An aggregation of small-mesh bottom trawls off the coast could be ruining a historically significant striper fishery. Man, I hesitate to write this, because I don’t wanna cause any more economic harm to the islands’ charter fleet, by, well, saying it publicly… but I think it’s become so obvious that most striper fishermen already know […]
If you fish offshore, this should concern you greatly… Been hearing rumors for about a month now. But really, just found out that, well, unfortunately, it’s kinda true… The National Ocean Policy is currently #210 on House Freedom Caucus’ list of rules, regulations and policies to remove or revoke in the first 100 days. I […]
Why Laws, Not Politicians, Should Be Managing Fish A few weeks ago, I wrote about the worsening summer founder situation. For some background check it out: “THE HARD TRUTH ON SUMMER FLOUNDER”. That “truth” of course is that summer founder, despite being managed fairly conservatively over the last decade, have had below-average spawning success (aka […]
After years of coordination with stakeholders the final products are out, but what does it mean for us? Late last week, the National Ocean Council released the nation’s first ocean plans. This may not sound like a big deal, but it is. Because really, it’s the first comprehensive effort to provide a holistic, regional look […]
Despite What Some Are Saying, We Have To Do Something with Fluke Over the years, I’ve written a lot about summer flounder… mostly using it as an example of how the conservation provisions of federal fisheries managed law (AKA the Magnuson Stevens Act – MSA) have worked to rebuild stocks… and subsequently provided access to […]
Recent menhaden concentrations give us a glimpse of how good it can be, and how good we can make it. Top Photo: Bass with bunker, by John McMurray All pun intended in that title, but yes, the election is over… And that’s good, ’cause I’m damn tired of it. So let’s move on, and focus […]
Did NOAA take us a few steps back with recent National Standard guidance? How we manage fisheries in federal waters is of course dictated by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). The Act (or law) contains 10 National Standards, which are intended to guide the eight regional management councils when they create fishery […]
Next week the Mid-Atlantic Council has a big decision — you can help them do the right thing There’s no reason to wax here about the extraordinary decline of river herring and shad. If you’ve got some fishing history (particularly striper fishing) under your belt, I’m pretty sure you get it. Bluebacks and alewives (aka […]
