Pacific Marine Conservation Council (PMCC) advocates for ecosystem-based management that fosters sustainable fishing communities. The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy was clear in stating, “ U.S. ocean and coastal resources should be managed to reflect the relationships among all ecosystem components, including humans and non-human species and the environments in which they live.” We agree.
As PMCC considers important and controversial issues, we think in terms of benefiting the marine environment and the people and livelihoods connected to the sea. In this spirit, we offer the following position statement regarding limited entry systems for fisheries.
- All West Coast fisheries should be limited entry at both the state and federal permitting levels.
- All new fisheries should fall under emerging fisheries regulations that limit the number of vessels participating in the initial, experimental, data gathering stage of a fishery.
