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 […]
Category Archives: Magnuson-Stevens
A View from the Hill: October 2021
What a year it’s been so far. While infrastructure and reconciliation remain a focus of Capitol Hill and nearly all of D.C., there has been action on several other Network priorities this past year. In January, a stunned nation and world watched a mob swarm the Capitol building, former President Trump was a impeached a […]
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 […]
Salmon are Integral to California’s Coastal Economy. We Must Not Lose Them.
This is a perilous moment for California’s salmon and the communities and businesses that depend on them. As has been widely reported, and as many experts have agreed, the endangered Sacramento River Winter-run Chinook Salmon, which spawns solely in the Sacramento River and its tributaries, could be facing total annihilation this year. But it’s also […]
Science-Based Fisheries for Healthy, Productive and Resilient Marine Ecosystems, Now and for Future Generations
This article was originally published on The Ocean Project blog and was reprinted with permission. View more articles by The Ocean Project. Photo: Allen M. Shimada, NOAA Photo Library “All management should be for the generation coming, not for the generation that’s here today. If all you can think about is your own next year’s […]
Navigating Toward Healthier Oceans and More Productive Fisheries Requires a Climate Change Response in Management
By Linda Behnken and Kevin Scribner, MFCN Policy Council co-chairs For the two of us, climate change is top of mind. It impacts the way we do business, the way we think about the ocean resources we depend on, the way we see our communities surviving into the future. We’re going to have to adapt; […]
Magnuson-Stevens Act Reauthorization: Where We Stand in the 117th Congress
Every ten years, as the story goes, Congress has worked together in a bipartisan fashion to reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). And each time Congress has risen to the occasion to address the new challenges our oceans and fisheries face by amending and strengthening the MSA to conserve and sustain U.S. […]
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 […]