The World Health Organisation has called on the US government to ensure its own fishery management system is “as effective and reliable” as its flagship fish conservation initiative.
The World Bank said it would “vigorously” push for “significant changes” to US policies.
The new administration of President-elect Donald Trump has promised to reverse President Barack Obama’s efforts to strengthen the fishery.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service, which is responsible for the nation’s fisheries, is now the subject of an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) after allegations that it mishandled a fishery study in the western US.
The study, published last year, suggested that the US could increase the size of its Atlantic salmon population by 30 per cent and its Atlantic perch population by 80 per cent by 2050.
But the report also said the country should diversify its fishery by adding new species.
The OIG found that the OMS managed its fisheries more efficiently than other nations.
But in its annual report released on Wednesday, the OIG said that while the OFS managed its fisheries “more effectively”, the agency failed to “ensure that its management is as effective and as reliable as it should be”.
It said that in 2018, the agency “failed to make any progress in identifying and addressing issues that could be identified as potentially limiting the effectiveness of the OTS management”.
The OFS said it is “reviewing its approach to the OSS management of its fisheries to ensure that it remains responsive to the needs of the fishers, and meets its obligations under the fisheries act”.
OFS Secretary of Fish and Game Ryan Korten said the agency is working with the OGA and the US Fish & Wildlife Service to improve its fisheries management and ensure that the agency’s management systems are as effective as possible.
“We know from previous experiences, we know that there are some areas where we need to do better, and we’re working to improve the processes, processes, the tools, tools and tools that are used to manage our fisheries,” he told Al Jazeera.
Kortens office is currently reviewing the agency to ensure the agency meets its mandate of protecting the oceans and its “core responsibilities”.
“The agency is a large and complex organization that has multiple, overlapping and interdependent missions, and that means that if we’re doing everything we can to get it to the top of that pyramid, then I think we’ll be successful,” he said.
“It is our responsibility to manage it.
And if we can get it there and make it work well for our people, I think there will be success.”
Kortes office said it will make changes to the agency and “make sure we continue to focus on our core mission of protecting our oceans and the marine resources that they represent”.
“I think we have to look at a lot of things,” he added.
“I don’t want to say it’s an easy task, but I think that we’ve got a very, very difficult job to do.
And that means we’re going to have to do a lot better, to make sure that we’re successful, that we are effective and that we can continue to do that.”