By Janet Raloff
On Dec. 9, 2006, Congress reauthorized the 30-year-old Magnuson-Stevens Act, a law that sets rules for fishing and ocean management. This is the law’s first wholesale revision since 1996.
Much has happened since then. Fisheries throughout the world are in trouble (SN: 11/4/06, p. 291: Available to subscribers at Worthless Waters: By midcentury, seas’ value may be drained), and some species not targeted for consumption are becoming unintended casualties of fishing fleets (SN: 7/26/03, p. 59: Catch Zero).