210. Review of Northeast fishery stock assessments.
[no MSFCMA amendment]
Summary:
This section requires the National Academy of Sciences
to conduct an independent overview of the scientific basis for
Amendments 5 and 7 to the Northeast Multispecies FMP by March 1,
1997.
Legislative history:
The Maine delegation pushed for this
measure at the urging of its groundfish industry, because of
skepticism about NMFS's dire assessments of groundfish stocks.
Part of the Maine groundfish industry sued NOAA (unsuccessfully)
on the grounds that Amendment 7 was not based on the best
scientific information available. Proposals to delay or suspend
implementation of Amendment 7 pending completion of an NAS study
were rejected.
Issues:
The March 1 deadline will not be met. The agreement
between NMFS and the National Research Council calls for NRC
review of the 1997 stock assessments, which will be available in
June 1997.
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