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Program
Goals
The Commission's Interstate Fisheries Management Program (ISFMP)
began in 1981, with the signing of a cooperative agreement with
the NMFS. The ISFMP built upon the experiences of the cooperative
State/Federal Fisheries Management Program, which started in 1971,
and the Regional Fishery Management Council system, which was established
under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
The ISFMP operates according to the standards and procedures contained
in its Charter, available upon request from the Commission.
The goal of the program is to promote the cooperative
management of marine, estuarine, and anadromous fisheries in state
waters of the East Coast through interstate fishery management
plans. The major objectives of the ISFMP are to:
- Determine
the priorities for interjurisdictional fisheries management
in coastal state waters;
- Develop,
monitor, and review fishery management plans;
- Recommend
to states, regional fishery management councils, and the federal
government management measures to benefit these fisheries;
- Provide
an efficient structure for the timely, cooperative administration
of the ISFMP; and
- Monitor
compliance with approved fishery management plans.
Program
Structure
The ISFMP operates under the direction of the ISFMP Policy Board
and the species management boards. The ISFMP Policy Board is composed
of one representative from each member state, the District of
Columbia, the Potomac River Fisheries Commission, NMFS, and USFWS.
The Policy Board provides overall guidance and ensures consistency
with the ISFMP Charter and between fishery management plans. The
species management boards consider and approve the development
and implementation of fishery management plans, including the
integration of scientific information and proposed management
measures. In this process, the species management boards primarily
rely on input from two main sources – species technical
committees and species advisory panels.
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technical committees provide scientific advice to the management
boards, while advisory panels provide guidance about the fisheries
that catch or land a particular species. Species technical committees
are composed of technical staff from the Commission member states,
NMFS and USFWS, and members of the academia. Advisory panel members
include representatives from the commercial, charterboat, and recreational
fishing industries, as well as conservation interests. Members are
appointed by the three Commissioners from each state with a declared
interest in a species because of their particular expertise within
a given fishery. The advisors' role is to provide input throughout
the entire fishery management process from plan initiation through
development and into implementation. For more information on the
advisory panel and public input process, click here.
The management
boards also work with three standing committees of the Commission
– the Committee of Economics and Social Sciences, the Habitat
Committee and the Law Enforcement Committee. The first two committees
help provide additional information to the fisheries management
process on social and economic impacts of regulatory measures
to the commercial and recreational fishing industries, as well
as habitat considerations important to the conservation of the
species. The Law Enforcement Committee, composed of state and
federal law enforcement representatives, provide guidance on the
enforceability of proposed management measures.
Species
Under Management
Currently, the ISFMP coordinates the conservation and management
of 22 Atlantic coastal fish species or species groups. Click
of the name below or use the drop down menu to the upper right
to obtain species-specific information.
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American
Eel
American Lobster
Atlantic Croaker
Atlantic Herring
Atlantic Menhaden
Atlantic Sturgeon
Black Sea Bass
Bluefish
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Horseshoe
Crab
Northern Shrimp
Red Drum
Scup
Shad and River Herring
Spanish Mackerel
Spiny
Dogfish and Coastal Sharks
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Spot
Spotted Seatrout
Striped Bass
Summer Flounder
Tautog
Weakfish
Winter Flounder |
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species that have significant fisheries in both state and federal
waters (i.e., Atlantic herring, summer flounder, Spanish mackerel),
the Commission works cooperatively with the relevant East Coast
Regional Fishery Management Councils to develop fishery management
plans. The Commission also works with NMFS to develop compatible
regulations for the federal waters of the exclusive economic zone.
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