National Marine Fisheries Service

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is a United States federal agency. A division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of Commerce, NMFS is responsible for the stewardship and management of the nation's living marine resources and their habitat within the United States' Exclusive Economic Zone, which extends seaward 200 nautical miles from the coastline (about 370 Kilometers).

Using the tools provided by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the NMFS assesses and predicts the status of fish stocks, ensures compliance with fisheries regulations and works to end wasteful fishing practices. Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act, the agency is also tasked with recovering protected marine species such as wild salmon, whales and sea turtles.

With the help of the six regional science centers, eight regional fisheries management councils,^[1] the coastal states and territories, and three interstate fisheries management commissions^[2], NMFS conserves and manages marine fisheries to promote sustainability and to prevent lost economic potential associated with overfishing, declining species, and degraded habitats. While the coastal states and territories generally have authority to manage fisheries within near-shore state waters, the NMFS has the primary responsibility to conserve and manage marine fisheries in the U.S. exclusive economic zone beyond state waters. The agency also attempts to balance competing public needs for the natural resources under its management.

The NMFS also serves as a federal law enforcement agency, working closely with state enforcement agencies, the U.S. Coast Guard, and foreign enforcement authorities. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Office for Law Enforcement is based in Silver Spring, Maryland.

The NMFS regulatory program is one of the most active in the Federal government, with 100's of regulations published annually in the Federal Register. Most regulations are published to conserve marine fisheries under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act; other regulations are published under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act. The NMFS also regulates fisheries pursuant to decisions of "regional fishery management organizations"^[3](RFMOs) and other RFMOs to which the U.S. is a party, such as the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission^[4], the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission^[5], the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Program,^[6] etc.

Some regulations by NMFS are quite controversial. For example, in 2007, the NMFS issued regulations to protect endangered whales from fatal fishing-gear entanglements after environmental groups sued to force action on the rules, which were proposed in early 2005. The rules were enacted to specifically protect the North Atlantic Right Whale, of which about only 350 remain. Marine gear entanglements and ship strikes are the top human causes of right whale deaths. On July 1, the shipping lanes in and out of Boston Harbor were rotated to avoid an area with a high concentration of the right whales.^[7]

• List of United States federal law enforcement agencies
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Office for Law Enforcement

• NMFS - official site