The Best Birthday Present Ever: Preserve the Integrity of the Magnuson-Stevens Act

The Best Birthday Present Ever: Preserve the Integrity of the Magnuson-Stevens Act

Photo: From left to right, Bob Rees, Paul Englemeyer & Lyf Gildersleeve It’s different here, in Washington DC. I don’t often find myself traveling 3,000 miles for a birthday party, but here I am, walking the halls of Congress, telling the Oregon delegation of the importance of preserving the most important components of the Magnuson-Stevens […]

Historic Week for Fish in the Pacific Northwest

Historic Week for Fish in the Pacific Northwest

Last week, as we celebrated 40 candles on the cake for the Magnuson Stevens Act, Oregonians got some pretty significant wins for fish just prior. It’s been a long time coming, and even for common-sense measures such as dam breaching and protecting our forage base, it takes a long time and an incredible amount of […]

My Fishing Past, Our Sustainable Future

My Fishing Past, Our Sustainable Future

Photo: Keven Scribner on the Antigone in the 1970s I began commercially fishing in 1976, the year when the original Magnuson Act was signed into law. Chasing salmon, I fished in both Washington state and federal waters, and quickly became acquainted with circumscribed fishing seasons, specific opening times, gear-type restrictions and allowable catch limits. Regulation […]

Part Two: Magnuson and Me

Part Two: Magnuson and Me

This post continues Charles Witek’s two-part personal journey in U.S. fisheries management and conservation. Read Part One here. I had gotten more and more involved with fisheries conservation over the years. By 1996, I sat on the executive board of the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA), an organization that had worked hard to get SFA signed […]

Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Magnuson-Stevens Act

Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Magnuson-Stevens Act

The Magnuson-Stevens Act established a successful framework for sustainable science-based fishery management that is responsive to regional stakeholders while protecting national interests. Authors of the Act had a long-term, bi-partisan commitment to productive fisheries and healthy fishing communities. Our job is to uphold and build on that legacy for future generations. —Linda Behnken, Executive Director, […]

Part One: Magnuson-Stevens and Me

Part One: Magnuson-Stevens and Me

This post is the first in a two-part series about Charles’s personal journey with U.S. fisheries management and the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Read Part Two here. As a boy growing up in the southwest corner of the New England coast, I had no way of knowing that Congress would someday pass the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and […]

The Magnuson-Stevens Act Turns 40

The Magnuson-Stevens Act Turns 40

Some dates are indelible: birthdays, the first day of spring, weddings, graduation. And they certainly can’t be ignored when the anniversary falls on a nice round number. This year we observe 40 years of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), a milestone in the history of the management and conservation of U.S. fisheries. Congress passed the original […]

Big Victory for Little Fish

Big Victory for Little Fish

Feds Finalize Ban on New West Coast Forage Fisheries For more than a decade, Wild Oceans has been a champion for a broader ecosystem approach to managing marine fisheries beginning with protections of predator-prey relationships. On April 4, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued the Final Rule protecting dozens of prey, or forage, species in […]