Safeguarding Forage: New Action Underway in New England to Protect Critical Forage Fish Species

Safeguarding Forage: New Action Underway in New England to Protect Critical Forage Fish Species

This article is reprinted with permission from the latest edition of the Wild Oceans Horizon newsletter. For the past year, Wild Oceans and a core group of partners built a coalition of more than thirty recreational fishing, watershed, and environmental organizations to bring about a new action to develop near-shore protections for Atlantic herring, river […]

ASMFC Management Authority Challenged by Maryland Lawsuit

ASMFC Management Authority Challenged by Maryland Lawsuit

After the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC’s) Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board adopted Addendum II to Amendment 7 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass (Addendum II) in January 2024, it was generally assumed that striped bass management issues would be put on a back burner until a new stock assessment […]

Striped Bass: Lessons from the Last Stock Collapse Could Help Prevent the Next One

Striped Bass: Lessons from the Last Stock Collapse Could Help Prevent the Next One

When the Chesapeake Bay striped bass stock collapsed in the late 1970s, people tried to figure out why. Recreational fishermen were quick to point fingers at the commercial sector, which was not yet burdened by significant regulation. There were no gear restrictions and no annual quotas, and the fishery accounted for a larger share of […]

The Science is the Science

The Science is the Science

Is the Science Perfect? No, But Without It, We Got Noth’n’ Hey, man… I’m gonna admit here that sometimes I have a real hard time understanding the science behind fisheries management decisions. What I mean really is not just the nuts and bolts on how fisheries scientists get to the numbers that they do, but […]

The Striped Bass and the Flounder

The Striped Bass and the Flounder

In 1984, New York’s recreational fishermen took home about 14.5 million winter flounder, a harvest that totaled about 13.9 million pounds and dwarfed the 1.35 million pounds of flounder that was landed by the state’s commercial fishermen in the same year. Winter flounder made up over one-third of the nearly 40 million fish landed by […]

Real World Striped Bass: Part II

Real World Striped Bass: Part II

Read Part I of this series. Top photo: striped bass with a catch-and-release scar On and Off the Water Observations of 2023’s Fishing Season Last go around, we detailed some relevant on-the-water/real-world observations regarding last season’s striped bass fishery. Primarily how the new 3″ slot limit likely increased dead discards, ahem, a LOT. This go-around […]

From High Seas to Hill Pleas

From High Seas to Hill Pleas

I recently got back from Washington, DC. I’ve gone there on many occasions, lobbying for change such as the Salmon Solutions Planning Act, addressing the depletion of Snake River salmon and how to remedy it, shoring up the Endangered Species Act so we have a critical regulatory backstop to prevent the extinction of species such […]