A VISION FOR OUR

OCEAN FUTURE

The M a r i n e F i s h C o n s e rvat ion Ne twork

 The Marine Fish Conservation
Network advocates for national
policies to achieve healthy
oceans and productive fisheries.

The Marine Fish Conservation

Network (Network) is the largest national
coalition solely dedicated to promoting
the long-term sustainability of marine fish
populations by pressing for changes in the way
we manage our oceans’ fish. With around 200
member organizations—including environmental
organizations, commercial and recreational
fishing associations, aquariums, and marine
science groups—the Network uses its distinct
voice and the best available science to educate
policymakers, fishermen, and the public about
the need for sound conservation and better
management practices.

The Network formed in 1992 to respond to

unsustainable management of America’s
ocean fisheries, which was creating an ocean
environmental crisis. Since that time, the
Network has successfully worked with the public,
fishermen, conservationists, and Congress to
advance legislative proposals to protect fish
populations and American fishing traditions.
The Network also works with the eight regional
fishery management councils and the National
Marine Fisheries Service—the federal entities
charged with serving as stewards of ocean fish
populations—to ensure that federal regulations
and management decisions uphold the ideals and
mandates of our nation’s federal ocean fisheries
law, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation
and Management Reauthorization Act.


 A BRIEF HISTORY OF U.S. FISHERY MANAGEMENT
In 1976, Congress created a federal fisheries law to “Americanize” fishing off our
nation’s coasts by phasing out foreign fishing and creating a series of programs to
promote the U.S. fishing industry. This law, the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and
Management Act, successfully advanced American fishing interests, but it ignored
the tenets of sustainable management since few believed the oceans would ever run
out of fish. In many fisheries, most notably New England cod, the domestic capacity
to catch fish far exceeded the reproductive capacity of the ocean. By the late 1980s,
many fish populations had collapsed.

The Network, representing the diverse interests of environmentalists, fishermen, and

marine scientists, quickly became the leading voice for restoring the health of our
ocean fisheries. Through the Network’s persistence, Congress responded to the crisis
by passing the Sustainable Fisheries Act in 1996, which addressed rampant overfishing,
bycatch (the unintended catching and killing of non-target ocean wildlife), loss of
habitat, and other threats to ocean fish populations.

Even with the newly renamed Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and

Management Act, fish populations were slow to recover. In fact, many continued
to decline. Regional fishery management councils repeatedly refused to change old
ways of managing our fisheries. The National Marine Fisheries Service, in turn, often
approved fishery management plans that did not meet the conservation mandates set
forth in the Magnuson-Stevens Act and allowed harmful delays in rebuilding many
fish populations.

Once again, the Network recognized that the Magnuson-Stevens Act needed to
be stronger. In 2006, the Network was instrumental in getting Congress to pass a
revised version of the Magnuson-Stevens Act that included new measures to base all
management decisions on sound science and to hold fishery managers accountable
for setting and adhering to annual catch limits. Today, the Network is continuing to
advocate for full implementation of the key conservation principles of sustainable
fishery management to ensure that sound management will become the norm, not
the exception.


 Principles of Sustainable Fishery Management
A generation ago, most people believed that our oceans
represented an endless resource. Today, decimated
populations of once-abundant marine species and the
destruction of important habitats demonstrate that we
are taking more from the oceans than the oceans can
produce. Scientists have begun to take a very close look
at the issue of ocean health, and consensus has emerged
on the scientific front: The world’s oceans have reached
a point of crisis.

If we truly are to institute sustainable management for

protecting our oceans, we must act boldly, decisively,
innovatively, and quickly to incorporate the following
principles into our ocean management:

Conserve Marine Ecosystems

Fishery managers and scientists recognize the need to
expand the focus of fishery management to include entire
ecosystems, considering interactions between key predator
and prey species within an ecosystem as well as the habitat
needs of all living marine resources. Scientists believe that
some fishery declines and difficulties in restoring depleted
populations are partially due to fishing-related disruptions
that upset the entire ecosystem. In order for our oceans
to thrive, fishery managers must consider ecosystem
interactions in all management decisions.

