US fishery policy. Basic Facts

To understand the U.S. system for managing fisheries, it is important to understand the 1996 legal framework, theMagnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, created to modernizethe U.S. regulatory environment.

On October 11, 1996 the SustainableFisheries Act (SFA) became law. The SFA amended the Magnuson FisheryConservation and Management Act (renamed the Magnuson-Stevens FisheryConservation and Management Act).  SFA amendments and changes to the MagnusonAct include numerous provisions requiring science, management and conservationaction by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).

The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservationand Management Act generally focuses on five major objectives:

1. Preventing Overfishing and Rebuilding OverfishedStocks
   • As expected, the SFA places great importance onoverfishing, which it terms, “a rate of fishing mortality that jeopardizes thecapacity of a fishery to produce the maximum sustainable yield on a continuingbasis.”
   • The SFA requires that stocks be rebuilt as soonas possible, but no longer than ten years, except under special circumstancesrelating to biology of the fish or environment.
   • If a stock is determined to be overfished, themanagement plan must take appropriate measures within one year.
2. Bycatch – fish harvested in a fishery, but arenot sold or kept for personal use.
   • The SFA states that “conservation and managementmeasures should a) minimize bycatch and b) minimize the mortality of bycatch,when it cannot be avoided.
3. EssentialFish Habitat
   • Measures should be taken to identify, describethe essential fish habitat (waters and substrate necessary for spawning,breeding, feeding, or growth to maturity), and minimize the negative affects offishing on this habitat.
4. Fishery Research and Monitoring
   • Information Management
   • Observers and Monitoring/Enforcement
   • Fisheries Strategic Research Plan
   • Fisheries Systems Research
5. Processes and Administration
   • Advisory Panels for Atlantic Highly MigratorySpecies Management
   • Identification of Allowable Fishing Gear
   • Consideration of Impacts on Fishing Communities
   • Safety at Sea
   • Reform of Fisheries Finance Programs

The second key factor about the U.S. fishery management system is the administration of the SFA.  This is carried out throughregional councils that, under federal oversight, develop fishery managementplans (FMP) regarding the management of all live marine resources in thatregion.  Below is the description of the:

• Councils
• FMPs
• Review of FMPs

Councils: Council members are appointed by the Secretary ofCommerce and must be individuals who, by reason of their occupational or otherexperience, scientific expertise, or training, are knowledgeable regarding theconservation and management, or the commercial or recreational harvest, of thefishery resources of the geographical area concerned.  There are eight councils(New England, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, Caribbean, Gulf, Pacific, NorthPacific, and Western Pacific).

The number of votingmembers of the councils vary according to the region, in order to betterreflect the characteristics of the region they represent.  For example, somecontain more for states that have more coastline, while others contain moreNative American representatives.  The goal is to create a fair and balancedapportionment, based on a rotating or other basis of the active participants inthe commercial and recreational fisheries.  Decisions are made by majorityvote.

There are alsonon-voting members of the council who may represent other governmentdepartments with responsibilities in this area, such as the commander of theresponsible Coast Guard district.

Each Councilestablishes and maintains a scientific and statistical committee to assist itin the development, collection, and evaluation of such statistical, biological,economic, social, and other scientific information as is relevant to theCouncil's development and amendment of any fishery management plan.

Each council hasvarious functions, such as: preparing and submitting fishery management plans;creating amendments to each plan (promptly whenever changes in conservation andmanagement measures in another fishery substantially affect the fishery forwhich such plan was developed); prepare comments on any application for foreignfishing; conduct public hearings to allow all interested persons an opportunityto be heard in the development of fishery management plans and amendments withrespect to the administration and implementation; review and revision on acontinuing basis the assessments and specifications made with respect to theoptimum yield from, the capacity, and extent to which fish processors willprocess harvested fish; and the total allowable level of foreign fishing withinits geographical area of authority.

FisheryManagement Plans (FMP)

