The Caribbean Fishery Management Council (CFMC) is one of eight regional fishery management councils, established under PL 94-265, known as the Magnuson-Stevens Act (the Act) or Sustainable Fisheries Act as amended in 1996, for the conservation and orderly utilization of the fishery resources of the United States of America.
The CFMC includes the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (PR) and the United States Virgin Islands (USVI). It has ten members, seven with vote and three with voice but no vote. Four of the voting members are appointed by the US Secretary of Commerce upon recommendations of the Governors of PR and the USVI. The other voting members are directly designated by the Act: the principal officials from PR and USVI with marine fishery management responsibility, and the Regional Administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Southeast Regional Office (SERO). The three non-voting members are: the Director of the Southeast (Atlanta) Region of the Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Commander of the Seventh (Miami) District of the US Coast Guard (USCG), and a representative from the US Department of State (USDS).
The Caribbean Fishery Management Council is responsible for the creation of management plans for fishery resources (FMPs) in waters off PR and the USVI. FMPs are submitted to the US Secretary of Commerce for approval and implementation in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) upon approval of the Federal Regulation (CFR). Local Governments adopt compatible legislation for the conservation of the fishery resources within local waters around Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands.