MB Civic

A couple of years ago two blue-ribbon commissions recommended ways to clean up America’s coastal waters and restore its declining fisheries — some of which, like the codfish of New England, were in terrible shape. The White House made positive noises. Useful bills were introduced. And nothing much happened. The multiple and overlapping government agencies that deal with ocean issues have not been reorganized in a way that makes sense. Coastal sprawl continues apace. The Law of the Sea Treaty still awaits ratification.

These failures make it all the more urgent that Congress get right the one recommendation that has survived Washington’s torpor: a much-needed update of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the 1976 law regulating fishery management in waters from 3 to 200 miles offshore.

The Senate has one vision of reform, the House another. The Senate bill, mainly the handiwork of the act’s original author, Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, is much the better of the two. Present law requires the nine regional fishing councils to restore declining fish populations to sustainable levels over 10 years, but does not say how. The updated bill would require firm annual catch limits.

Though the two commissions had asked that scientists be given a much bigger role in establishing these limits, the Stevens bill leaves those decisions largely in the hands of regional councils dominated by fishermen and other commercial interests. But the bill does require that catch limits, once established, be rigorously observed. It also calls for strict accountability. If the levels are exceeded in one year, the excess must be deducted the next year.

The House bill, sponsored by Richard Pombo, a California Republican, would actually give scientists a greater role in determining safe limits. But it immediately nullifies that useful gesture by riddling the law’s basic 10-year schedule for rebuilding depleted stocks with loopholes. The bill would also exempt fishing plans from meaningful public review.

The Stevens bill has already received Senate approval. The Pombo bill is scheduled for a vote on the House floor this week, after which it will be reconciled with the Senate bill. For the good of the oceans, the Stevens bill should prevail.

Two people can make that happen. One is President Bush, whose recent designation of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as a national monument suggests a growing interest in the oceans and their inhabitants. The other is Mr. Stevens himself. Long a champion of fish conservation, the 82-year-old Mr. Stevens is almost surely in his last term. Getting a good bill would be a nice way to go out.