Now that the dust has settled from the national elections, many of us in the fisheries world are turning our attention to the new session of Congress and what it means for the issues we care about.
Ocean issues rarely occupy a spot in the national conversation, and this year was no different. And given that the party makeup of both the House and Senate remains largely unchanged, we can expect much of the same posturing and gridlock we have seen in recent years.
Nevertheless, there are a few personnel changes – and the potential reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), the law that governs our nation’s fisheries policy – that will have some consequence on these issues, for better or worse.