The Bluefish Conundrum

The Bluefish Conundrum

It’s difficult to describe what fishing for bluefish was like in Long Island Sound forty or fifty years ago. Back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, and for a while after that, bluefish defined the summer fishery along the Connecticut shore. Every morning, in at least one local harbor, untold hundreds of bluefish, many of them […]

Why Do We Need a Crisis to ‘Organize?’

Why Do We Need a Crisis to ‘Organize?’

I’ve spent a fair amount of my adult life organizing anglers to do good for fish. It seems that unless there’s a crisis (i.e. hatcheries closing) most anglers are content just going about their business, taking advantage of the good times, and critiquing agency policy during the bad times. I think it may stem from […]

Bristol Bay Update: Your Chance to Help Protect the Bay Today

Bristol Bay Update: Your Chance to Help Protect the Bay Today

Top photo: Brown bear fishing in the Bristol Bay watershed, just one of the countless animals that depend on the bounty of the bay At the Marine Fish Conservation Network, we’ve advocated for protecting Bristol Bay in Alaska for many years. Today we have news to share and an opportunity for you to take action […]

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 […]

Watch our Waterside Chat about Bristol Bay and Pebble Mine

Watch our Waterside Chat about Bristol Bay and Pebble Mine

As news of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency decision about Bristol Bay and Pebble Mine broke last week, Sam Snyder of the Wild Salmon Center and Scott Hed with Businesses for Bristol Bay joined Waterside Chat host Tom Sadler on May 25th for a wide-ranging and highly informative discussion about the bay and the people […]

Restoring Resilience: Anglers Must Lead on Climate Change

Restoring Resilience: Anglers Must Lead on Climate Change

This article first appeared in Moldy Chum and is reprinted with permission. Top photo: Fly fishing on the South Fork of the Boise River, Idaho At the end of February, the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released another massive report — this one pulled together by researchers from 67 countries — describing […]

The America COMPETES Act moves on to the Senate: What’s relevant to MFCN?

The America COMPETES Act moves on to the Senate: What’s relevant to MFCN?

In early February, the House passed the America COMPETES Act, a bill that intends to enhance U.S. competitiveness with China by strengthening America’s supply chain, among other things. The bill has now moved on to the Senate where it is expected to be conferenced with Senate legislation that passed last year. The Senate bill was […]

Rep. Huffman Reintroduces Salmon Habitat Restoration Legislation

Rep. Huffman Reintroduces Salmon Habitat Restoration Legislation

Rep. Huffman is no stranger to the importance of salmon to the Pacific Northwest or the challenges these iconic fish face, as stated in his press release for the reintroduction of the Salmon FISH Act (H.R. 649): “The ecological, cultural, and economic importance of salmon is hard to overstate; they support tens of thousands of […]