New legislation will improve marine resource conservation and promote innovative new fishing gear This post first appeared in Fishing Wire and is reprinted with permission Last Tuesday, Senators Feinstein (D-Calif.), Capito (R-W.Va.) and Harris (D-Calif.) introduced S.2773 the Driftnet Modernization and Bycatch Reduction Act to phase out the use of mile-long drift gillnets in the […]
Category Archives: Featured
Live Bluefish Matter
Anglers and bluefish have a complicated relationship. We call them “yellow-eyed demons” when they show up in the surf, attacking lures meant for striped bass. And we call them worse things farther offshore, when they show up to ruin shark baits and mangle carefully-rigged—and expensive—ballyhoo intended for tuna. But when they burst through the surface […]
Gulf Deep Sea Corals Deserve Protection
Photo: Gulf deep sea corals, via NOAA Many people would probably be surprised to learn that the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council occasionally takes up issues that are not related to red snapper allocation. Of course I’m being a bit sarcastic, but a lot of the Council’s time does seem to be dominated by […]
Commercial Fishermen — Entrepreneurs, Problem Solvers, and Conservationists
Commercial fishing in the U.S. provides sustainable seafood to consumers across the world. Our waters historically have provided fertile fishing grounds, and the U.S. has some of the most rigorously managed fisheries in the world, between individual states’ fishing policies, regional management councils, and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Commercial fishermen take pride […]
Summit Innovations Can Be Done Under Present MSA
Photo: Secretary Wilbur Ross, Department of Commerce and NOAA Chief Rear Admiral, Timothy Gallaudet, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere. The National Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Summit sponsored by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries department was held March 28 and 29 at the Westin Crystal City hotel in Arlington, VA. One […]
A Conservative History of Environmentalism
Photo: President Nixon signs the executive order creating the EPA, flanked on his right by William Ruckelshaus, the agency’s first administrator Let’s look at a few quotes from past Presidents and see if you can guess who said them: You’re worried about what man has done and is doing to this magical planet that God […]
Hope & Hype At The Recreational Summit
On March 28 and 29, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), with the cooperation of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Service (ASMFC), held the 2018 Recreational Fishing Summit in Alexandria, Virginia. Such summits have been held every four years or so. I’ve attended the last few, and in previous years was underwhelmed, as the programs […]
Fishing For Invested Anglers
Coho Salmon in Oregon’s Tillamook State Forest. Photo courtesy Wikipedia/Oregon Department of Forestry. Anglers from across the nation converged in Washington DC recently, this angler included, for the National Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Summit to discuss gains and losses that the sportfleet has experienced in recent times. The take-away: recreational fishermen care about the future of […]