Chapter 24: Oceans & Fisheries (1950-Present)
The period from the 1950s to the present is a time of key jurisdictional and conceptual changes in the U.S. management of ocean areas and resources; it is also a time of significant practical changes in the ecological health of ocean environments. Conceptually, ocean and coastal resource agencies, such as the Nation Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and the Minerals Management Service (MMS) have continuously struggled to balance protection of marine environments with economically productive uses of these environments and their considerable resources. What has changed, however, in some cases appreciably, is the practical success of such balancing, especially the extent to which conservation and broader environmental protection were pursued and attained in the face of economic and resource pressures. The nation also experienced important shifts in scientific, managerial, and societal definitions of conservation, with an increasing policy emphasis on a holistic, multispecies, ecosystem-based view of management objectives. Finally, in terms of ocean authority and jurisdiction, contemporary U.S. ocean policy is marked by some notable expansions.