This article was adapted from the Alaska Marine Conservation Council’s blog and reposted with permission. Top photo: Alaskabrown bear with chum salmon, by Alan Vernon via Wikipedia At the recent North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) meeting in February, the Alaska Marine Conservation Council (AMCC) testified, urging decisive action to address chum salmon bycatch in […]
U.S. Representatives Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and Rob Wittman (R-VA) have once again reintroduced the bipartisan Keep America’s Waterfronts Working Act, H.R. 1808. “The Keep America’s Waterfronts Working Act is welcomed legislation for restoring and maintaining waterfront infrastructure and ensuring ocean access for commercial businesses, recreation, tourism, and traditional uses,” said MFCN Executive Director Robert Vandermark. […]
Let’s Get a Few Things Straight Full disclosure before I write one word… While there’s been a LOT going on with striped bass the last couple of years, I haven’t really been involved. I no longer have a seat at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission table, and I’m no longer associated with any particular […]
On December 16, 2024, conservation-minded striped bass anglers waited to see whether the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Striped Bass Management Board (Management Board) would vote to reduce 2025 striped bass landings, and so make it more likely that the currently overfished striped bass stock would be rebuilt by 2029, the deadline set by […]
The black sea bass is the enigma of mid-Atlantic fisheries. Since 2007, when the spawning stock biomass (SSB) was barely above the threshold that denotes overfishing, the stock has staged a remarkable comeback, with SSB reaching a high of 24,680 metric tons (mt), approximately 220 percent of the biomass target, in 2022. The SSB has […]
By any objective measure, the coastal migratory population of Atlantic striped bass has fallen on hard times. In Maryland, the juvenile abundance index (JAI), which has gauged the success of each year’s spawn since 1957, was 2.0 in 2024, far below its long-term average of 11.0. It was the sixth consecutive year of spawning failure […]
On Wednesday, August 14, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board voted to ignore the results of the Black Sea Bass 2024 Management Track Stock Assessment Report (Management Track Assessment), and leave the acceptable biological catch (ABC) and annual catch limit (ACL) for 2025 unchanged from […]
Photo: Charles Witek in a different era of fishing technology When I was young, marine recreational fisheries, at least in the northeast, were virtually unregulated. There was a 16-inch (fork length) minimum size for striped bass that was in place throughout the region, but other than that, anglers could take as many fish as they […]
Join our email list to receive occasional updates and priority alerts
