Menhaden Numbers Are In And The News Is Good

Author: Ken Hinman Posted Under: Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, Menhaden, Blog

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

Author: Wild Ocean Team Posted Under: Blog, MSA

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

Author: Ken Hinman Posted Under: Blog, Sustainable Fishing Practices

“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

Author: Wild Ocean Team Posted Under: Blog, Councils, Sustainable Fishing Practices

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

Author: Wild Ocean Team Posted Under: Councils, Blog, Sustainable Fishing Practices

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

Author: Ken Hinman Posted Under: Menhaden, Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, Blog, Prey Base, Victories

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

Author: Ken Hinman Posted Under: Blog, Sustainable Fishing Practices, Tuna

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 ...

Support Measures to Limit Longlining to Protect Bluefin Tuna and Other Big Fish

Author: Wild Ocean Team Posted Under: Blog, Sustainable Fishing Practices, Tuna

The National Marine Fisheries Service has proposed new measures to protect one of the ocean’s most threatened species of fish, the Atlantic bluefin tuna, from one of the most lethally indiscriminate types of fishing gear, the pelagic longline.  Longliners fishing for swordfish and yellowfin tuna typically hang hundreds of hooks ...

Commission Votes for More Striped Bass Conservation

Author: Ken Hinman Posted Under: Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, Blog, Striped Bass, Big Fish

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted this week to develop management options for reducing fishing pressure on striped bass beginning with the 2015 season. The action by the 15-state commission came in response to a new assessment of the coastal striper stock, presented at the ASMFC’s Annual Meeting October ...

Coming Together: Striped Bass and Menhaden

Author: Ken Hinman Posted Under: Menhaden, Blog, Striped Bass

By Ken Hinman Two iconic fish – the striped bass, perhaps the most popular game fish on the east coast, and menhaden, the prey of choice for stripers and dozens of other coastal Atlantic predators – will be the topic of discussions at the upcoming Annual Meeting of the Atlantic States Marine ...