Lines Out for Bluefin
NOAA CLOSES MORE WATERS TO LONGLINING, WILL CLOSE FISHERY IF IT REACHES BYCATCH CAP October 2014 Five years ago, when NOAA Fisheries announced they were looking for ways to limit the longline bycatch and discard of Atlantic bluefin tuna, we had some suggestions. In August 2009, Wild Oceans (then NCMC)recommended a comprehensive conservation program ...
The Other World Cup
STEPHANIE CHOATE CELEBRATES HER INDEPENDENCE BY WINNING THE WORLD BLUE MARLIN CHAMPIONSHIP By Stephanie Choate I came to Kona, Hawaii with the understanding that it had fish – and big fish at that. I had previously fished the World Cup in Cape Verde and Madeira, but I never saw a ...
Mid-Atlantic Council Strengthens River Herring & Shad Protections for 2015
By Pam Lyons Gromen – I have good news from Freehold, New Jersey where the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council met last week from June 10-12. The Council’s newly-formed River Herring & Shad Committee significantly reduced the allowable bycatch of imperiled blueback herring, alewives and shad for the 2015 Atlantic mackerel ...
Menhaden Numbers Are In And The News Is Good
NEW CONSERVATION RULES LEAVE MORE FISH IN THE WATER The 2013 menhaden fishing season was a banner year – for Atlantic menhaden and the many marine animals that live off them. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission reports that landings of Atlantic menhaden last year were 25% below the total catch for ...
Renewing the Magnuson Act, Part 1
Keep the nation on the Path to Sustainable Fisheries One of the issues getting a lot of attention in the run-up to another reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (along with ecosystem-based management, upcoming in Renewing the Magnuson Act, Part 2) is adding “flexibility” to federal requirements ...
NOAA Ponders Seafood Certification
“SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT GET INTO THE BUSINESS OF CERTIFYING FISHERIES?” By Ken Hinman The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is seeking public input on a proposal to certify United States seafood as “sustainable.” The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, which sets the standards for federally-managed fisheries, would provide the basis ...
Pacific Council Makes Plans to Phase-Out Drift Nets
Pacific Council Makes Plans to Phase-Out Drift Nets The Pacific Fishery Management Council, at its March meeting in Sacramento, Calif., took several steps toward developing a “comprehensive plan” for moving away from the use of drift gill nets to catch swordfish in favor of more “environmentally and economically sustainable” types ...
Get Rid of Drift Nets, Bring in Safer, “Greener” Gears
It’s Time to Remove Mile-Long Entanglement Nets from the California Coast Wild Oceans is urging the Pacific Fishery Management Council to phase-out the use of drift gill nets in the west coast swordfish fisheries and begin phasing-in more sustainable alternative gears demonstrated to have minimal bycatch of non-target billfish, sharks, sea ...
250 Million More Menhaden In 2014
MENHADEN CONSERVATION MEASURES LEAVE MORE PREY IN THE WATER TO SUSTAIN PREDATORS 250 million menhaden! That’s the estimated number of these vital forage fish left in the water in 2013 to feed Atlantic striped bass, bluefin tuna, osprey, whales and myriad other marine animals, because of a new east coast ...
“End the Wasteful Bycatch of Bluefin”, Public Tells NMFS
Fishermen and Conservationists Call on NMFS to Enact Tough New Rules to Limit Indiscriminate Longlines The people have spoken. On January 10, 2014, the public comment period on new measures to reduce the number of Atlantic bluefin tuna hooked and killed by pelagic longliners came to an end. By all accounts, thousands of ...
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