1998 Year of the Ocean Ocean Living Resources 



wildlife, and certain indigenous plants taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of state, 

 federal, Indian tribal, or foreign laws or regulations that relate or refer to fish or wildlife or plants. 

 Violators are subject to both criminal and civil sanctions. The prohibitions apply broadly to all wild 

 animals, whether dead or alive, and to any part, product, egg, or offspring, including captive-bred 

 animals, and more narrowly to certain wild plants indigenous to the U.S. 



Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act , 16 U.S. C. §§ 1801-1883 



Under the Fishery Conservation and Management Act (FCMA), the United States claimed 

 sovereign rights and exclusive fishery management authority over all fish, and all Continental Shelf 

 fishery resources, within the exclusive economic zone. The FCMA established a procedure for 

 authorizing foreign fishing, and prohibited unauthorized foreign fishing within the exclusive 

 economic zone. 



The FCMA established national standards for fishery conservation and management within the 

 exclusive economic zone. The FCMA established eight Regional Fishery Management Councils 

 composed of state officials with fishery management responsibility, the regional administrators of 

 the National Marine Fisheries Service, and individuals appointed by the Secretary of Commerce 

 who are knowledgeable regarding the conservation and management, or the commercial or 

 recreational harvest, of the fishery resources of the geographical area concerned. The Councils are 

 responsible for preparing and amending fishery management plans for each fishery under their 

 authority that requires conservation and management. 



Fishery management plans describe the fisheries and contain necessary and appropriate 

 conservation and management measures, applicable to foreign fishing and fishing by vessels of the 

 United States. The plans are submitted to the Secretary of Commerce for approval. If approved, the 

 Secretary of Commerce promulgates implementing regulations. The Secretary of Commerce may 

 prepare Secretarial fishery management plans if the appropriate Council fails to develop such a 

 plan. The FCMA also provides for enforcement of the Act. 



In 1996, the Sustainable Fisheries Act amended the FCMA and renamed it the Magnuson-Stevens 

 Fishery Conservation and Management Act. 



Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (MMPA) , 16U.S.C. §§ 1361-1407 



Under the MMPA, the Secretary of Commerce is responsible for ensuring the protection of 

 cetaceans and pinnipeds (except walruses). The Secretary of the Interior is responsible for ensuring 

 the protection of sea otters, polar bears, walruses and manatees. The MMPA established a 

 moratorium on the taking and importation of marine mammals and marine mammal products, 

 except: 1 ) for purposes of scientific research, public display, photography for educational or 

 commercial purposes, or enhancing the survival or recovery of a species or stock, or for importation 

 of polar bear taken in sports hunts in Canada; 2) when taken incidentally in the course of 



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