An article written by for the Bureau of International Information Programs at the U.S. Department of state notes "The rich array of animals and plants in the oceans is being damaged by overfishing, pollution and the many effects of a changing climate, but some of the harm is being reversed by powerful national laws and new approaches to monitoring and managing Earth’s marine biodiversity."
“Marine biodiversity is a contributor to worldwide food security,” Steven Murawski, director of scientific programs and chief science adviser for the National Marine Fisheries Service, told America.gov April 7. “We know that for 20 percent of the world’s population, marine protein is the major source of protein in their diet. Over 1 billion people on the planet are vitally interested in preserving biodiversity for the food value.”
Recent reports show that a significant proportion of the world’s fisheries is overfished, he added, meaning that their rate of extraction is greater than the rate of replacement.
“The United States has one of the most powerful laws for fishery management in the world,” Murawski said. “The Magnuson-Stevens [Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006] says that by 2010 — this year — we have to eliminate overfishing in the United States, which means putting in more control mechanisms to catch only what the ecosystem produces on an annual basis.”
Several other countries have adopted a similar law or made their own laws stronger, he said, some in response to a 2002 call by the World Summit on Sustainable Development to restore depleted fish stocks worldwide by 2015.
“Overall, we’ve made a lot of progress on ending overfishing,” Murawski said. “For example, in 1999, we had 77 stocks around the country where overfishing was occurring. Now we’ve got it down to 38 stocks where overfishing is occurring, primarily on the Atlantic seaboard and in the Gulf of Mexico.” According to the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the Fisheries Service will have to deal with those 38 stocks by the end of the year.
Read the complete story at America.gov