Our Blog: From the Waterfront

And the Fluke Hits the Fan: With Summer Flounder, is it Really Time to Panic?

And the Fluke Hits the Fan: With Summer Flounder, is it Really Time to Panic?

I’ve been raving about the fluke (summer flounder) fishing for several years now. Because it’s been pretty darn good! I mean, it’s basically been a completely different fishery than it was 10 years ago. Simply put, there have been dramatically more and larger fish around, up until fairly recently anyway. It certainly wasn’t always this […]

Fisheries Law Needs to Protect Fishing-Dependent Communities and Small-Boat Fishermen

Fisheries Law Needs to Protect Fishing-Dependent Communities and Small-Boat Fishermen

June was a bad month for fishery-dependent, coastal communities. On the back of the passage of H.R. 1335—a bill that puts short-term economic gains ahead of sustainable fisheries—the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) failed to impose significant bycatch cuts to the Bering Sea/Aleutian Island trawl fleet. As was noted a few weeks ago, Pacific […]

Managing the Fish that Feed an Ancient Treasure

Managing the Fish that Feed an Ancient Treasure

Wait on ‘em Stevie, wait………..hold on……….hold on………. Okay, get him! It can often take a great deal of patience to catch a sturgeon. They’re not aggressive biters but fishing in the lower Columbia River estuary, where there are thousands and thousands of the beasts, is very exciting! This fishery is world-class, but you wouldn’t know […]

Going to the Mat for Fish and Fishermen

Going to the Mat for Fish and Fishermen

On one side: fish. On the other side: fishermen. In the middle: Zeke Grader. For more than four decades, the California-based fishing advocate has worked to find common ground between taking care of the environment and looking out for the needs of family fishermen. Armed with passion and determination, the law school graduate and former […]

Maintaining Our Standards

Maintaining Our Standards

The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, which governs all fishing in federal waters, is an extremely long and complex statute.  However, no part of the law is more important than the ten so-called “National Standards” which set forth the principles that shall govern its implementation. Those national standards are brief, and go into no […]

“Reasonable Access” to Fisheries? What H.R. 1335 Really Means

“Reasonable Access” to Fisheries? What H.R. 1335 Really Means

Early this month the House of Representatives, pretty much on straight party lines, voted out H.R. 1335, the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act. First, let me start by saying that most of the recommended tweaks to federal fishery management law in this piece of legislation are just bad for anglers. […]

America’s Gold is in Our Fisheries

America’s Gold is in Our Fisheries

In the face of serious threats to our nation’s fisheries, fishermen, conservationists, and scientists are coming together to influence policy-makers, educate the public about where our seafood comes from, and support family fishermen and the habitat on which they depend. From author Paul Greenberg’s American Catch to the makers of The Breach documentary about wild […]