Eliminate Overfishing of All Species

Overfishing (catching fish at too high of a rate) must end
so that fish populations can recover. In the past, managers
have reacted to overfishing only after it occurs and have
unnecessarily extended deadlines for rebuilding depleted
fish populations. This “reactive” approach to management
increases the likelihood that populations will remain
depleted for years to come. Some managers also use
scientific uncertainty as an excuse to allow overfishing

to continue. To stop overfishing from occurring, fishery
managers must adhere to the law and set catch limits with a
margin of safety to compensate for scientific uncertainties,
natural disasters, and sudden drops in fish populations.

Prevent Bycatch
Bycatch is the indiscriminate catching and killing of fish
and marine life other than those a fisherman intends to
capture. This includes fish that are not the target species,
sex, size, or quality. It also includes many other fish and
marine life that have no immediate economic value but
are ecologically important, such as starfish, sponges, and
skates. Bycatch in U.S. fisheries is estimated at more than
two billion pounds annually and is a major factor in the
decline of many marine mammals, sea turtles, and seabirds.
Because bycatch primarily results from fishing practices
and gear that are not selective, fishery managers must
create management plans that reduce the likelihood of
bycatch and that also include on-board observers who
can accurately assess and report bycatch.

Protect Essential Fish Habitat

Ocean habitats sustain a remarkable diversity of plants
and animals. Essential fish habitat is comprised of areas
of the aquatic environment upon which fish depend
to reach maturity and reproduce. Because these areas
are so critically important to the long-term survival of
fish populations, Congress requires fishery managers to
describe, identify, conserve, and enhance essential fish
habitat. Fishery managers are also required to minimize
the impacts of damaging fishing practices, unless it is not
practicable to do so. It is imperative that fishery managers
follow these legal requirements to minimize the adverse
impacts of fishing on essential fish habitat.

Improve Scientific Data

Objective observation and data collection are vital to
manage marine fish effectively. The ability of fishery
managers to address the problems of overfishing, bycatch,
and degradation of essential fish habitat can be limited
by a lack of accurate and reliable scientific information.


 Unfortunately, this lack of knowledge regarding the health
of a resource or the impact of fishing on that resource rarely
impedes exploitation of fish populations. Without better
scientific data, fishery managers are forced to make risky
and uninformed decisions; therefore, we must dedicate
more resources toward improving scientific knowledge
of our ocean resources. In the interim, managers must
account for scientific uncertainty by including buffers to
ensure fishing limits are not exceeded.

TAKING ACTION TO IMPROVE OCEAN FISHERY MANAGEMENT

Congress has taken two crucial steps forward to improve
fisheries management: First, Congress passed the 1996
Sustainable Fisheries Act, and in 2006, it passed a stronger
version of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Now that we have
a better law, the Network is working with fishery managers
to ensure that they take several common sense actions to
advance and improve U.S. fisheries management.

Fully Implement the Law

History has shown that a stronger law does not necessarily
result in improved management of our ocean fisheries.
The Network will work with the National Marine Fisheries
Service and the regional fishery management councils to
ensure that the letter and spirit of the Magnuson-Stevens
Reauthorization Act are fully implemented into better
management of our oceans.

Allocate Greater Funding for

Ocean Management and Research
Improvements in conservation can only go as far as the
money allocated to implement them. Fishery managers
need greater funding for cooperative scientific research,


better fisheries data, habitat protection, and programs to monitor wasteful fishing
practices, all of which have been seriously underfunded in past years. The Network
is looking for creative ways to fund fisheries management so that the hard work of
Congress will not go to waste due to lack of funding.

Advance Ecosystem-based
Management by Protecting Forage Fish
As a first significant step toward a holistic approach to managing our oceans, the
Network is promoting the protection of ocean forage fish, those fish populations that
serve as a primary food source for larger ocean predators. The Network is working with
fishery managers to set catch limits for forage fish that take into account the needs
of the entire ecosystem.

A VISION OF OUR OCEAN FUTURE

Our oceans and the intricate web of life they support – including human life – are in
very real and very serious trouble. The problems facing our oceans have been caused
by years of human neglect and mismanagement, but it is not too late to change our
course. We can overcome these problems by instituting the principles of sustainable
fishery management, increasing funding for ocean management, and treating our
oceans not as an inexhaustible resource, but as a unique and invaluable ecosystem
that deserves our protection.

For more information on the Marine Fish Conservation Network and how to support
ocean conservation efforts, visit: www.conservefish.org.


 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE
Suite 210
Washington, DC 20003
tel: 202.543.5509
toll free: 866.823.8552
fax: 202.543.5774
network@conservefish.org
www.conservefish.org

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