Stevens Fires on NMFS Biological Opinion.

• Position: Brief Article

Sen. Ted Stevens said the National Marine Fisheries Service vastly exceeded its authority under the Magnuson-Stevens Act when it signed the biological opinion essentially recommending shutting down Alaska groundfish fisheries.

U.S. Circuit Court Judge Thomas Zilly recently lifted his earlier injunction, which shut down all ground-fishing within 20 miles of shore. The injunction was in response to a lawsuit by environmental groups who blamed fishermen for a decline in...