What doe smp version 2 11.18.

N OVEMBER 18, 2014 C HAPTER 9: S TATUTES , R EGULATIONS , AND O THER L AWS P AGE 265 OF 373 3. The Rhode Island General Assembly emphasized in its legislative findings in regards to fish and wildlife that the state’s animal life – including the fishery resources – must be “developed, preserved, and maintained for the beauty and mystery that wild animals bring to our environment.” 12 Additionally, in creating the Coastal Resources Management Council, the General Assembly declared it to be the policy of the state to “preserve, protect, develop, and, where possible, restore the coastal resources.” 13 These provisions call, generally, for protection of the ecological integrity of the resource – preservation of the state’s resources in their natural state – to be balanced against human interests in utilization of the resource. Specifically in regards to fisheries, the needs to protect the ecological integrity as well as the industry must be balanced in management strategies to “prevent overfishing, while achieving, on a continuing basis, the optimum yield from each fishery.” 14 4. Public health protection is the second major concern in shellfish management because shellfish are intimately related to the waters in which they grow and are sometimes consumed raw, thereby increasing consumer health risks if the shellfish have concentrated contaminants from their environments. 15 The major legal framework to protect consumer health is the National Shellfish Sanitation Program’s Model Ordinance “NSSP-MO” or “model ordinance”, which sets requirements for various aspects of shellfish culture, harvest, and processing. 16 5. The US-FDA has adopted the model ordinance as a binding federal regulation. 17 The NSSP-MO provides mandates for the State Shellfish Control Authority “SSCA”, which officially in Rhode Island includes both DEM and DOH, 18 although in practice CRMC also carries out some of the SSCA requirements. All states desiring to sell any of their shellfish in interstate commerce must meet the minimum requirements set by the NSSP-MO, but the states are also free to adopt more stringent regulations. 19 6. Finally, shellfish management must also include considerations of the needs of the shellfishers, including those growing or harvesting commercially, recreationally, and for subsistence. In Rhode Island, the Constitution recognizes the importance of public access to marine resources, 20 mandating consideration of public access for recreational, commercial, and subsistence fishing in any management plan. In crafting its state shellfish management plan, DEM 21 must balance these industry and public access needs with the consumer protection and conservation requirements. 7. Agency Roles a. Prior to 1971, DEM or its predecessor entities had fairly exclusive authority 22 over all management issues in the state’s waters and coasts, but the General Assembly’s response to the 12 R.I. Gen. Laws § 20-1-1a. 13 Id. § 46-23-1a2. 14 Id. § 20-2.1-92ivA. 15 Nat’l Shellfish Sanitation Program Model Ordinance § III, intro. 2011 [hereinafter NSSP-MO]; Barbara Brennessel, Good Tidings: The History and Ecology of Shellfish Farming in the Northeast 113, 115 2008. 16 See NSSP-MO, supra note 16, §III, intro. 17 See id. § I, purpose. 18 Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference, Rhode Island SSCA Contacts, ISSC.O RG last visited May 16, 2014, http:www.issc.orgContactsRhodeIsland.aspx . 19 NSSP-MO, supra note 16, §§ I, purpose; III, introduction quoting Aug. 12, 1925 letter from the Surgeon General. 20 R.I. C ONST . art. I, § 17. 21 As both CRMC and DOH also have regulatory roles in regards to shellfish management and consumption, these agencies have roles to play in crafting the shellfish management plan. However, DEM is the agency statutorily charged with drafting a state shellfish management plan. R.I. G EN . L AWS § 20-2.1-95 2013. 22 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also has authority in the coastal waters of Rhode Island, but that authority has been partially delegated to the state. See, generally, Dept. of the Army Corps of Engineers, Gen. Permit No. NAE-