By Bill Mott, co-founder and senior advisor to World Ocean Project (formerly The Ocean Project), and Suzanne Iudicello, principal at Iudicello and Associates, an environmental consultant firm to fishing organizations, government agencies and foundations. Top photo by Mark Stebniki via Pexels. Conservation advocates were largely the new kids on the dock when it came to […]
Top photo: Fishing boat off the coast of North Carolina, by Mark Stebniki via Pexels Losing Our Competitive Edge: NOAA’s Priorities for American Seafood Why science-based management and conservation are central to American seafood “dominance” The Trump administration has recently declared a goal to increase American dominance in the global seafood market. The United States […]
This article was first published on August 10, 2026 on Conservation Law Foundation’s blog. It is reprinted with permission. Top photo: The fishing industry is key to New England’s culture and history, via EcoPhotography. Five Ways CLF Has Fought to Protect Fish and Fisheries Decades of advocacy have made a difference in New England Fish […]
On July 24, 2026, the recreational fishing tackle industry’s largest trade organization, the American Sportfishing Association (ASA), issued a press release which declared that “Sportfishing Groups Support Rep. Austin Scott’s South Atlantic Red Snapper Fair Access Act.” The press release went on to note, In recent years, recreational anglers in the South Atlantic have been […]
Top photo via Wikipedia I was 13 years old and excited, because I was finally allowed to join my father and two of his friends on a party boat trip, targeting cod on Rhode Island’s Cox’s Ledge. I had fished for cod before, from other party boats, but they were either half-day trips or trips […]
When the Magnuson Act and I first met, it was 1978, and we were both young and inexperienced. I was lucky enough to get a job with the National Coalition for Marine Conservation (NCMC, now Wild Oceans), an organization that was there at the birth of ocean fish conservation and helped mid-wife it. Two years […]
This year’s World Ocean Day hits a little differently. It falls in the 50th anniversary year of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the law that transformed how this country manages its fisheries and set us on a path toward healthier oceans. The ocean provides food, livelihoods, and a natural infrastructure that supports life […]
April 1976 found me at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, finishing up my senior year. I was wandering around campus, drinking too much beer, sleeping too late and, when time allowed, prepping for final exams. It was warm, at least for spring in central New England, so I often wore my […]
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