Colorful tufted puffins nest on islands off the Oregon and Washington coasts, like Haystack Rock at Seaside. Climate change is affecting them and other seabirds, who rely on small, schooling ocean fish known as forage fish to eat and to feed their chicks.
Forage fish are not yet included in federal fisheries management, leaving them vulnerable to overfishing. A new bill in Congress will help reduce the loss of seabird food sources.
The Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act reauthorizes and strengthens the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, our nation’s primary fisheries law. Since the 1970s, this law has successfully recovered fish populations and reduced overfishing.
This bill improves the law for seabirds and coastal communities. It factors in the important role that forage fish play in the ocean, accounts for climate change, and boosts protections for essential fish habitat — the coastal ecosystems that serve as nurseries and feeding grounds for both birds and fish. These habitats also fight climate change by storing carbon.
