The ASMFC was established in l942 by an act of Congress (Public Law 539 of the 77th Congress) granting its consent and approval for an interstate Compact. The purpose of the Compact was to allow the Atlantic seaboard states to work together as a single entity to recommend coastwide management measures to the individual member’s states for those interjurisdictional species found primarily within the states territorial seas and internal marine and estuarine waters.

The Commission is composed of 45 members, three from each of the 15 member states ranging from Maine to Florida. From each state, one commissioner represents the State agency charged with the management of the marine fishery resources, the second commissioner is a member of the Legislature and the third Commissioner is a public member appointed by the Governor.

Interstate Fishery Management Plan (ISFMP) priorities are established by the ISFMP Policy board, made up of the state Commissioners or their delegates and one member each from the NMFS and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Priorities are based upon status of the stock or stocks, importance and economic condition of the fishery and potential effectiveness of plan implementation.Technical committees, composed of Commission staff along with state and federal scientists, develop the plans under the oversight and direction of a species board (a subset of the Policy Committee from states with an interest in the species). This is often done with the cooperation and advice of a Citizen’s Advisory Committee to assure good public participation in the plan development process.

Public hearings are usually held throughout the plan development process. After review and approval by the Policy Board, the proposed plan must be approved and adopted by the full Commission. Fishery management plans are also developed jointly between the ASMFC and one or more regional fishery management councils.

Plan implementation and the enforcement of any regulations or laws so promulgated are up to the individual member states. Although the ASMFC provided a forum for the cooperative development of fishery management plans, prior to 1994 there was no mandate to ensure that individual states implemented the regulatory measures of the plans. In December of 1993, in an effort to improve coastwide fisheries management, the “Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act of 1993” was passed. This Act mandates that states implement and enforce management measures to support approved ASMFC Fishery Management Plans. States failing to comply with the ASMFC plan are subject to a federally imposed moratorium on fishing for the species involved within the waters of the noncomplying state. This provision should ensure that all states will implement those measures necessary to meet the objectives of the respective plans.

Both the ASMFC and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council continue to monitor the resource and the fishery following implementation of the initial plan. Monitoring is necessary to insure that management objectives and regulations remain effective and appropriate as fisheries and fishery stocks change over time and that the regulatory burdens imposed on the sport and commercial sectors are no greater than necessary as changes occur.