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Defending the Magnuson-Stevens Act

The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) is the primary law governing marine fisheries management in United States federal waters. The Act was first enacted in 1976 and amended in 1996. Most notably, the Magnuson-Stevens Act aided in the development of the domestic fishing industry by phasing out foreign fishing.

Scientists Suspect Decline of Herring is Result of Bycatch in Other Fisheries

Fish managers considering stepped-up monitoring and closing areas to trawlers

Herring were so common in the Potomac River in the spring of 1832 that a single seine net captured a few more than 950,000 "accurately counted," according to a report at the time. A few decades later, Spencer Baird, head of the U.S. Fish Commission, estimated that during the 1830s, the herring in the river must have numbered 3 billion fish.

Ecosystems, Economy Will Benefit from Newly Released National Ocean Policy

Forty years of effort to save our seas and Great Lakes finally culminated today when the Obama Administration announced the country’s first National Ocean Policy, a guiding vision and mandate for all federal agencies to balance sustainable ocean uses with ocean protection.
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Prisoners of the Sea: National Museum of Crime & Punishment Explores Marine-Based Injustice

Notable exhibits at Capitol area museums display archives of revolutionary acts, political reform, American heritage and now – ocean destruction.
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Call Congress Today for Coastal Recovery

Please help champion The Coastal Jobs Creation Act of 2010 (HR 4914), a bill that will financially assist fishing communities in the face of huge challenges including the recent Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. Please take a moment to review this request to call Congressional Representatives today, to encourage them to pass HR 4914.
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