A View from the Hill: October 2021

A View from the Hill: October 2021

What a year it’s been so far. While infrastructure and reconciliation remain a focus of Capitol Hill and nearly all of D.C., there has been action on several other Network priorities this past year. In January, a stunned nation and world watched a mob swarm the Capitol building, former President Trump was a impeached a […]

National Seafood Month Spotlight: Linda Behnken

National Seafood Month Spotlight: Linda Behnken

To celebrate National Seafood month, we’re highlighting the women and men who bring sustainable seafood to our dinnertables. We’ll start our October series with Network Policy Council co-chair Linda Behnken, who’s fished the waters off Alaska her entire adult life. This article appeared in the Network’s From the Waterfront blog in 2017 and is reprinted […]

Because It’s Always Easier to Conserve Someone Else’s Fish

Because It’s Always Easier to Conserve Someone Else’s Fish

Top photo by by Mark Conlin, SWFSC Large Pelagics Program In September 2021, at a meeting of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), the United States, supported by the European Union and other nations, proposed that NAFO ban the retention of Greenland sharks accidentally caught in the Arctic and western Atlantic waters that fall under […]

Hurricane Ida Wreaks Havoc on Louisiana’s Seafood Industry

Hurricane Ida Wreaks Havoc on Louisiana’s Seafood Industry

This time, the levees around New Orleans held. The reduced flooding in the city after Hurricane Ida helped minimize the catastrophic loss of life following Hurricane Katrina 16 years ago. But some levees in southern parishes didn’t fare as well. And Ida’s widespread devastation, fueled by sustained 150 mph winds, will have long-term consequences for […]

Should the ASMFC Rebuild Striped Bass?

Should the ASMFC Rebuild Striped Bass?

Top photo by John McMurray Over the past few years, it was pretty clear to anyone who regularly fishes for Atlantic striped bass that the stock was declining badly, even before the latest benchmark stock assessment, released in 2019, confirmed what most serious fishermen already suspected—that the stock was overfished and suffering from overfishing. What’s […]

Navigating Toward Healthier Oceans and More Productive Fisheries Requires a Climate Change Response in Management

Navigating Toward Healthier Oceans and More Productive Fisheries Requires a Climate Change Response in Management

By Linda Behnken and Kevin Scribner, MFCN Policy Council co-chairs For the two of us, climate change is top of mind. It impacts the way we do business, the way we think about the ocean resources we depend on, the way we see our communities surviving into the future. We’re going to have to adapt; […]

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 […]