Seafood Harvesters of America: Letter to Secretary Ryan Zinke
June 20, 2017The Honorable Ryan ZinkeSecretary, U.S. Department of Interior Monument Review MS-15301849 C Street NWWashington D.C. 20240Secretary Zinke,On behalf of the Seafood Harvesters of America, we welcome your leadership of the Department of Interior and look forward to working with you to ensure our nation has a sustainable, stable and safe supply of seafood. As you review the establishment and management of marine monuments under the Antiquities Act, we encourage you to designate fishery management decisions within the marine monuments to the Regional Fishery Management Councils (Councils).The United States has one of the most successful fishery management systems in the world with almost 500 federally managed stocks producing almost 10 billion pounds of seafood valued at over $5 billion annually. Through the accountability standards and conservation mandates in the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), our fisheries have improved dramatically as the commercial fishing industry has become more responsible, transparent and efficient. The federal ecosystem-based management regime ensures conservation and optimal sustainable utilization of resources through a proven robust public, science-based process. This is in stark contrast to the monument designation process that threatens local economies by unnecessarily taking fishermen off the water across vast stretches of traditional fishing grounds and concentrating fishing effort into less productive areas.The MSA allows for identification of Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) and regulatory mechanisms for preventing fishing in areas designated as critical. We believe the transparent MSA management process, which incorporates the best science available and engages all stakeholders is a far better mechanism than the Antiquities Act to identify and protect vital habitat.We greatly appreciate the opportunity to work with you on these and other matters affecting the commercial fishing industry, which provides essential economic benefits for coastal communities and nutritious seafood for Americans across the nation.Sincerely,Chris Brown, PresidentKevin Wheeler, Executive Director