Striped Bass Demonstrate the Need to Hold Fishermen Accountable

Striped Bass Demonstrate the Need to Hold Fishermen Accountable

Actions have consequences. At least they should. If someone does something that is contrary to the public interest, they ought to pay an appropriate price for the harm that they do. But when it comes to fisheries management, things don’t always work out that way. For a very long time, fishermen were allowed to overfish, […]

You Are What You Eat, You Are From Where You Eat: We Are Bristol Bay

You Are What You Eat, You Are From Where You Eat: We Are Bristol Bay

Read the first part of this two-article series. Top photo: Kevin Scribner. I belong to a food movement called Slow Food, with a tributary called Slow Fish. Slow Food began in Italy, in the late 1980’s, as a reaction to the McDonald’s fast food chain showing up in Rome. Slow Food & Fish has three […]

Tears of Joy: A Bristol Bay Free from Pebble Mine

Tears of Joy: A Bristol Bay Free from Pebble Mine

Read the second part of this two-article series. It was with great joy that I commercially fished for salmon this summer in Bristol Bay, Alaska, and for a very personal reason. I had returned after a hiatus of some twenty years to help a friend establish a shore-based, family-friendly commercial setnet camp for his youngest […]

Powerful Voices for the Future of Our Fisheries

Powerful Voices for the Future of Our Fisheries

Photo by Network blogger John McMurray Since we launched our “From the Waterfront” blog in 2015, the Marine Fish Conservation Network has been proud to feature the voices of Americans deeply committed to protecting our fisheries, both for the communities who rely on them today and for generations yet to come. From commercial and recreational […]

Striped Bass Management: What If Magnuson-Stevens Applied?

Striped Bass Management:  What If Magnuson-Stevens Applied?

Photo: Capt. Dave Monti with Block Island striped bass. On August 8, 2019, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board (Management Board) met to consider the future of the striped bass fishery. A benchmark stock assessment released in May 2019 (2018 Assessment) had determined that the striped bass stock was […]

Status of Stocks Report Reminds Us of the Importance of Science-Based Fisheries Management

Status of Stocks Report Reminds Us of the Importance of Science-Based Fisheries Management

Earlier this month, NOAA released its 2018 Report to Congress on the Status of U.S. Fisheries, the agency’s annual requirement to update lawmakers on how our nation’s federal fisheries are faring. For all of us, it’s an opportunity to assess how successfully these crucial marine resources are being managed and what, if any, tweaks need […]

Public Comments Still Needed for Atlantic Striped Bass

Public Comments Still Needed for Atlantic Striped Bass

Top photo by John McMurray Here is a post-ASMFC meeting round up and what needs to happen next. In early August, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission met and took action on Atlantic striped bass. “The Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board (Board) approved Draft Addendum VI for public comment. The Addendum was initiated in […]