Healthy oceans and productive fisheries are crucial for the future of our planet, the survival of our species, and the prosperity of our country. Learn why effective management of U.S. federal fisheries is critical for the long-term conservation of our oceans.
Abundant fisheries begin with the right policies. See how developments on Capitol Hill and in federal agencies affect the people who work on the water. Learn how the Network defends and strengthens federal fisheries policy to work effectively for fishermen, fishing communities, and the oceans on which we all depend.
Watch our monthly Waterside Chats or listen to the podcasts. Read our blog, join our email list and follow the Network on Facebook and Twitter to learn what’s stirring the waters when it comes to fisheries management, working waterfronts, recreational angling and much more.
Molly Masterton joined the Network and host Tom Sadler for an online Waterside Chat on July 14, 2026. Molly is a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, where she works to promote sustainable fisheries management and the application of ecosystem-based management tools to ocean resources in the U.S. and abroad. Watch now: In […]
Top photo via Wikipedia I was 13 years old and excited, because I was finally allowed to join my father and two of his friends on a party boat trip, targeting cod on Rhode Island’s Cox’s Ledge. I had fished for cod before, from other party boats, but they were either half-day trips or trips […]
Trees are often not part of the conversation when talking about fishery management. In Southeast Alaska, however, our region’s fisheries depend on and interconnect with our region’s forests, specifically the Tongass National Forest, the world’s largest coastal temperate rainforest. The future of the Tongass and Southeast Alaska’s fisheries hang in limbo as the U.S. Department […]
Meredith Moore, Director of the Fish Conservation Program at The Ocean Conservancy, joined the Network for an online Waterside Chat on May 27, 2026. Meredith combines a science background with a desire to find pragmatic solutions that work for people and for the environment. Watch her conversation with host Tom Sadler now: Follow on Substack […]
When the Magnuson Act and I first met, it was 1978, and we were both young and inexperienced. I was lucky enough to get a job with the National Coalition for Marine Conservation (NCMC, now Wild Oceans), an organization that was there at the birth of ocean fish conservation and helped mid-wife it. Two years […]
The Marine Fish Conservation Network is a coalition of commercial and recreational fishing associations, regional and national conservation groups, aquaria, sustainable seafood suppliers, and marine science organizations dedicated to sustaining abundant fish populations, healthy marine ecosystems, and thriving fishing communities through defending and strengthening U.S. ocean conservation policy, including our primary federal fisheries law, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Learn more.
