Proposed Revisions to National Standard Guidelines

NOAA Fisheries has issued a proposed rule to revise the General section of the National Standard guidelines and the guidelines for National Standards 1, 3, and 7 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The National Standard guidelines assist the regional fishery management councils (councils) and NOAA Fisheries in developing fishery management plans.

The objective of these proposed revisions is to improve and streamline the National Standard guidelines, address concerns raised during the implementation of annual catch limits and accountability measures, and provide flexibility within current statutory limits to address fishery management issues. The proposed revisions do not establish new requirements or require the regional fishery management councils to revise their current fishery management plans.

The General section of the National Standard guidelines describes the purpose of the guidelines, the importance of identifying fishery management objectives, and defines terms that are used throughout the National Standard guidelines. The National Standard 1 guidelines provide guidance on preventing overfishing while achieving the optimum yield from each U.S. fishery. The National Standard 3 guidelines provide guidance on managing a stock as a unit throughout its range, and the National Standard 7 guidelines address minimizing costs and avoiding duplication in fisheries management. This proposed rule is primarily focused on revising the National Standard 1 guidelines. However, revisions to the National Standard 3 and 7 guidelines are also proposed to address the important issue of identifying stocks that require conservation and management. The proposed revisions do not establish new requirements or require councils to revise their current fishery management plans. They provide additional clarity and potential flexibility in meeting current Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act mandates.

The proposed revisions include:

Increasing flexibility in setting timelines for rebuilding programs.
Providing flexibility for better managing data-limited stocks.
Clarifying guidance on which stocks require conservation and management.
Enhancing current efforts by the councils to apply ecosystem approaches to management.
Providing for more stable fisheries through guidance on multiyear overfishing determinations, phasing in results of new stock assessments, and the carryover of the unused portion of annual catch limits to subsequent years.
Adding a definition for “depleted stocks” to recognize non-fishing-related impacts to fish stocks.
Recommending the councils re-evaluate the objectives of fishery management plans, to ensure they reflect the changing needs of the fishery, including allocation of fishery resources.

For more information visit www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/laws_policies/national_standards/ns1_revisions.html