House Approves Overhaul of Rules for Fisheries:
Congress yesterday passed the broadest overhaul of the rules that govern the U.S. fishing industry in a decade, with provisions instructing fishery managers to adhere strictly to scientific advice so as not to deplete the ocean.
The final language of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which passed the Senate on Thursday and the House early yesterday, was a compromise between environmentalists and fishing interests. The measure mandates an end to overfishing of depleted species within 2 1/2 years and allows the selling and trading of shares in a fishery to promote conservation.
[emphasis added]
In other words, the ban on individual fishing quotas (i.e., cap and trade), er, limited access privileges (LAPs), has been lifted. There was a lot of talk about LAPs last week at the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council meeting. Everyone, even the non-economists, seems excited, or, at least not un-excited. It is going to be fun watching the implementation of these programs.
