Council Staff, Scientists Caution Against Mid-Atlantic “Harvest Control Rule”

Council Staff, Scientists Caution Against Mid-Atlantic “Harvest Control Rule”

Top photo by John McMurray For more than two years, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Interstate Fishery Management Program Policy Board (Policy Board) have been working on something they call a “Harvest Control Rule” (Control Rule), which could make very significant changes to the way that the […]

Unseemly Haste: Recreational Reform in the Mid-Atlantic

Unseemly Haste: Recreational Reform in the Mid-Atlantic

The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens) has governed federal fishery management since 1976, but for its first 20 years, it was largely ineffective, encouraging the growth of a large, overcapitalized domestic fishing fleet while doing little or nothing to prevent the decline of once-abundant fish stocks. Recognizing Magnuson-Stevens’ shortcomings, Congress eventually passed the […]

Mid-Atlantic Council’s Unmanaged Forage Fish Protections Put to the Test

Mid-Atlantic Council’s Unmanaged Forage Fish Protections Put to the Test

This article originally appeared in the Wild Oceans Horizon newsletter. Meeting the Challenge of a Shifting Prey Base The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s Unmanaged Forage Omnibus Amendment (UFOA) stands as a testament to the value of stakeholder engagement in our fishery management process. The amendment “prohibits the development of new and expansion of existing directed […]

Mid-Atlantic Black Sea Bass: “Is The Magnuson Act Optional?”

Mid-Atlantic Black Sea Bass: “Is The Magnuson Act Optional?”

Of all the fisheries on the East Coast, the mid-Atlantic black sea bass stock may present the most challenging management issues. The fish aren’t in immediate peril; the most recent stock assessment update indicated that spawning stock biomass was more than twice the target level. Overfishing is not taking place, and young fish continue to […]

Recreational Fishery Reform in the Mid-Atlantic: Sidestepping Magnuson-Stevens?

Recreational Fishery Reform in the Mid-Atlantic: Sidestepping Magnuson-Stevens?

Since March 2019, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council), in conjunction with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), has been working on what they call the “Recreational Reform Initiative,” (Initiative) a project that could completely change the way recreational fisheries are managed in the mid-Atlantic region. The Council describes the Initiative this way: The […]

Bluefish: “Either We Have a Risk Policy Or We Don’t”

Bluefish: “Either We Have a Risk Policy Or We Don’t”

Bluefish photo by John McMurray On Tuesday, June 8, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Bluefish Management Board (Management Board) finalized their joint Atlantic Bluefish Allocation and Rebuilding Amendment (amendment). When the amendment process began in 2017, it only addressed allocation, but after a 2019 operational stock assessment […]

Optimum Yield Analysis Missing from Most Regional Fishery Management Council Debates

Optimum Yield Analysis Missing from Most Regional Fishery Management Council Debates

Top photo by John McMurray The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) requires that “Conservation and management measures shall prevent overfishing while producing, on a continuing basis, the optimum yield from each fishery for the United States fishing industry.” MSA also states, in part, that “The term ‘optimum,’ with respect to the yield from […]

At Last Week’s ASMFC/MAFMC Meeting, Here’s What Went Down

At Last Week’s ASMFC/MAFMC Meeting, Here’s What Went Down

Big Cuts for Bluefish, While Scup and Black Seabass Dodge a Bullet This article first appeared on Fissues.org On Dec 10th and 11th, the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission met jointly to complete 2020 recreational fishing specifications for bluefish, summer flounder, scup and black seabass. Here’s what happened. […]