Celebrating the Little Fish that Serve as the Beating Heart of the Ocean

Last weekend I enjoyed a late afternoon of surfing on the Alabama coast in some mellow, early summer waves (yes, there are actually surfable waves—and amazing beaches—in Alabama). As I sat on my board, looking to the horizon, I saw several small fish jump out of the water, splashing up a small spray of water before disappearing again into the blue-green waters of the Gulf. Above me, Brown Pelicans scudded by in a perfect line cutting across the sky. Legs dangling underwater, I was reminded again of the flurry of activity always in motion beneath the waves, an ocean teeming with plants and wildlife that help sustain every living thing on this planet.  

World Oceans Day is June 8, a global day of celebrating and committing to protecting the ocean and marine resources that sustain us. This year’s theme is “Sustainable Fishing Means More…,” suggesting that we each fill in the blank of that sentence based on our needs and values. In the bird world, sustainable fishing means more thriving seabirds. 

Fish are critically important to the ocean ecosystem. Forage fish, those tiny, schooling species that serve as prey for larger fish, as well as for marine mammals and seabirds act as ocean energy highways, transferring energy from the bottom of the food web to the top.  

From climate change, to pollution, to habitat loss and impacts from extractive activities, seabirds are threatened at every part of their lifecycle. Seabirds spend almost their entire lives at sea, touching land only to nest, underscoring the importance of the marine ecosystem as key to seabirds’ long-term survival.  

Forage fish are the primary food source for seabirds, and the health of these seafaring birds depends on healthy fisheries for their survival. This study analyzed the reproductive success of Atlantic Puffins, Razorbills, and Common Murres when preferred, high energy prey are less available, underscoring the importance of the need to protect and restore forage fish populations around the world. 

Managing our fisheries for the benefit of both humans and wildlife is one tool to ensure that seabirds and marine mammals have enough fish left in the ocean to successfully feed and reproduce. For many years, Audubon has actively supported the passage of the Forage Fish Conservation Act, which will expand protections for forage fish in the country’s only federal fisheries law, the Magnuson-Stevens Act. While we celebrate the success of this decades-old law in creating more sustainable fisheries around the country, it does not currently differentiate between forage fish and larger fish, failing to manage forage fish for their critical role in the ecosystem, as they transfer energy from tiny organisms like zooplankton to larger predators including seabirds, marine mammals, and larger fish.  

This week, Reps. Debbie Dingell (MI) and Brian Mast (FL) reintroduced the Forage Fish Conservation Act in the U.S. House just in time for World Oceans Day. We thank these congressional leaders for championing this important legislation. 

Adding to the good news this week, Reps. Jared Huffman (CA), Ed Case (HI), and James Moylan (Guam) reintroduced the Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act. Similar to the Forage Fish Conservation Act, this bill would update and expand the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Not only would it also grant better protections to forage fish and the predators like seabirds that rely on them, but it would also add consideration for climate change to fisheries management plans, protect coastal habitats that act as nurseries for young fish, and reduce the chances that seabirds and other predators are accidentally hooked or entangled in fishing line. 

By updating and improving the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the foundational fishes of our marine ecosystems can continue supporting the wildlife, people, and economies that depend on them. With the impacts of climate change unfolding, there has never been a greater need for defending and strengthening the rules that protect the long-term sustainability of our fisheries, for the benefit of seabirds and other wildlife that need a healthy ocean to survive.