The ASMFC Moves Forward — Slowly — To Conserve Striped Bass

The ASMFC Moves Forward — Slowly — To Conserve Striped Bass

By any objective measure, the coastal migratory population of Atlantic striped bass has fallen on hard times. In Maryland, the juvenile abundance index (JAI), which has gauged the success of each year’s spawn since 1957, was 2.0 in 2024, far below its long-term average of 11.0. It was the sixth consecutive year of spawning failure […]

River Herring Continuing to Disappear in 2024

River Herring Continuing to Disappear in 2024

This article was originally published in the Wild Oceans Horizon Summer 2024 newsletter and is reprinted with permission. In the Winter 2008 edition of our newsletter, then called the NCMC Marine Bulletin, we published a story titled “River Herring Disappearing”. In this article, we suggested that at-sea bycatch was the likely culprit for the disappearance […]

A Fishmonger’s Celebration of National Seafood Month

A Fishmonger’s Celebration of National Seafood Month

National Seafood Month has arrived, and we have much to celebrate across America, especially here in the Pacific Northwest. Our region is blessed with an abundance of seafood, from the salmon, halibut, and spot prawns harvested wild in Alaska to sustainably farmed manila clams, oysters and geoduck from Washington. The varieties are endless and the […]

ASMFC Votes to Ignore Best Available Fisheries Science

ASMFC Votes to Ignore Best Available Fisheries Science

On Wednesday, August 14, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board voted to ignore the results of the Black Sea Bass 2024 Management Track Stock Assessment Report (Management Track Assessment), and leave the acceptable biological catch (ABC) and annual catch limit (ACL) for 2025 unchanged from […]

Building Boom: Congress Funds Regional Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management Projects

Building Boom: Congress Funds Regional Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management Projects

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 […]

Why Regulate Recreational Fisheries?

Why Regulate Recreational Fisheries?

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 […]

Watch: Waterside Chat with Colles Stowell

Watch: Waterside Chat with Colles Stowell

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 […]