Bad Legislation Threatens Good Fisheries Management

Bad Legislation Threatens Good Fisheries Management

Top Photo: Striped Bass, by John McMurray Fisheries management is a complicated endeavor. Before issuing regulations that will prevent overfishing and maintain healthy fish populations, managers need to consider multiple factors. They must estimate the size of fish populations, and decide whether such populations must be rebuilt. They must determine how many fish are lost […]

Will “Steepness” Stymie Opponents of Fluke Regulations?

Will “Steepness” Stymie Opponents of Fluke Regulations?

If there is one constant in mid-Atlantic fisheries management, it is that restrictions on the recreational summer flounder harvest will always be controversial. That is particularly true in 2017, after six years of below-average recruitment—the number of young fish entering the population—has caused the population to decline to just 58% of the target level, forcing […]

Managing Fisheries Management Uncertainty

Managing Fisheries Management Uncertainty

Fisheries management is not an exact science. Although biologists are constantly refining their stock assessments and population models, there are still many sources of uncertainty. Some of them fall into the category of “scientific uncertainty.” Such scientific uncertainty applies to all of the important parameters, such as stock size and the number of young fish […]

National Academy of Sciences Praises Marine Recreational Information Program

National Academy of Sciences Praises Marine Recreational Information Program

Top photo courtesy John McMurray Whenever fishery managers propose regulations that restrict anglers’ landings, someone will always complain that such rules are not needed, and challenge the data on which they are based. While biological data, such as stock assessments, receive some criticism, most anglers’ rancor is reserved for the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) […]

How Should Fishery Management Councils Spend Most Of Their Time?

How Should Fishery Management Councils Spend Most Of Their Time?

Many fisheries conservation advocates were dismayed when, in October 2016, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) decided that it would not develop a management plan for shad and river herring, fish that some thought should be included as stocks in the Atlantic mackerel, squid and butterfish fisheries. Although I would have preferred to see the […]

How Did Fish Survive Before We Came Along?

How Did Fish Survive Before We Came Along?

I was attending the November meeting of New York’s Marine Resources Advisory Council when the topic of lobsters came up. The southern New England stock of American lobster has collapsed, and a state biologist was doing her best to explain just how far abundance had fallen and what the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) […]