Report to Congress: the state of science to support an ecosystem approach to regional fishery management, pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, Section 406

Section 406 of the 2006 Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act charged NMFS, in consultation with the Fishery Management Councils, to undertake a study on the “state of the science for advancing the concepts and integration of ecosystem considerations in regional fishery management.” Section 406 specifies four objectives: 1) form recommendations for scientific data, information, and technology requirements for understanding ecosystem processes and methods for integrating this information from federal, state, and regional sources; 2) form recommendations for processes for incorporating broad stakeholder participation; 3) form recommendations for processes to account for effects of environmental variation on fish stocks and fisheries; and 4) describe existing and developing Council efforts to implement ecosystem approaches, including lessons learned by the Councils.