Highly Migratory Species Management: Managing Shared Resources at Home and Around the World

Highly migratory species—like Atlantic yellowfin tuna, Pacific albacore, and Atlantic swordfish—travel thousands of miles across state, national, and international boundaries throughout their lives. These important commercial and recreational fisheries support seafood businesses and coastal communities across the United States. But highly migratory fish don’t recognize state or national borders, so managing them sustainably requires collaboration across jurisdictional boundaries. Strong domestic management and international cooperation sustain these fisheries and the communities that depend on these shared ocean resources.

In the United States, highly migratory species are managed under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Their management is consistent with requirements adopted by regional fisheries management organizations established by international treaties. Each of these RFMOs provide a forum for countries to work together to conserve these shared resources that spend their lives moving across jurisdictions.

Fisheries managers in the Atlantic and Pacific share the same goal: providing sustainable fishing opportunities while maintaining healthy fish stocks. Fisheries, geography, and management structures vary by region, so NOAA Fisheries uses different management tools and authorities to achieve that shared goal across fisheries.

Atlantic Management

Most federally managed fisheries are managed through a regional fishery management council. But highly migratory species in the U.S. Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of America, and U.S. Caribbean waters span the jurisdictions of five councils. In 1990, Congress determined it was best for the Secretary of Commerce to directly manage these fisheries, granting secretarial authority which was later delegated to NOAA Fisheries. Since then, we adopted an integrated approach that meets the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act and our commitments as a member of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), an RFMO. We developed a domestic fishery management plan, in coordination with U.S. stakeholders. We implement and amend the plan to authorize, monitor, and permit commercial and recreational catches in U.S. waters. We also advocate for U.S.-centric policy approaches on the high seas and implement international agreements under the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act.