Issue Overview

The Committee is focused on bringing state and regional input back into federal marine resource management, decreasing duplicative and burdensome regulations in place by the Obama Administration, and increasing access to fisheries for both commercial and recreational fishing off the coasts. Using sound science and updated biological opinions, our waters provide advantageous opportunities for economic and recreational activity. The lack of transparency in the previous Administration concerning the data behind and the development of major regulations is of particular concern as these regulations could have detrimental effects on the fishery industry as well as recreational opportunities for the public.

On July 19^th, 2010, President Obama signed Executive Order 13547 to adopt the final recommendations of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force to implement a new National Ocean Policy. This unilateral action established a top-down approval process that hinders ocean and inland activities and costs American jobs. The extensive reach of the policy inflicts damage across a spectrum of sectors including agriculture, fishing, construction, manufacturing, mining, oil and natural gas, renewable energy, and marine commerce, among others. 

Key Legislation

H.R. 1335 – Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act

Introduced by Rep. Don Young (R-AK), H.R. 1335 updates federal fisheries management to meet 21^st Century needs. The bill allows for more public involvement in the development of science that is the basis for sound regional fisheries management decisions, and it affords local experts regulatory flexibility to build plans tailored to the needs of their region – replacing the arbitrary one-size-fits-all fisheries management approach under existing law.

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