Summary: GAO reviewed the fishery management planning process authorized under the Fishery Conservation and Management Act, which extended U.S. fisheries' jurisdiction and established eight regional fishery management councils which develop plans that provide the basis for and describe the conservation, management, and regulatory measures which govern and control specific fisheries. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) approves and implements these plans.
The regional management councils and NMFS have made considerable progress in developing and implementing fishery management plans. However, Congress has expressed concern about the fishery management plan review and approval process. The process now takes an inordinate amount of time and the councils and NMFS differ over whether specific fisheries need to be managed and the responsibility for developing specific conservation and management measures. Further, council members believe that the Department of Commerce has frequently exceeded its legislative authority in reviewing fishery management plans. GAO stated that Commerce's policies regarding National Environmental Policy Act compliance exceed what is needed to satisfy the act, represent an unwarranted Federal regulatory burden, and delay the fishery management plan approval process. Commerce is working on organizational and administrative changes to make the plan review and approval process more efficient and to improve the working relationships between the regional councils and NMFS. Among the changes under consideration are transferring authority and responsibility from headquarters to field offices and developing framework management plans to help expedite the process. However, opinions continue to differ about the councils' and Commerce's roles in fishery plan development. In addition, Commerce needs to reduce, to the extent possible, unnecessary regulatory requirements that are impeding fishery plan development and implementation.
