The American Fisheries Society crafted 38 official policy statements from 1933 to 2016 to provide science-based, objective information for policy makers.

Under AFS rules, “[u]nless specified otherwise, all policy statements will be reconsidered by the [Resource Policy Committee] after five years to assure relevancy to current membership concerns.” AFS Policy staff completed a detailed review of the Society’s policy work in 2016, deciding to shift from this type of policy statements and background documents to a more proactive effort designed to reflect opportunities to make use of the best available information on fisheries and aquatic resources.

Please see our recent policy statements that were crafted through a new process; all other policies and background documents are listed below in our “archives.” Those documents are available for historical purposes and do not necessarily reflect Society positions or best available knowledge.

Archived AFS Policy Statements

• North American Fisheries Policy
•  AFS Overview Policy on Man-Induced Ecological Problems — Human Population Growth and Technology
•  Nonpoint Source Pollution
•  Sedimentation
•  Cumulative Effects of Small Modifications to Habitat
•  Effects of Toxic Substances in Surface Waters
•  Policies on Two Issues of Environmental Concern
•  Coping with Point Source Discharges
•  Effects of Altered Stream Flows on Fishery Resources
•  Protection of Threatened and Endangered Aquatic Species
•  Beverage Container Legislation
•  Construction and Operation of Oil and Gas Pipelines
•  Strategies for Stream Riparian Area Management
•  Introductions of Aquatic Species
• Guidelines for Use of Fishes in Field Research (full statement)
• Tidal Power Development and Estuarine and Marine Environments (summary) (full statement)
•  Marine Wilderness (summary) (full statement)
•  Guidelines for Introduction of Threatened and Endangered Fishes (summary) (full statement)
•  Marine Plastic Debris (summary) (full statement)
• Transgenic Fishes (summary) (full statement)
• Commercial Aquaculture (summary) (full statement)
• Effects of Livestock Grazing on Riparian Stream Ecosystems (summary) (full statement)
• Ballast Water Introduction (summary) (full statement)
• Hydropower Development (full statement)
• Bycatch Reduction Devices as a Conservation Measure (summary) (full statement)
• Conservation of Imperiled Species and Reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (summary) (full statement)
• Special Fishing Regulations for Managing Freshwater Sport Fisheries (summary) (full statement)
• Biodiversity (summary) (full statement)
• Responsible Use of Fish and Other Aquatic Organisms (summary) (full statement)
• (a) Protection of Marine Fish Stocks at Risk of Extinction (summary) (full statement), (b) Management of Sharks and Their Relatives (Elasmobranchii) (summary) (full statement), (c) Long-lived Reef Fishes: The Grouper-Snapper Complex (summary) (full statement), (d) Management of Pacific Rockfish (summary) (full statement)
• Dam Removal (summary) (full statement)
• Climate Change (full statement)
• Lead in Sport Fishing Tackle (full statement)
• Need for an Immediate-Release Anesthetic/Sedative for Use in the Fisheries Disciplines (full statement)
• Mining and Fossil Fuel Extraction (full statement revised 2016)