Ranking Member Huffman Statement on NOAA’s Proposed Regulatory Loopholes

Washington, D.C. – Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) released the following statement after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced four proposed Exempted Fishing Permits that would allow states to manage an entire fishery sector without adhering to the fundamental sustainability standards for fishery management established under the world's gold standard fishery management law, the Magnuson-Stevens Act:

“Our fisheries should be managed in a science-based, sustainable way that benefits everyone – whether you fish for fun, on charter boats, or are a fisherman who makes their livelihood on the sea.

“Not every state has demonstrated that they are up to the task, but NOAA is willfully sidestepping and manipulating the law to give them blanket authorities. This is a regulatory shortcut that will undermine this fishery when what we need is something that will work for everyone in the long term."

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