March 3, 2025 — Lawmakers in the U.S. Senate have reintroduced the Modernizing Access to Our Public Oceans (MAPOceans) Act, legislation that would create a digital map of fishing restrictions in federal waters.
First introduced in 2024, the legislation mirrors the 2022 Modernizing Access to our Public Lands (MAPLand) Act, which enhanced access to public lands by digitizing maps and records and allowing users to easily discover hunting and fishing boundaries. The MAPOceans would apply that approach to mapping fishing restrictions in federal waters.