U.S. Fisheries Challenges

Ocean Conservancy report highlights challenges and solutions for U.S. fisheries 

Ocean Conservancy’s report, Drifting Off Course: Challenges in U.S. Fisheries Management and Charting the Path Forward, highlights several important issues that face fisheries and offers solutions to help address them.

U.S. ocean waters are home to diverse species of fish that feed families, anchor economies and draw millions of recreational anglers to the coast year after year. But fish populations are not inexhaustible.

Fifty years ago, overfishing was driving iconic fish populations into decline or collapse. Congress, scientists and fishermen worked together to establish a management system that would support fishing for the long term—the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, or MSA. As the primary law governing the management of fisheries in U.S. federal ocean waters, the MSA has evolved to support a management system built on science and adapted to the distinct needs of each fishery and region.

In many ways, the MSA has been a success story, having rebuilt more than 50 fish stocks and driven overfishing down to historic lows.

However, a lot has changed for the ocean in the last 50 years, and new challenges are developing that will push our fisheries to their limits. From marine heatwaves to degraded habitats, the fish and ecosystems that millions of Americans rely on are under stress. At the same time, management shortcomings, economic vulnerabilities, food insecurity, lower investment in research and technology advancements are colliding with long-standing conservation and management challenges like bycatch and continued overfishing.

It’s clear that business as usual is not enough to guarantee abundant fish populations that can support coastal communities and fisheries. The future of fishing—and the health of our ocean—for the next five decades will depend on tackling the challenges we face today.