Abstract

The Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) of the US NOAA Fisheries provides much of the US science advice for the management of Highly Migratory Species (HMS) in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and US Caribbean Sea. These stocks include the tunas, sharks, billfishes and swordfish all of which are targeted either commercially or recreationally or both in US waters. These species are managed internationally through membership to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT); however, while the US is an ICCAT member, few Caribbean nations are members. According to ICCAT (2006), both blue and white marlin are overfished and undergoing overfishing; western Atlantic sailfish are undergoing overfishing and fully exploited; western Atlantic Bluefin tuna are overfished and undergoing overfishing; north Atlantic swordfish are no longer undergoing overfishing and are rebuilding; and Atlantic yellowfin tuna are neither undergoing overfishing nor are overfished.

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