Optimum Yield Analysis Missing from Most Regional Fishery Management Council Debates

Optimum Yield Analysis Missing from Most Regional Fishery Management Council Debates

Top photo by John McMurray The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) requires that “Conservation and management measures shall prevent overfishing while producing, on a continuing basis, the optimum yield from each fishery for the United States fishing industry.” MSA also states, in part, that “The term ‘optimum,’ with respect to the yield from […]

Released Fish: Neither Discards Nor Bycatch

Released Fish: Neither Discards Nor Bycatch

Bluefish photo by John McMurray Language has power. Although words seem ephemeral, they have the ability to transform how we perceive every part of our world. Just consider the words “used car.” When you first hear them spoken, you might think of some hard-driven clunker sitting on a lot amid dozens of its kind, with […]

Striped Bass & Bluefish: Same Problem, Different Managers, Very Different Approaches

Striped Bass & Bluefish:  Same Problem, Different Managers, Very Different Approaches

Striped bass and bluefish just go together. They’re both premier inshore gamefish of the New England and mid-Atlantic coasts. They frequently prey on the same schools of bait, with the bluefish slashing through the harried forage, while the bass follow beneath, feeding on the dead and the wounded. And they’re both overfished. But that’s where […]

At Last Week’s ASMFC/MAFMC Meeting, Here’s What Went Down

At Last Week’s ASMFC/MAFMC Meeting, Here’s What Went Down

Big Cuts for Bluefish, While Scup and Black Seabass Dodge a Bullet This article first appeared on Fissues.org On Dec 10th and 11th, the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission met jointly to complete 2020 recreational fishing specifications for bluefish, summer flounder, scup and black seabass. Here’s what happened. […]

Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, ASMFC Address Recreational Fisheries Issues

Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, ASMFC Address Recreational Fisheries Issues

Black sea bass, photo by Charlie Witek. When the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Bluefish and Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Boards (Management Boards) held a series of joint meetings early in October 2019, they addressed a number of recreational fisheries issues that, in […]