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Title 16, ConservationRelease 119-110

§5101 Findings and Purpose

Title 16 › CHAPTER 71 — ATLANTIC COASTAL FISHERIES COOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT › § 5101

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Requires the federal government to support and encourage states to work together to conserve and manage fish that live along the Atlantic coast. It pushes states to make, carry out, and enforce strong, shared plans for these fisheries. Many Atlantic fish move across the borders of two or more states and the Federal Government and are valuable for business and recreation. Overfishing, pollution, and habitat loss have severely cut some stocks. No single government controls these fish, so mixed and inconsistent state and federal rules have hurt conservation and fishermen. States are mainly responsible and coordinate through the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, and a failure by one or more states to fully carry out a plan can harm the whole fishery.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §5101

Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Findings
The Congress finds the following:
(1)Coastal fishery resources that migrate, or are widely distributed, across the jurisdictional boundaries of two or more of the Atlantic States and of the Federal Government are of substantial commercial and recreational importance and economic benefit to the Atlantic coastal region and the Nation.
(2)Increased fishing pressure, environmental pollution, and the loss and alteration of habitat have reduced severely certain Atlantic coastal fishery resources.
(3)Because no single governmental entity has exclusive management authority for Atlantic coastal fishery resources, harvesting of such resources is frequently subject to disparate, inconsistent, and intermittent State and Federal regulation that has been detrimental to the conservation and sustainable use of such resources and to the interests of fishermen and the Nation as a whole.
(4)The responsibility for managing Atlantic coastal fisheries rests with the States, which carry out a cooperative program of fishery oversight and management through the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. It is the responsibility of the Federal Government to support such cooperative interstate management of coastal fishery resources.
(5)The failure by one or more Atlantic States to fully implement a coastal fishery management plan can affect the status of Atlantic coastal fisheries, and can discourage other States from fully implementing coastal fishery management plans.
(6)It is in the national interest to provide for more effective Atlantic State fishery resource conservation and management.
(b)Purpose
The purpose of this chapter is to support and encourage the development, implementation, and enforcement of effective interstate conservation and management of Atlantic coastal fishery resources.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This chapter, referred to in subsec. (b), was in the original “this title”, meaning title VIII of Pub. L. 103–206, Dec. 20, 1993, 107 Stat. 2447, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of title VIII to the Code, see

Short Title

note below and Tables.

Amendments

2000—Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 106–555, which directed amendment of par. (3) of this section by substituting “such resources is” for “such resources in”, was executed by making the substitution in par. (3) of subsec. (a), to reflect the probable intent of Congress.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Short Title

of 2000 Amendment Pub. L. 106–555, title I, § 121, Dec. 21, 2000, 114 Stat. 2766, provided that: “This subtitle [subtitle B (§§ 121, 122) of title I of Pub. L. 106–555, amending this section and section 5102, 5103, 5106, and 5107a to 5108 of this title and enacting provisions set out as a note under section 5107 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Act of 2000’.”

Short Title

Pub. L. 103–206, title VIII, § 801, Dec. 20, 1993, 107 Stat. 2447, provided that: “This title [enacting this chapter and amending section 4107 of this title and provisions set out as a note under section 1851 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act’.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 5101

Title 16, Conservation

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110