Mid-Atlantic Black Sea Bass: “Is The Magnuson Act Optional?”

Mid-Atlantic Black Sea Bass: “Is The Magnuson Act Optional?”

Of all the fisheries on the East Coast, the mid-Atlantic black sea bass stock may present the most challenging management issues. The fish aren’t in immediate peril; the most recent stock assessment update indicated that spawning stock biomass was more than twice the target level. Overfishing is not taking place, and young fish continue to […]

The Wild Steelhead Coalition’s Call to Arms

The Wild Steelhead Coalition’s Call to Arms

“As fish runs have fallen year after year, we all crowd onto the few rivers that still remain open and pointlessly argue online about who is to blame for the situation. The baseline has kept shifting downward until today when we have reached an undeniable inflection point where hype has finally run up against heartbreaking, […]

Because It’s Always Easier to Conserve Someone Else’s Fish

Because It’s Always Easier to Conserve Someone Else’s Fish

Top photo by by Mark Conlin, SWFSC Large Pelagics Program In September 2021, at a meeting of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), the United States, supported by the European Union and other nations, proposed that NAFO ban the retention of Greenland sharks accidentally caught in the Arctic and western Atlantic waters that fall under […]

The Pendulum Swings for Bristol Bay

The Pendulum Swings for Bristol Bay

Top photo: Bristol Bay sockeye salmon, via Earthjustice and courtesy Of Fish Eye Guy Photography The fight to protect Bristol Bay’s still near-pristine ecosystem, which includes the world’s largest run of wild salmon, untainted by hatchery fish—or, if you’re on the other side of the issue, the fight to develop the Pebble Mine and its […]

Recreational Fishery Reform in the Mid-Atlantic: Sidestepping Magnuson-Stevens?

Recreational Fishery Reform in the Mid-Atlantic: Sidestepping Magnuson-Stevens?

Since March 2019, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council), in conjunction with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), has been working on what they call the “Recreational Reform Initiative,” (Initiative) a project that could completely change the way recreational fisheries are managed in the mid-Atlantic region. The Council describes the Initiative this way: The […]

Salmon are Integral to California’s Coastal Economy. We Must Not Lose Them.

Salmon are Integral to California’s Coastal Economy. We Must Not Lose Them.

This is a perilous moment for California’s salmon and the communities and businesses that depend on them. As has been widely reported, and as many experts have agreed, the endangered Sacramento River Winter-run Chinook Salmon, which spawns solely in the Sacramento River and its tributaries, could be facing total annihilation this year. But it’s also […]

Science-Based Fisheries for Healthy, Productive and Resilient Marine Ecosystems, Now and for Future Generations

Science-Based Fisheries for Healthy, Productive and Resilient Marine Ecosystems, Now and for Future Generations

This article was originally published on The Ocean Project blog and was reprinted with permission. View more articles by The Ocean Project. Photo: Allen M. Shimada, NOAA Photo Library “All management should be for the generation coming, not for the generation that’s here today. If all you can think about is your own next year’s […]