

The FISH Act will play an important role in preparing our nation’s fisheries for the future by:

• advancing ocean and ecosystem understanding and modeling to project future ocean conditions and inform fishery management;
• improving our understanding of how changing ocean conditions will impact fish stocks;
• improving understanding and awareness of how changing fishing and ocean conditions will impact coastal communities, economies and traditional ways of life;
• developing innovative, science-based tools, processes and decision support systems to meet conservation and management standards;
• improving engagement with fishermen and fishing communities as well as state, local, tribal and community leaders on future ocean conditions and the impacts of the changing marine environment on fisheries;
• creating and providing tools, training and support to U.S. Regional Fishery Management Councils for management of and adaptation to changing oceans and fisheries; and
• coordinating across NOAA and other relevant agencies to streamline efforts to model changing ocean ecosystems and increase fishery resilience.

Environmental Defense Fund, 18 June 2024. Article.

Related