Fisheries Management

Fisheries management involves regulating when, where, how, and how much people fish to ensure that people will be able to fish in the future. NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (also known as NMFS or NOAA Fisheries Service) is the Federal Government agency responsible for fisheries management in the United States "Exclusive Economic Zone" (EEZ), waters 3 to 200 miles offshore (or 9 to 200 miles offshore in western Florida and Texas).

Federal fisheries management in the United States is driven primarily by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. First drafted in 1976, the Act has been reauthorized several times to meet changing demands on marine resources. The original version of the Act set up a democratic form of fisheries management in which stakeholders of fisheries resources held important roles in their overall management. Early days of the Act were concerned with establishing national authority over the EEZ and reducing the impact of foreign fishing fleets on fish stocks in national waters. Details have changed since the first version of the Act, but the overarching theme remains the same-conserving and managing U.S. fisheries. In fact, in recent revisions to the Act, 10 National Standards have been included to ensure that U.S. fisheries are managed with sustainability in mind. If you buy a fish managed under a Fishery Management Plan (FMP) approved by NMFS you know it meets the following 10 US National Standards for fisheries conservation and management approved by Congress.

National Standards of the Magnuson-Stevens Act
Conservation and management measures shall:
(1) Prevent overfishing while achieving optimum yield.
(2) Be based upon the best scientific information available.
(3) Manage individual stocks as a unit throughout their range, to the extent practicable; interrelated stocks shall be managed as a unit or in close coordination.
(4) Not discriminate between residents of different states; any allocation of privileges must be fair and equitable.
(5) Where practicable, promote efficiency, except that no such measure shall have economic allocation as its sole purpose.
(6) Take into account and allow for variations among and contingencies in fisheries, fishery resources, and catches.
(7) Minimize costs and avoid duplications, where practicable.
(8) Take into account the importance of fishery resources to fishing communities to provide for the sustained participation of, and minimize adverse impacts to, such communities (consistent with conservation requirements).
(9) Minimize bycatch or mortality from bycatch.
(10) Promote safety of human life at sea.

The original Magnuson-Stevens Act created eight regional Fisheries Management Councils, with membership from commercial and recreational fisheries, academics, the conservation community, states, tribes, and other stakeholders. The councils work with NMFS to compile scientific findings about fisheries in their region, along with historic and statistical data and current concerns from their regions, and incorporate them into Fishery Management Plans (FMPs), which set standards and guidelines for each fishery. These FMPs become the framework for managing regional fisheries and fish stocks. Each FMP includes biological details of the fishery, as well as social and economic information, important human considerations that must be taken into consideration for sustainable management. There are currently 50 FMPs for 247 stocks in U.S. waters. These include plans for familiar seafood or recreationally caught species as well as for plants, corals, and protected marine mammals. Through time, an FMP may be updated to account for new data on the fishery, or to respond to changing environmental, demographic, market, or social conditions that impact fisheries. Amendments to FMPs require not only the work of the councils and NOAA, but the participation of all who depend on the resource concerned. This requires that all processes related to fisheries management be open and transparent, allowing for public participation and comment.

Final FMPs include new fishing regulations, or revisions to existing ones, in response to improved knowledge of the fishery, current condition, or other factors. These plans are implemented as part of the work of the Regional NMFS Offices, who coordinate fisheries management activities with local stakeholders.

Science-based fisheries management requires accurate information. NOAA satisfies this need through regional Fisheries Science Centers that partner with regional universities, tribal and state researchers, and private and international research firms to continually improve our understanding of fish and fisheries. Ongoing assessments of fish stocks ensure that managers are meeting the guidelines of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. NOAA's fleet of research vessels includes state-of-the-art ships designed to study ocean life. New technologies allow scientists to remotely observe fish, marine mammals, and sea turtles in their environment without disruption. Acoustically quiet ships, autonomous and remotely operated underwater vehicles, submersibles, and even underwater habitats give NOAA unique science capacity for better fisheries management. In addition, NOAA is the world leader in the peer-reviewed science of fish stock assessment.

NMFS assesses the Nation's federally managed fish stocks to ensure they are meeting the guidelines of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Fisheries assessments consist of two separate activities, (1) to learn as much as possible about the biology of fish including growth rate, migration patterns, life span, etc.; and (2) focusing on fishing activities, such as number of fishermen, type of gear, amount and location of catch, etc. Fisheries assessments are performed annually and are published in the Status of U.S. Fisheries Report to Congress.

In fisheries management, participation by stakeholders is key to the creation of measures that ensure sustainability of the resources as well as the long-term viability of fishing activities. To learn more about the fisheries management process, and to get involved, please visit the Fisheries Management Councils and the Interstate Fisheries Management Commissions on the web.