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 […]

Mid-Atlantic ‘Harvest Control Rule’: One Year Later

Mid-Atlantic ‘Harvest Control Rule’: One Year Later

At its June 2022 meeting, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) adopted the so-called “Percent Change Approach” (PCA) for managing the recreational summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass fisheries; the PCA will also be used to manage the recreational bluefish fishery, once the bluefish stock is no longer subject to its current rebuilding plan. […]

Excused Absence

Excused Absence

Top photo: Malheur National Forest Recently, I made a much-anticipated return to Malheur National Forest to hunt for elk. Maybe I was forecasting my own fate, but I prefaced my excitement internally and externally with the statement, “I don’t even care if I harvest an elk, I just really enjoy walking through the woods this […]

Working Waterfront Preservation Act Would Provide Needed Funding to Coastal Businesses

Working Waterfront Preservation Act Would Provide Needed Funding to Coastal Businesses

Earlier this month, U.S. Senator Susan Collins of Maine introduced S. 3180, the “Working Waterfront Preservation Act,” which would establish a grant program to help preserve waterfronts in coastal communities. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island cosponsored the legislation, and it was referred to the Senate Energy and Public Works Committee. The Network’s support for […]

The Changing Face of Sportfishing

The Changing Face of Sportfishing

When I first started my guide business over 27 years ago, I knew switching professions from a field biologist that strived to conserve salmon, to becoming reliant on the health of a natural resource for consumptive use, was a risk. I was willing to accept that risk because, hey, I was skipping out of work […]

Poor Striped Bass Recruitment Continues to Threaten Stock

Poor Striped Bass Recruitment Continues to Threaten Stock

Top photo by Capt. Dave Monti The Chesapeake Bay produces most of the migratory striped bass on the Atlantic Coast, and about two-thirds of those Chesapeake bass are spawned in Maryland’s waters. Maryland spawning success is so important to the overall health of the striped bass stock that, at the November 2022 meeting of the […]