Oceans Policy

Oceans policy manages the waters used for both recreational and commercial purposes. When management plans for America's waterways are being considered, sportsmen need to be aware of how these plans can affect their access and use of our waters for recreational purposes.

Oceans Policy Issue Briefs

Catch Shares - Details the factors to be considered when setting up these types of programs. Catch Share programs can be useful in commercial-only fisheries in order to manage harvest but are an should not be used for managing recreational-only fisheries.

Magnuson-Stevens Act - In 2006, the re-authorization of this Act provided legal requirements to end over fishing by a certain date. However, the requirements of this bill were unrealistic for the time frame given, and there is proposed legislation to address these issues.

Marine Spatial Planning - Describes how this planning can be used to encourage multiple uses of our coastal and marine areas that balance economic, social and conservation needs.

Marine Protected Areas (MPA) - This term is used to describe a variety of conservation and management methods in the waters of the U.S. MPAs are not necessarily no fishing zones, but the number of MPA proposals containing provisions for permanent closures to recreational fishing is increasing.