Productive, sustainable and diverse ocean fish populations provide numerous benefits to fishing nations, including providing food, creating jobs, generating revenue, and contributing to a nation’s culture, identity and ecological healthy. 20 years ago, many important U.S. fisheries were highly depleted, the management system was inadequate to the challenge, and the future of healthy ocean fisheries for the country was in doubt. After 40 years of evolving fisheries law and policy, through putting in place a strong federal fisheries management structure, providing a framework for rebuilding overfished fisheries and requiring annual science-based catch limits to preserve stable fisheries and ensure an end to overfishing, as well as comprehensive monitoring and enforcement of fisheries laws, and reducing overcapacity, U.S. has achieve substantive success in many commercial and recreational fishing industries, resulting in growth for the overall economy of a nation.

The U.S. experience offer insights into regulatory approaches, scientific principles, and management practices to end overfishing, recover depleted fish stocks, and enable prosperous fishing industry. The paper provides an overview of the evolution of U.S. federal fisheries law, discussing the major components related to ending overfishing, rebuilding depleted fisheries, reducing overcapacity and monitoring and enforcement regulations. Challenges and Successes of the system are examined.