This article is reprinted with permission from the Wild Oceans Horizon Newsletter Spring 2024. Top photo: river herring The use of ecosystem based fisheries management (EBFM) is widely accepted as the strongest framework for achieving sustainability in fisheries, both in terms of ecological and human well-being. More than a decade ago, the regional fishery management […]
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 […]
Colles Stowell, founder and president of the One Fish Foundation, joined the Marine Fish Conservation Network for an online Waterside Chat on May 30, 2024. Colles and host Tom Sadler discussed: How our seafood system has changed from mostly local or domestic to mostly imported in a few short decades How we’ve become so dependent […]
Things Are Different This Spring, Real Different… Alright… I’m just gonna come out and say it. The striped bass fishing has kinda sucked so far…for me anyway. I guess it’s bad for business for me to admit that here, but I’ve never been one to hold back on the truth, whatever the consequences may be […]
On May 1, 2024 Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) introduced a bill, titled the “Bristol Bay Protection Act,” in the House of Representatives. Such legislation, if passed and signed into law, would finally end the long-running conflict that has pitted proponents of the so-called “Pebble Mine” against Alaska Native peoples and others who have long harvested, […]
Top Photo: Gulf of Maine Atlantic Cod, by Joachim S. Mueller One of the most frustrating aspects of fisheries management is the fact that two people—or, more often, two groups of people—can look at the same set of facts and come to two very different conclusions. It’s not unusual for scientists who manage fish stocks […]
Is “Limiting Out” Becoming Passé? Top photo: Releasing a bluefin tuna I’m not gonna lie, man. I kinda dislike the term “limiting out”… Actually, I hate it. Mostly because it implies a certain, perhaps outdated, way of thinking – that your fishing trip wasn’t really successful unless you killed the maximum allowed under the current […]
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 […]
Join our email list to receive occasional updates and priority alerts
