This article was first published on July 23, 2026 on the Alaska Marine Community Coalition’s Changing Tides Blog. It is reprinted with permission. Top photo: Bristol Bay, Alaska. A new study examining the severe decline of Yukon River Chinook salmon offers an important lesson for fisheries management across Alaska: when changing ecosystem conditions become a […]
This article was first published on April 24, 2026 on the Alaska Marine Community Coalition’s Changing Tides Blog and is reprinted with permission. Top photo: Kodiak Harbor Waterfront, Alaska. This month, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) marks its 50th anniversary. In Alaska, it is more than a policy framework. It is the […]
The following article was originally published on the Alaska Marine Conservation Council’s Changing Tides blog and has been reposted with permission. In federal fisheries management, a lot can depend on one phrase: “to the extent practicable.” It sounds reasonable. But in Alaska, it is often the place where strong conservation actions are softened, delayed, or […]
This article was originally posted on September 18, 2025 on the Alaska Marine Conservation Council’s blog and is reprinted with permission. Top photo via the Alaska Department of Fish & Game.</p> Each year, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) sets the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for groundfish and other fisheries in the Bering Sea […]
Top photo via Linda Behnken In a letter to the U.S. Department of Commerce and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) leadership, the Marine Fish Conservation Network outlined recommendations for promoting economic and food security through policies, endorsed by the Network’s members, supporting science-based fisheries management and thriving working waterfronts. The Network has sent similar […]
Some words bring very clear pictures to mind. In a fisheries context, the word ‘bycatch’ evokes images of industrial-scale commercial fisheries, where miles-long pelagic longlines take an unintended toll of sharks, billfish, and even marine mammals, while factory trawlers sweep the ocean floor with vast nets that scoop up anything that happens to lie, crawl, […]
This article is reprinted with permission from the Wild Oceans Horizon Newsletter Spring 2024. Top photo: river herring The use of ecosystem based fisheries management (EBFM) is widely accepted as the strongest framework for achieving sustainability in fisheries, both in terms of ecological and human well-being. More than a decade ago, the regional fishery management […]
SalmonState’s Melanie Brown joined the Marine Fish Conservation Network for an online Waterside Chat on January 23rd, 2024. Melanie fishes commercially in Bristol Bay in Alaska, the fourth generation of her family to make a living on the water. In her role as outreach director at SalmonState, Melanie builds spheres of influence to address marine […]
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