A Vision For Our Ocean Future

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 [email protected] www.conservefish.org

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