Holy Mackerel!

Holy Mackerel!

Did another large-scale fishery really just develop right under our noses? Picking up from where I left off in my last post… I wanted to give readers a rundown on what happened during the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council meeting earlier this month, or at least the “Unmanaged Forage” portion of it. If you read my […]

America’s Fish Need NEPA

America’s Fish Need NEPA

The National Environmental Policy Act, informally referred to as “NEPA,” has been called “the Magna Carta of environmental law.” It assures that the public interest in maintaining a healthy environment is protected, by requiring all federal agencies “to incorporate environmental considerations in their planning and decision making,” and compels such agencies to prepare “environmental assessments” […]

The South Wants Our Menhaden Back

The South Wants Our Menhaden Back

ASFMC should move forward with Ecological Reference Points Menhaden have helped make me great memories throughout my guiding career, though those memories are becoming more distant and farther apart. I remember an early morning, guiding Randy and Rusty Walker. Standing firm and patient at the bow, my eyes searched the Indian River Lagoon’s calm coastal […]

H.R. 3094 is a Fish Grab in the Making

H.R. 3094 is a Fish Grab in the Making

Recently, after a meeting in New Orleans that was held behind closed doors, the state fisheries managers of the Gulf states (Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas) decided to dramatically increase the lengths of their state-water seasons for red snapper, effectively shortening the federal-water seasons for recreational anglers to 11 days. While increasing their seasons, […]