ABSTRACT
The Fisheries Conservation and Management Act (FCMA) was passed to protect the interests of the New England fishing fleets, which were threatened by an influx of foreign fishing vessels at the end of World War II. Relations between the United States and Canada regarding Georges Bank and the neighboring waters became complicated when both countries declared a 200-mile fisheries limit. To implement the goals of the FCMA, Congress established eight Regional Fishery Management Councils to cover New England, the mid-Atlantic area, the South Atlantic, the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific, the North Pacific, and the Western Pacific. The Environmental Defense Fund, a national, nonprofit membership organization, has petitioned the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to amend the present guidelines for fishery management plans. The future of the Georges Bank fishery depends upon where the offshore boundary may lie.
