Our Blog: From the Waterfront

Stakeholders Tell the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to Rebuild Striped Bass

Stakeholders Tell the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to Rebuild Striped Bass

Note: Public comments on the PID will be taken through 5:00 p.m. on April 9. See below for details. Throughout the month of March, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) held webinar/hearings, seeking stakeholder comments on future striped bass management measures. The comments were focused on issues raised in the Public Information Document For […]

Celebrating Women in Fishing: Hannah Heimbuch

Celebrating Women in Fishing: Hannah Heimbuch

For National Women’s History Month, the Marine Fish Conservation Network is celebrating women’s contributions to America’s commercial fishing industry. We have been delighted to share the views and experiences of a few of these women with you. Today, we hear from Hannah Heimbuch, who was born and raised in Homer, AK and currently lives in […]

Celebrating Women in Fishing: Leigh Thomet

Celebrating Women in Fishing: Leigh Thomet

Winter crab fishing, Kodiak Continuing our celebration of National Women’s History Month, the Marine Fish Conservation Network has been highlighting the contributions of women to America’s fishing tradition. Several women are sharing their experiences in the commercial fishing industry with us. In this blog post, we hear from Leigh Thomet from Kodiak, Alaska. She fishes […]

Developing Enhanced Ways To Count Recreational Catch

Developing Enhanced Ways To Count Recreational Catch

Top photo: Francine Karp, CEO of Harbor Light Software, has been a pioneer in the development of electronic recording software for fisheries. One of the biggest challenges we face as a fishing community is how to accurately estimate recreational catch and effort. It drives everything… allowable catch limits, harvest limits, allocations between sectors and today, […]

Optimum Yield Analysis Missing from Most Regional Fishery Management Council Debates

Optimum Yield Analysis Missing from Most Regional Fishery Management Council Debates

Top photo by John McMurray The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) requires that “Conservation and management measures shall prevent overfishing while producing, on a continuing basis, the optimum yield from each fishery for the United States fishing industry.” MSA also states, in part, that “The term ‘optimum,’ with respect to the yield from […]

The Wave Foundation Logs Impressive Results in 2020

The Wave Foundation Logs Impressive Results in 2020

Like many organizations that focus on public policy, the COVID pandemic upended the Network’s best intentions for 2020. At the start of the year, we planned to continue working on upholding and strengthening the science and conservation-based mandates in federal fisheries policy. As the pandemic’s economic fallout became apparent, we shifted our attention to supporting […]

Striped Bass Management Demonstrates Why Stakeholders Are “Losing Faith” in the ASMFC

Striped Bass Management Demonstrates Why Stakeholders Are “Losing Faith” in the ASMFC

Top photo by John McMurray Striped bass are one of the United States’ most important recreational fish. Between 2010 and 2019, anglers landed more striped bass (measured in pounds) than any other saltwater fish. The bass has paid for its popularity. A benchmark stock assessment released in April 2019 found that female spawning stock biomass […]