On Georges Bank and in the Gulf of Maine, cod stocks have collapsed. A stock assessment update released in October 2015 found that the Gulf of Maine stock was experiencing a fishing mortality rate five times the sustainable level, while abundance had fallen to just 5% of the biomass target. The Georges Bank stock is […]
This blog post appears as part of our “Focus on Forage Fish” series, which highlights the importance of managing prey species for ocean ecosystems. For those who think allocating Atlantic menhaden and other key prey species between fisheries and predators, without the use of highly-complex ecosystem models, would be “arbitrary,” think of it instead the […]
This blog post appears as part of our “Focus on Forage Fish” series, which highlights the importance of managing prey species for ocean ecosystems. In September 2015, I attended the Pacific Fishery Management Council in Sacramento to celebrate the Council’s completion of their first ecosystem-based amendment, three years in the making, which will protect unmanaged […]
This blog post appears as part of our “Focus on Forage Fish” series, which highlights the importance of managing prey species for ocean ecosystems. Well into fall, the sun is setting sooner, the nights are getting colder and the fish are getting fewer. Winter is not far away, and with it, ecosystems start to dramatically […]
Scoping Reveals Emerging Forage Fisheries This post is the first in a new series called “Focus on Forage Fish.” For the next month, many of our blog posts will highlight the importance of managing prey species for the needs of marine ecosystems. At the October 7th meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, we heard disturbing […]
A short while back, I had occasion to join my friend Pietro Parravano on a mission to have his lifeboat repacked. Pietro is a commercial salmon troller out of Half Moon Bay, California, with over thirty years’ experience on the water. He picked me up in his dented, cobwebbed pickup truck from my office in […]
My parents passed on so many priceless outdoor skills and nuggets of wisdom about the woods and waters. Now that I’m an expecting father for the first time, I find myself thinking a lot about what I want to instill in our son. I hope we continue the family appreciation of fast rods, well-designed boats, […]
The recent Science paper on the impacts of rapidly increasing ocean temperatures on cod’s reduced productivity and its long-term rebuilding potential in New England was sobering. It confirmed both the theoretical predictions associated with climate change and the recent scientific federal, state, and Canadian trawl surveys that caught incredibly few cod. To be clear, the […]
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