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 […]

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; […]

Supporting Fisheries and Working Waterfronts with Infrastructure Improvements

Supporting Fisheries and Working Waterfronts with Infrastructure Improvements

As our country slowly recovers from the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent economic shutdown, the Biden administration has chosen to focus its attention on our nation’s infrastructure, with good reason. Historically, large-scale infrastructure projects with their influx of manufacturing and construction jobs have successfully helped the U.S. rebound after economic recessions. Although the word “infrastructure” […]

Get Informed about Seaspiracy

Get Informed about Seaspiracy

For better or worse, the Netflix documentary Seaspiracy has introduced a wider audience to many of the challenges facing our global oceans. While the film presents a broad overview of the threats, it paints many of these issues with too broad of a brushstroke to effectively convey the complexity of what’s happening in our oceans. […]

Network Responds to Climate Change Executive Order

Network Responds to Climate Change Executive Order

During the first weeks of the new administration, President Biden issued Executive Order 14008 on tackling the climate crisis at home and abroad. This order initiated efforts within 60 days to collect input from fishermen, regional ocean councils, fishery management councils, scientists, and other stakeholders on how to make fisheries and protected resources more resilient […]

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 […]

The Gulf Gives Back! Commercial Fishermen Partner with Local Communities to Feed Families in Need

The Gulf Gives Back! Commercial Fishermen Partner with Local Communities to Feed Families in Need

The Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance has partnered with three local food banks, four fish houses and seafood processors, a charitable impact investor, and more than 100 commercial fishermen and seafood suppliers throughout the Gulf of Mexico to deliver 28,000 meals of sustainably-harvested Gulf snapper and grouper to families and communities in need. […]

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 […]