Historic fishing communities are part of the lifeblood of New England. Photo: EcoPhotography
By the 1970s, the U.S. fishing industry had reached a critical crossroads. Fish populations were cratering due to lax or nonexistent industry regulations and stiff competition from foreign fishing fleets. The seafood industry, a pillar of New England’s economy and culture, was in crisis. A solution came in the form of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, a groundbreaking bipartisan law that laid the groundwork for modern fisheries management.
The law ended the freewheeling era that had led the commercial fishing industry to the brink of collapse. It expanded the boundaries of U.S. waters, banished foreign fleets, created stronger limits on fishing, and established the fishery management councils that still exist today. Subsequent amendments to law have focused on preventing overfishing.
But 50 years later, New England’s fisheries are struggling. Atlantic cod and herring, which used to thrive in our waters, are now fighting for survival. As fish populations decline, our fishing fleets continue to shrink, hurting the coastal communities that have relied on these fisheries for generations. And both conservationists and fishermen are unhappy with current regulations. On the anniversary of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, we’re taking a look at this law’s legacy – what it accomplished, how it failed, and where we go from here.
Fishing Has Always Been in New England’s Blood
Long before European settlers came to New England’s shores, Indigenous people sustainably harvested fish in New England. Many relied on the then-plentiful schools of enormous cod. Local tribes built fishing weirs, traps that used the tides to catch fish, annually along many waterways, including the Charles River. Many Indigenous people traveled to rivers where salmon were known to spawn so they could catch fish to smoke and dry for long winters. The Mashpee Wampanoag people considered herring so crucial to their diet and culture that contemporary members of the tribe have passed a Declaration of the Rights of Herring resolution to protect the fish.
The arrival of European colonists fueled a rapid and dangerous expansion of fishing in New England. It was the first major industry of the new colonies. Early settlers bragged they could catch cod by simply dipping a basket into the water and named Cape Cod for the bounty off its shore. Colonists viewed fish as an infinitely renewable resource.
The 19th and 20th centuries soon proved this to be false. Fishing technology improved by leaps and bounds, and the number of fish caught increased correspondingly. Other countries developed the ability to send fishing fleets far enough to reach the United States’ waters. Fish populations began plummeting to new lows.
Creating the Magnuson-Stevens Act
Congress drafted the Magnuson-Stevens Act primarily to drive out the foreign fishing fleets competing with U.S. fishermen for a shrinking share of the fish populations. Democratic Senator Warren G. Magnuson and Republican Senator Ted Stevens co-sponsored the bill that eventually took their names. Neither party wanted to see the country’s foundational industry go extinct.
The bill extended the United States’ control of our waters to 200 miles off our shore, creating an “exclusive economic zone” for fishermen to operate in. It also created the eight regional Fishery Management Councils that still regulate the U.S. fishing industry today. The New England Fishery Management Council is responsible for preventing overfishing. When that fails, the Council creates responsible “rebuilding plans” for fish populations that drop to unhealthy lows.
The law’s many updates over the intervening decades have focused on improving conservation and regulatory structures. The results have been mixed.
The Magnuson-Stevens Act’s Complicated Legacy
The Act was an undeniably groundbreaking piece of legislation that fundamentally changed how the United States approached managing the fishing industry. The law comprehensively addressed the perils of unchecked overfishing for the first time. Where fish were once seen as resource available for endless extraction, the Magnuson-Stevens Act has created a regulatory framework that recognized the need for careful, thoughtful management.
Unfortunately, regulators have not always succeeded in carrying out the goals of the Act. As of the end of 2025, NOAA fisheries list 13 fish populations in New England as overfished. That means their numbers have dropped so low that the population can’t stay healthy and replace itself naturally. Three of those populations are still being caught at unsustainable rates, despite efforts of the Fishery Council. While New England has the most overfished populations of any region, the problem is echoed to varying degrees across the country.
There’s more progress required to truly fulfill the promise of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. We need to set better limits on Atlantic cod fishing and create rebuilding plans that incorporate the latest science, which will give the species a chance to actually bounce back from its historic lows. We need to protect the tiny “forage fish,” like herring and sand lance, that form the crucial base of the food chain. We need to account for the impacts of climate change, which is heating the Gulf of Maine’s water faster than 97% of the world’s waters and disrupting the region’s delicate web of life. And we need to maintain high levels of monitoring on commercial fishing boats to ensure that fishing regulations and catch limits are followed at sea as well as on shore.
The Future of the Magnuson-Stevens Act
Fifty years later, this landmark legislation has an impressive set of accomplishments – and a lot of work left to do. Compared to the free-for-all era that the law brought to an end, we live in an era of clearer regulations, stronger management strategies, and better prospects for many fish species. But with the law overdue for reauthorization by Congress, it’s time to strengthen it to ensure that fish populations and our historic fishing industry can responsibly, productively coexist especially in the face of climate change. When the Magnuson-Stevens Act does come up for reauthorization, we’ll be ready to fight for that better world.
