NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Fisheries has released its Priorities and Annual Guidance for 2018 document.
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The US Government organisation’s goals are to maximise fishing opportunities while ensuring the sustainability of fisheries and fishing communities; recover and conserve protected species while supporting responsible fishing and resource development; and improve organisational excellence and regulatory efficiency.
To maximise fishing opportunities, NOAA Fisheries plans to expand the stock assessment prioritisation process, emphasise catch accounting, and advance practical electronic monitoring and reporting of US fisheries.
It wants to expand U.S. seafood production and exports, particularly through marine aquaculture, to address the gap between domestic seafood supply and demand.
The focus will be on the needs of the national saltwater recreational fishing community to collaboratively increase stability and predictability in fishing seasons and opportunities.
Plans are also in place to better harmonise federal-state fishing seasons and further federal-state partnerships, including the support of state data-collection programmes.
It also aims to ensure that ensure that its conservation goals are met in a way that maximises revenue, increases fishing opportunities, and reduces burdens on the industry.
To recover and conserve protected species NOAA Fisheries will continue to prioritise the recovery of high-priority species, improving the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) permit, authorisation, and consultation processes while ensuring effective recovery and conservation of protected species, recognising the Administration’s interest in maximising seafood production and facilitating US economic growth.
It will continue to modernise and optimise its protected species data collection and information systems to provide the scientific information needed to make timely management decisions. Its focus on long-term habitat science and conservation for the recovery of protected species will also remain.
To improve organisational excellence and regulatory efficiency NOAA Fisheries will look at lowering regulatory burdens where possible.
It will examine and streamline its business processes, including internal review and approval authorities. High priority will be given to tightening the linkage between its science and management enterprises to improve its focus on real-time management issues.
It will continue to assess and manage programmatic and operational risks, while optimising agency investments toward high-priority, high-performance activities. ■