Our Blog: From the Waterfront

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 […]

Now at Bat: Anchovies

Now at Bat: Anchovies

Leaving Enough Baitfish in the Water Top Photo: Humpback Whale Often overlooked baitfish, specifically anchovies in this case, were the topic of discussion at a recent meeting in Astoria that I participated in. A couple of commercial seine boats made a big splash in the lower Columbia River last summer. There’s no hiding it; with […]

Strengthening Small-Scale Fisheries

Strengthening Small-Scale Fisheries

Top Photo: Kodiak Harbor Waterfront, Alaska In early February, Duke University and the Oak Foundation hosted an international workshop focused on supporting small-scale fisheries. I participated in a panel addressing the successes and challenges of small-scale fisheries. Workshop attendees included academics, representatives from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO), conservation and rural development […]

Endgame for Blueback Herring

Endgame for Blueback Herring

Top Photo: Pair Trawlers off Rhode Island, by Mike Laptew. I have been working on river herring-related issues for the past 25 years and was one of the first anglers/conservationists to jump up and call attention to the fact that river herring were disappearing rapidly before our eyes. We are quite literally at the bottom […]

I Kid You Not, Cod Fishing is Hot

I Kid You Not, Cod Fishing is Hot

Photo: Steve Brustein and Capt. Dave Monti with cod caught at the East Fishing Grounds three miles east of Block Island on No Fluke Charters. Cod fishing is good off the Rhode Island coast. Contraire to what is being experienced in the Gulf of Maine, cod fishing for recreational anglers off Rhode Island has been […]