The Importance of Telling Our Story

The Importance of Telling Our Story

Our flight banked beside the National Mall on approach as the sun set orange over Washington, D.C. This was my first trip back since I left my job as a Senate staffer eighteen months before. Some of the fishermen flying in with me had never made this landing; some, like me, had seen it many […]

Slot Limits No Panacea for Summer Flounder

Slot Limits No Panacea for Summer Flounder

The summer flounder population has been in a decline. Such decline is due, in large part, not to overfishing (although modest overfishing has occurred in one or two recent years), but to at least six consecutive years of below-average recruitment of young fish into the flounder population. Biologists haven’t yet figured out why such low […]

Reflections on the 115th Congress and the Future of Fisheries

Reflections on the 115th Congress and the Future of Fisheries

Holiday decorations are up, people are wishing each other “Season’s Greetings” and lawmakers have been busy pushing through legislation in the last few days of the 115th Congress. It’s been an interesting year for fisheries. Both the House and Senate introduced bills that would roll back years of progress in fisheries management. H.R. 200, the […]

Sustainability Doesn’t Always Fit in Your Pocket

Sustainability Doesn’t Always Fit in Your Pocket

Photo via NOAA Understanding the implications of the phrase “sustainable seafood” can be complicated. It can imply that scientific studies indicate that there are enough fish and shellfish in the water to support fishermen today and in the future. It can mean independent evaluations have ranked fisheries on metrics including stock status, impact of the […]