Photo: Keven Scribner on the Antigone in the 1970s I began commercially fishing in 1976, the year when the original Magnuson Act was signed into law. Chasing salmon, I fished in both Washington state and federal waters, and quickly became acquainted with circumscribed fishing seasons, specific opening times, gear-type restrictions and allowable catch limits. Regulation […]
This post continues Charles Witek’s two-part personal journey in U.S. fisheries management and conservation. Read Part One here. I had gotten more and more involved with fisheries conservation over the years. By 1996, I sat on the executive board of the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA), an organization that had worked hard to get SFA signed […]
The Magnuson-Stevens Act established a successful framework for sustainable science-based fishery management that is responsive to regional stakeholders while protecting national interests. Authors of the Act had a long-term, bi-partisan commitment to productive fisheries and healthy fishing communities. Our job is to uphold and build on that legacy for future generations. —Linda Behnken, Executive Director, […]
This post is the first in a two-part series about Charles’s personal journey with U.S. fisheries management and the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Read Part Two here. As a boy growing up in the southwest corner of the New England coast, I had no way of knowing that Congress would someday pass the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and […]
Some dates are indelible: birthdays, the first day of spring, weddings, graduation. And they certainly can’t be ignored when the anniversary falls on a nice round number. This year we observe 40 years of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), a milestone in the history of the management and conservation of U.S. fisheries. Congress passed the original […]
Feds Finalize Ban on New West Coast Forage Fisheries For more than a decade, Wild Oceans has been a champion for a broader ecosystem approach to managing marine fisheries beginning with protections of predator-prey relationships. On April 4, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued the Final Rule protecting dozens of prey, or forage, species in […]
Striped Bass Photo by Capt. John McMurray Did you ever get a phone call that was so outrageous it forced you to experience confusion, anxiety, and rage, leading to an immediate headache all within about one minute? I had one of those calls a few days ago, and although the headache went away, the fear, […]
Photo: Bob Rees with Chris Sessions on the Wilson River near Tillamook, OR. (Photo by Buzz Ramsey) It isn’t every day that you get a call from the legendary Buzz Ramsey to go fishing one of “his” two rivers, in which he made a name for himself. There aren’t many anglers in the Pacific Northwest […]
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