National Standard 10 – Ongoing Revisions

National Standard 10 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act states that “conservation and management measures shall, to the extent practicable, promote the safety of human life at sea.” The National Standard 10 guidelines, published NOAA Fisheries in 1998, provide guidance for the consideration of safety issues in fisheries management. 

Fisheries management and fishing vessel safety science has changed and improved in recent years. NOAA Fisheries believes it is appropriate and timely to consider revising the National Standard 10 guidelines. On April 21, 2011, NOAA Fisheries published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) to request public comment on potential revisions to the National Standard 10 guidelines. The ANPR identified eight issues related to safety of human life at sea that NOAA Fisheries is considering addressing. The public comment period on the ANPR ended on July 20, 2011. To view the written comments received on the ANPR, please visit www.regulations.gov and enter “NOAA-NMFS-2011-0068” in the keyword search.

NOAA Fisheries is reviewing the public comments received and considering various approaches to address some of the issues raised. Any revisions to the National Standard 10 guidelines will be made through a long-term rulemaking process. The focus of this effort is to enhance consideration of safety issues in fisheries management. 

Related Materials

• Current National Standard 10 guidelines, 1998
• National Standard 10 ANPR, April 2011

Additional Resources

Recent work by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, U.S. Coast Guard, and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council has shown that the fishery management process can explicitly address safety at sea by analyzing safety incidents and understanding the regulatory safety regimes that exist for a particular fishery. Below are a few examples of such analyses.

• The Final Regulatory Impact Review/Final Environmental Assessment/Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis for Amendment 97 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Groundfish in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area (BSAI), Amendment 80 Vessel Replacement (see pages 60-67)
• The Public Review Draft of the Regulatory Impact Review/Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis for a proposed Amendment to the FMP for the Groundfish Fishery of the BSAI. Adjustment of the maximum length overall (MLOA) on BSAI Freezer Longline License Limitation Program (LLP) Licenses (see pages 19-23)
• Review of safety under the crab rationalization program for the BSAI crab fisheries – Appendix B of the Five-Year Review of the Crab Rationalization Management Program for Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crab Fisheries (Lincoln & Woodley, 2010)

For more information about fishing safety, see: 

• U.S. Coast Guard – Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Program
• National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health – Commercial Fishing Safety Information
• National Transportation Safety Board – Public Forum on Fishing Vessel Safety