Our Blog: From the Waterfront

Recreational Fishing Economics is All About the Data

Recreational Fishing Economics is All About the Data

Spud Woodward, member of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, said managing maximum sustainable yield does not work for catch & release fisheries. NMFS Holds First Recreational Fishing Economic Workshop in Nine Years Why is fishing catch and effort data so important to recreational fishing economics? First the obvious, […]

Thoughts on a 28 To 31″ Slot Limit for Stripers

Thoughts on a 28 To 31″ Slot Limit for Stripers

In a Move that Caught Many in the Fishing Business Off-Guard, ASMFC Takes Emergency Action I run a light-tackle charter-fishing operation in New York, so let me start by saying that the striped bass fishing right now is good… I mean, really good! As is generally the case with recreational fisheries, abundance drives participation… and […]

ASMFC Acts to Rebuild Striped Bass

ASMFC Acts to Rebuild Striped Bass

On May 2, 2023, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board (Board) took two decisive actions that will hopefully ensure that the currently overfished striped bass stock will be fully rebuilt by 2029. Six months ago, such actions didn’t appear to be needed. The ASMFC’s Atlantic Striped Bass Technical Committee […]

Watch the Waterside Chat with Eric Brazer

Watch the Waterside Chat with Eric Brazer

Eric Brazer joined host Tom Sadler for a Waterside Chat on April 26th, 2023. Eric is the deputy director of the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance, a member of the Network’s Policy Council, and a voice on behalf of science-based management of Gulf Red Snapper and other species. Among many other things, Eric […]

Watch the Waterside Chat with Bob Rees

Watch the Waterside Chat with Bob Rees

Bob Rees of the Northwest Guides and Anglers Association joined Waterside Chat host Tom Sadler on April 19, 2023 to talk about salmon, steelhead and conservation in the Pacific Northwest. Among many topics, they discussed: How climate change and forest-clearing have raised water temperatures in many streams to the point that juvenile salmonids cannot thrive […]

ASMFC’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board Faces a Crucial Test

ASMFC’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board Faces a Crucial Test

Top photo by John McMurray On the morning of March 30, 2023, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Atlantic Striped Bass Technical Committee (Technical Committee) held a meeting, where it agreed that the currently overfished striped bass population will probably not be rebuilt by the 2029 rebuilding deadline. The news was not a surprise. […]

National Marine Fisheries Service Approves Mid-Atlantic ‘Control Rule’

National Marine Fisheries Service Approves Mid-Atlantic ‘Control Rule’

Top photo: Bluefish, via NOAA On March 9, 2023, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued a final rule approving the so-called “harvest control rule” (Control Rule) adopted by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) at its June 2022 meeting. The Control Rule amends the Council’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass and Bluefish […]