Program Overview

Guam is required under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to submit a plan every three years to the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (Council) and to the Secretary of the US Department of Commerce that identifies how it will spend the funds that are set aside from the fees that are collected by the United States from Pacific Insular Areas Fishery Agreements (PIAFA), which allow foreign fishing in Guam’s 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).  In addition, the Council also has funds under the Sustainable Fisheries Fund that can be made available to the Pacific Insular Areas.

In order for Guam to receive funds for fishery development related projects under the sustainable Fisheries Fund, it must have an approved Marine Conservation Plan. Guam’s 2017 Marine Conservation Plan (MCP) was approved by the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, on August 4, 2017. The notice was published in the Federal Register on August 16, 2017 (82 FR 38876). Guam’s 2017 Marine Conservation Plan will remain in effect for a 3-year period from August 4, 2017 through August 3, 2020. This MCP supersedes the MCP previously approved for the period August 4, 2014 through August 3, 2017 (79 FR 47095, August 12, 2014).