The National Environmental Policy Act, informally referred to as “NEPA,” has been called “the Magna Carta of environmental law.” It assures that the public interest in maintaining a healthy environment is protected, by requiring all federal agencies “to incorporate environmental considerations in their planning and decision making,” and compels such agencies to prepare “environmental assessments” […]
ASFMC should move forward with Ecological Reference Points Menhaden have helped make me great memories throughout my guiding career, though those memories are becoming more distant and farther apart. I remember an early morning, guiding Randy and Rusty Walker. Standing firm and patient at the bow, my eyes searched the Indian River Lagoon’s calm coastal […]
It has been quite some time since I went fishing just to catch fish. Or, judged the quality of a fishing day by the number of fish in the box. Good thing, considering the lackluster days I’m tending to have on the famed, yet defamed, Indian River Lagoon (IRL). Black, polluted discharge from nearby canals […]
There is a small but perhaps growing contingent of folks who believe that the fate of the West Coast’s salmon fisheries lies entirely in hatcheries. It’s a logical line to follow: Salmon naturally spawn in freshwater streams located deep in watersheds. But those streams are running dry because of drought, diversions and dams. Hatcheries, on […]
Recently, after a meeting in New Orleans that was held behind closed doors, the state fisheries managers of the Gulf states (Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas) decided to dramatically increase the lengths of their state-water seasons for red snapper, effectively shortening the federal-water seasons for recreational anglers to 11 days. While increasing their seasons, […]
Fall brings to mind one thing for the NW sportsman or -woman, and that is harvest time. Whether you’re deer hunting or pursuing the largest salmon that return to Oregon’s waters, you reap the benefits of some of the finest weather and most-productive period of gathering that Pacific Northwesterners get to witness. There must be […]
If you’re not an angler who fishes the coast somewhere between Virginia and Massachusetts, you may never have heard of a tautog. Where I live on Long Island, we usually call them “blackfish,” which pretty well describes their appearance, although it doesn’t say anything about their white chin and dirty-white belly, or the thick, sturdy […]
Surely there are endless metaphors to describe Representative David Jolly’s (R-Indian Shores, FL) Gulf Red Snapper Data Improvement Act. While not quite a “silver bullet,” I would call it pretty darn close. The proposed Gulf Red Snapper Data Improvement Act does contain important measures, which will not only enhance the Gulf of Mexico reef fishery, […]
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