1998 Year of the Ocean Ocean Living Resources 



Toward these ends, Congress has provided directives and discretionary means to: 



1 . EstabHsh guidelines to assist in the description and identification of "essential fish 

 habitat" and impacts on that habitat, and to take steps to ensure that programs further 

 the conservation and enhancement of that habitat 



2. To the extent practicable, avoid bycatch, and to the extent that such bycatch cannot be 

 avoided, minimize the mortality of such bycatch 



3. Place stricter conditions on the use of new fishing gear 



4. Apply measures that will eliminate overfishing in domestic waters and 

 identify management actions to rebuild those fisheries within ten years (except in 

 cases where the biology of the fish, other environmental conditions, or specific 

 international agreements dictate otherwise) 



5. 



Study and, if appropriate, implement a fishing capacity reduction program 



The Sustainable Fisheries Act includes U.S. commitments to apply domestically many of 

 the same principles that have been negotiated internationally in the U.N. Straddling Stocks 

 Agreement and the Code of Responsible Fishing. The Act now requires the optimum yield for 

 each fishery to be set equal to or less than the maximum sustainable yield. Overfishing is now 

 defined in the law, and managers have explicit time frames and milestones for identifying 

 overfished fisheries and getting them on the road to recovery. The Act also directs that 

 recommendations be developed to expand the application of ecosystem principles in fishery 

 conservation and management activities. 



The Sustainable Fisheries Act has set the stage for turning the product of a failed fisheries 

 management system into healthy, productive, and sustainable fisheries in the very near future. 

 The fundamental changes in the approach to management have begun, and some successes have 

 already been witnessed. 



C-25 