• Conservationand management measures shall prevent overfishing while achieving, on acontinuing basis, the optimum yield from each fishery for the United States fishing industry.
• Conservationand management measures shall be based upon the best scientific informationavailable.
• To theextent practicable, an individual stock of fish shall be managed as a unitthroughout its range, and interrelated stocks of fish shall be managed as aunit or in close coordination.
• Conservationand management measures shall not discriminate between residents of differentStates. If it becomes necessary to allocate or assign fishing privileges amongvarious United States fishermen, such allocation shall be (A) fair andequitable to all such fishermen; (B) reasonably calculated to promoteconservation; and (C) carried out in such manner that no particular individual,corporation, or other entity acquires an excessive share of such privileges.
• Conservationand management measures shall, where practicable, consider efficiency in theutilization of fishery resources; except that no such measure shall haveeconomic allocation as its sole purpose.
• Conservationand management measures shall take into account and allow for variations among,and contingencies in, fisheries, fishery resources, and catches.
• Conservationand management measures shall, where practicable, minimize costs and avoidunnecessary duplication.
• Conservationand management measures shall, consistent with the conservation requirements ofthis Act (including the prevention of overfishing and rebuilding of overfishedstocks), take into account the importance of fishery resources to fishing communitiesin order to (A) provide for the sustained participation of such communities,and (B) to the extent practicable, minimize adverse economic impacts on suchcommunities.
• Conservationand management measures shall, to the extent practicable, (A) minimize bycatchand (B) to the extent bycatch cannot be avoided, minimize the mortality of suchbycatch.
• Conservation and management measures shall, tothe extent practicable, promote the safety of human life at sea.

Each FMP Must Contain the FollowingInformation (Required Provisions)

• Contain adescription of the fishery, including, but not limited to, the number ofvessels involved, the type and quantity of fishing gear used, the species offish involved and their location, the cost likely to be incurred in management,actual and potential revenues from the fishery, any recreational interest inthe fishery, and the nature and extent of foreign fishing and Indian treatyfishing rights, if any;
• Assess andspecify the present and probable future condition of, and the maximumsustainable yield and optimum yield from, the fishery, and include a summary ofthe information utilized in making such specification;
• Assess andspecify the capacity and the extent to which fishing vessels of the United States, on an annual basis, will harvest the optimum yield specified under;
• Theportion of the optimum yield which, on an annual basis, will not be harvestedby fishing vessels of the United States and can be made available for foreignfishing and the capacity and extent to which United States fish processors, onan annual basis, will process that portion of such optimum yield that will beharvested by fishing vessels of the United States;
• Specifythe pertinent data which shall be submitted to the Secretary with respect to commercial,recreational, and charter fishing in the fishery, including, but not limitedto, information regarding the type and quantity of fishing gear used, catch byspecies in numbers of fish or weight thereof, areas in which fishing wasengaged in, time of fishing, number of hauls, and the estimated processingcapacity of, and the actual processing capacity utilized by United States fishprocessors;
• Considerand provide for temporary adjustments, after consultation with the Coast Guardand persons utilizing the fishery, regarding access to the fishery for vesselsotherwise prevented from harvesting because of weather or other oceanconditions affecting the safe conduct of the fishery;
• Describeand identify essential fish habitat for the fishery based on the guidelinesestablished, minimize to the extent practicable adverse effects on such habitatcaused by fishing, and identify other actions to encourage the conservation andenhancement of such habitat;
• Assess andspecify the nature and extent of scientific data which is needed for effectiveimplementation of the plan;
• Include afishery impact statement for the plan or amendment which will assess, specify,and describe the likely effects of the conservation and management measuresrecommended;
• Participantsin the fisheries and fishing communities affected by the plan or amendment andparticipants in the fisheries conducted in adjacent areas under the authorityof another Council, after consultation with that Council;
• Specifyobjective and measurable criteria for identifying when the fishery to which theplan applies is overfished (with an analysis of how the criteria weredetermined and the relationship of the criteria to the reproductive potentialof stocks of fish in that fishery) and, in the case of a fishery which theCouncil or the Secretary has determined is approaching an overfished conditionor is overfished, contain conservation and management measures to preventoverfishing or end overfishing and rebuild the fishery;
• Establisha standardized reporting methodology to assess the amount and type of bycatchoccurring in the fishery and include conservation and management measures, tothe extent practicable, in the following priority: minimize bycatch, minimizethe mortality of bycatch which cannot be avoided, assess the type and amount offish caught and released alive during recreational fishing under catch andrelease fishery management programs and the mortality of such fish, and includeconservation and management measures that, to the extent practicable, minimizemortality and ensure the extended survival of such fish;
• Include adescription of the commercial, recreational, and charter fishing sectors whichparticipate in the fishery and, to the extent practicable, quantify trends inlandings of the managed fishery resource by the commercial, recreational, andcharter fishing sectors; and
• To theextent that rebuilding plans or other conservation and management measureswhich reduce the overall harvest in a fishery are necessary, allocate anyharvest restrictions or recovery benefits fairly and equitably among thecommercial, recreational, and charter fishing sectors in the fishery.

Review of Plans

In addition toFederal review of the FMPs, they are immediately published in the FederalRegister.  The Federal Register notice states that the FMP or amendment isavailable and that written information, views, or comments of interestedpersons on the plan or amendment may be submitted to the Secretary during the60-day period.

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