Ohio River Fisheries Management Team
The Ohio River Fisheries Management Team was organized in 1990 in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on ownership of the river. Below is the text of the Memorandum of Understanding for Interstate Fisheries Management of the Ohio River:
The Ohio River originates in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the confluence of the Allegheny River and Monongahela River. It serves as a boundary between the commonwealth of Kentucky and the states of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. The Ohio River also forms a boundary between the states of West Virginia and Ohio. Among other immense benefits, this river represents one of the nation’s major fisheries resources. While the authority and responsibility for the protection and management of this fishery is vested in the individual states, it is recognized that fish are mobile with no regard for political boundaries. It is also recognized that numerous Ohio River fishery issues of common concern exist among the six states. It is further recognized that the effectiveness of long-term fisheries management efforts by the individual states could be substantially enhanced through the collaborative pooling of resource information and management programs to the fullest extent possible. It is therefore deemed to be in the best interests of the fishery resources and the citizens of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia for the undersigned parties to pursue cooperative interstate fisheries management of the Ohio River as follows:
1. Develop shared fisheries management objectives;
2. Coordinate regulatory responsibilities, conduct joint management
programs and facilitate technical information exchange among the
states and with other governmental, public and private interests;
3. Designate and maintain at least one agency representative to serve
on an “Ohio River Fisheries Management Team”;
4. Convene the “Ohio River Fisheries Management Team” at least
annually to discuss, plan and report on cooperative fisheries
management efforts;
5. Recognize that this memorandum of understanding shall neither
obligate the parties to expenditure of funds nor in any way affect the
legal authorities vested in the individual states; and
6. Retain this memorandum of understanding until it is modified or
terminated by those who signed this agreement.
Learn more about Ohio River regulations.
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