Linda Behnken Describes the Economic Toll of the Coronavirus Pandemic on America’s Fishermen

Linda Behnken Describes the Economic Toll of the Coronavirus Pandemic on America’s Fishermen

Top photo: Linda Behnken Straight from the waters off Sitka, Alaska, Linda Behnken describes the hardships that the coronavirus pandemic has brought to America’s fishermen. 2020 has been a hard year for her and her fishermen peers, just as it has for all fishermen, coastal communities and many others across country. Fishermen provide our country […]

“Recreational Reform” at the Mid-Atlantic Council

“Recreational Reform” at the Mid-Atlantic Council

Top photo: Charles Witek with black sea bass Since March 2019, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council), in conjunction with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board (Management Board) have been quietly working on changing the way that some recreational fisheries are managed. The reform initiative […]

Pebble Mine Update: What the Army Corps Did and Didn’t Do

Pebble Mine Update: What the Army Corps Did and Didn’t Do

Top Photo: Fly-fishing in Bristol Bay, via World Wildlife Fund If you are following the saga of the proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska, you would be forgiven if you thought recent action by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) was the death knell for the proposed mine. On August 24, the USACE […]

ASMFC Holds Eventful Summer Meeting

ASMFC Holds Eventful Summer Meeting

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) held its regular summer meeting on August 3-6, when it addressed a number of issues that will impact anglers in New England and the Mid-Atlantic. Big decision on Atlantic menhaden The biggest news to come out of the meeting was the Atlantic Menhaden Management Board’s (Menhaden Board) decision […]

Rockfish Recovery in More Ways than One

Rockfish Recovery in More Ways than One

Top: Shortraker rockfish, photo via NOAA Fisheries A lifetime ago, on the day after Christmas last year, the Associated Press published a news story about West Coast fisheries that tens of thousands of Americans read, and you may have read it too. Calling the recovery of rockfish stocks off the West Coast “the biggest environmental […]

Saltwater Fisheries Managers Ignore the Benefits of Catch and Release

Saltwater Fisheries Managers Ignore the Benefits of Catch and Release

Photo by John Papciak, North Bar Media An operational stock assessment, released in August 2019 (Bluefish Assessment) advised that bluefish are overfished. In response, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council), in conjunction with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Bluefish Management Board (Bluefish Board), is preparing a Bluefish Allocation and Rebuilding Amendment (Rebuilding Amendment). […]

It’s Time for the Environmental Protection Agency to Say No to Pebble Mine

It’s Time for the Environmental Protection Agency to Say No to Pebble Mine

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Issues Final Environmental Impact Statement for Pebble Mine UPDATE: On July 31, the U.S. House of Representatives passed funding legislation that included an amendment, sponsored by Rep. Jared Huffman (CA), and co-sponsored by Reps. DeFazio (OR), Speier (CA), Levin, (CA) and Rouda (CA), preventing any funds from being used by the […]

Join the Online Screening of ‘The Wild’ on August 6th and Help Bristol Bay

Join the Online Screening of ‘The Wild’ on August 6th  and Help Bristol Bay

Top photo: Bristol Bay sockeye salmon, via Earthjustice and courtesy Of Fish Eye Guy Photography In “Take Action to Oppose Pebble Mine”, I wrote about the importance of Bristol Bay and the impact the proposed Pebble mine could have on the watershed. While words can help paint a picture, the chance to see what is […]