Living Marine Resources
- Introduction
- Regional Fisheries Training Centers
- Ocean Guardian Strategic Plan
- Marine Protected Species
- USCG Atlantic Protected Living Marine Resources Initiative (APLMRI)
Introduction
Protecting the U.S. EEZ and key areas of the high seas
is an important mission for the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard enforces fisheries laws at
sea, as tasked by the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries
Conservation and Management Act (MSFCMA). Our fisheries priorities are, in order of
importance: 1. Protecting the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone from
foreign encroachment: The MSFCMA of 1976 extended U.S. fisheries management authority
out to the full 200 miles authorized by international law. The U.S. EEZ is the largest in
the world, containing 3.4 million square miles of ocean and 90,000 miles of coastline.
Foreign fishers operating illegally in this area are, effectively, stealing resources from
the U.S., and our fisheries managers have no way of measuring or accounting for this loss. 2. Enforcing domestic fisheries law: U.S.
Domestic Fisheries support a $24 billion dollar industry. Fisheries Management Plans
(FMPs), to ensure the sustainability of these fisheries are developed by regional
Fisheries Management
Councils, each of which have a non-voting Coast Guard member. The Coast Guard is
responsible for enforcing these FMPs at sea, in conjunction with NOAA
Fisheries enforcement ashore. In addition to FMP enforcement, we enforce laws to protect marine
mammals and endangered species. 3. International fisheries agreements:
Realizing that fish do not recognize national boundaries, the Coast Guard works closely
with the Department of State
to develop and enforce international fisheries agreements. Most notably, the Coast Guard
enforces the United Nations High Seas Driftnet Moratorium in the North Pacific, where
illegal drift netters may catch U.S. origin salmon.
Regional Fisheries Training Centers The nation’s waterways and their ecosystems are vital to the
country’s economy and health.
If the U.S. protected species management responsibilities and
authority are described in the Endangered Species Act (ESA),
Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), Marine Protection, Research,
and Sanctuaries Act, and other legislation, Executive Orders and
international conventions. This
legislation tasks the Department of Commerce and the Department of
the Interior with management of the nation's protected species.
The Department of Commerce, Department of the Interior and
the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating are tasked
with enforcement responsibility under the various acts and
legislation. The goal
under the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Strategic Plan is to
ensure the sustainability of fish and wildlife populations by
focusing on imperiled species and marine mammal management.
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) goal is to
recover protected species through take reduction and reduction of
marine mammal conflicts with human activities. Coast Guard marine protected species program
efforts must be closely aligned with the NMFS and the FWS
management goals. The
goal of the Coast Guard's marine protected species program is to
assist the NMFS and the FWS in the development and enforcement of
those regulations necessary to help recover and maintain the
country’s marine protected species and their marine ecosystems.
Further, as a leader in living marine resource stewardship,
the Coast Guard must be a model of compliance and awareness in its
internal actions. Coast
Guard objectives include assisting in preventing the decline of
marine protected species populations, promoting the recovery of
marine protected species and their habitats, partnering with other
agencies and organizations to enhance stewardship of marine
ecosystems and ensuring internal compliance with appropriate
legislation, regulations and management practices.
USCG Atlantic Protected
Living Marine Resources Initiative (APLMRI) The APLMRI is provided below in
Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. Due to the size of the
various https, it is highly recommended that you right-click and
save these https to your computer before opening.