A newborn lemon shark with its placenta still attached. Photo courtesy of Sonny Gruber About one-fourth of all fish caught are discarded dead as unwanted bycatch. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard

Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act, U.S.A. In the fall of 1996, the U.S. Congress reauthorized and strengthened the original Magnuson Fisheries Act of 1976, under which many fish populations had experienced dramatic declines. More than one-third of assessed fisheries in the U.S. are now considered to be overfished. The new, renamed Magnuson-Stevens Act will help to end overfishing and begin to rebuild fish populations, reduce wasteful bycatch of nontargeted species, and protect marine and estuarine habitat that is essential for the spawning, breeding, and feeding of marine species. Magnuson-Stevens represents a major shift in fisheries management, because it requires government managers and scientists to focus on the long-term economic and ecological health of fisheries. Its emphasis on habitat protection is particularly important, but overfishing is still the primary cause of declining populations. 1 of 2