What is NOAA Fisheries Role With Sharks?
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) manages the commercial and recreational shark fisheries in the Atlantic Ocean, including the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. In the Pacific Ocean, NOAA Fisheries works with regional fishery management councils and is developing shark management measures. The agency is mandated by Congress under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to conduct stock assessments, monitor the species abundance of sharks, and implement fishery regulations that maximize the benefits of sharks as a resource for humans while also ensuring that we do not deplete shark populations. The United States began regulating shark fisheries in 1993. A new Fishery Management Plan that included sharks, swordfish, and tunas went into effect in 1999, and sharks have been regulated under a catch limit and quota system ever since.
