A new federal rule bans fishermen from catching eight kinds of forage fish in a 200-mile zone off the coasts of Oregon, Washington State and California, reports The Seattle Times. The rule covers round herring, thread herring, Pacific sand lances, Pacific saury, silversides and certain kinds of smelts and pelagic squids—all of which provide food for marine mammals, fish and birds.
The ban is largely preventative in nature, as none of the eight forage fish are currently fished commercially on the West Coast. Some are caught as bycatch, but the aim of the rule is to stop species depletion like the kind that has struck anchovy and sardine populations.
“This is a groundbreaking policy shift in how we approach the remaining unexploited resources in our ocean,” said Geoff Shester, California campaigns director for Oceana, a marine-conservation group.