Friday April 17, 2026
Mongabay —
April 13 marked the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), a landmark conservation law credited with saving numerous U.S. fisheries from collapse and protecting vital ocean habitats. Despite decades of success, conservationists warn that recent federal funding cuts could undermine those gains.
The MSA was passed in 1976, in the same decade the Environmental Protection Agency was established, and half a dozen bedrock environmental laws like the Clean Air and Clean Water acts were enacted. It was a time of widespread environmental degradation: Ohio’s Cuyahoga River frequently caught fire and smog choked cities like Los Angeles.