Fisheries policy has a responsibility to be sustainable to ensure that future generations will have access to the same resources we’ve always had the luxury of taking for granted. Fisheries policy also has a responsibility to the people who make a living from the fisheries, whether directly at sea or indirectly at market. Policy needs […]
Our Blog: From the Waterfront
Reflections at the Start of a New Year
The start of a new year is a chance to reflect on the work the Marine Fish Conservation Network has done and start thinking about the year ahead. The end of 2017 marked the completion of my first year at the Network. To say it is all I expected is to understate it by a […]
Report Says Water Cleaner, But Climate Change Taking Its Toll on the Fish
Steve Brustein and Michael Weaver with summer flounder, scup and black sea bass (warm water fish) they caught in Narragansett Bay this summer. Cold water fish like winter flounder have moved out. As a fisherman, I was excited when I first got my eyes on the State of Narragansett Bay and Its Watershed Report that […]
Gulf Chef Speaks Out Against The RED SNAPPER Act
A recent report in Undercurrent News revealed that both the US seafood industry and conservation groups are opposed to HR 3588, or the RED SNAPPER Act. The bill, introduced by Louisiana’s Garret Graves, would transfer management of the red snapper recreational fishery in the Gulf of Mexico from a federal fisheries management council to several […]
We Have Met the Enemy and He is Us
MSA Bill Moving in Congress Doesn’t Conserve Our Fisheries Top photo by John McMurray If you are the same age as me, you’ll probably recall an educational series that ran during commercial breaks in Saturday morning cartoons called “Schoolhouse Rock.” One of my favorites was called “I’m Just a Bill,” and it explained how laws […]
Court Watching Over Red Snapper In Gulf
On December 20, the parties in a federal lawsuit challenging the Department of Commerce’s (Commerce) decision to reopen the 2017 private boat red snapper season in the Gulf of Mexico reached a settlement that should bring an end to the litigation while protecting the red snapper resource. For those unfamiliar with the facts leading up […]
The Face of the Modern Fish Act, Revealed
For more than six months, representatives of the recreational fishing industry and various anglers’ rights organizations have been telling recreational fishermen to support something that they call the “Modern Fish Act,” a bill more formally known as H.R. 2023, the Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act of 2017M (Act). Like one of those miraculous diets that […]
Fisheries Management Gone Right
It’s been about two months since I’ve spent any measureable time on the water here in Oregon. Can’t say I felt I was missing much, when late-run Chinook catches were grim, the rivers were high, and the rain cold and ample. Even the drive down from Portland to the coast tonight seemed unusually long. Been […]