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 […]

It’s National Ocean Month: Celebrate Our Opportunity for Catch and Conservation

It’s National Ocean Month: Celebrate Our Opportunity for Catch and Conservation

Photo: Bob Rees with a June 4th Newport, Oregon halibut, weighing in at nearly 53 pounds. My wife is an accomplished writer, and certainly wiser than I, so I take her words seriously when she says, “If you write it down, it can no longer own you.” I’m not so sure that’s true, when talking […]

Why Small-Scale Fisheries Matter

Why Small-Scale Fisheries Matter

Photo: Author Linda Behnken on the water off the coast of Alaska Small-scale fisheries support a way of life that has become increasingly rare in our industrialized world—a way of life that is inexorably tied to the natural world, where individuals face forces far greater than human power and thrive only through humility and a […]

Celebrating Women in Fishing: Leigh Thomet

Celebrating Women in Fishing: Leigh Thomet

Winter crab fishing, Kodiak Continuing our celebration of National Women’s History Month, the Marine Fish Conservation Network has been highlighting the contributions of women to America’s fishing tradition. Several women are sharing their experiences in the commercial fishing industry with us. In this blog post, we hear from Leigh Thomet from Kodiak, Alaska. She fishes […]

The Wave Foundation Logs Impressive Results in 2020

The Wave Foundation Logs Impressive Results in 2020

Like many organizations that focus on public policy, the COVID pandemic upended the Network’s best intentions for 2020. At the start of the year, we planned to continue working on upholding and strengthening the science and conservation-based mandates in federal fisheries policy. As the pandemic’s economic fallout became apparent, we shifted our attention to supporting […]

Steelhead, Snake River Dams and the Oregon Way

Steelhead, Snake River Dams and the Oregon Way

Whenever I lose faith in government, I default to episodes of the early 2000’s TV hit, The West Wing. I know it’s not reality, but the show has offered me some level of solace when things are going sideways at the national level, and they’re going sideways. From the president’s barbed State of the Union […]