Category: Victories

A RESPITE FOR MAKO

Author: Theresa Labriola Posted Under: Blog, RFMO’s, Sharks, Victories, Big Fish

In November, after more than a decade of warning about the vulnerability and decline of North Atlantic shortfin mako shark, international managers banned the retention of all shortfin mako sharks for two years. International scientists have advised that a moratorium is the most immediate step we can take to reverse the decline and rebuild the population, but it will still take more than five decades to fully recover this deeply depleted population.

BIPARTISAN BILL PHASES OUT DRIFT GILLNETS

Author: Theresa Labriola Posted Under: Blog, Sustainable Fishing Practices, Victories

Update: You might have heard that the federal legislation to end the use of drift gillnets in US waters received a Presidential Veto on New Year’s Day. But, Senator Feinstein, the lead sponsor of the legislation, has promised to have the final word and reintroduce this legislation on the first day of the new Congress! Thanks Senator Feinstein for fighting to protect the future of fishing!

WE’VE Moved the Line for Menhaden

Author: Pam Lyons Gromen Posted Under: Menhaden, Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, Blog, Prey Base, Victories

On August 5th, Atlantic menhaden management reached a critical milestone.  The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Atlantic Menhaden Management Board voted unanimously to adopt ecological reference points (ERPs) that will be used to set annual catch levels for the Atlantic coast. With so many predators – from bluefish and ...

2019: An Extraordinary Year

Author: Pam Lyons Gromen Posted Under: Blog, Victories, Our News

2019 was an extraordinary year for Wild Oceans. Our long-time leader Ken Hinman stepped down after 41 years serving as our organization president and joined our Board of Directors. Rob Kramer, the former President of the International Game Fish Association, stepped in and hit the ground running as our new president. We ...

Commerce Secretary Upholds Chesapeake Bay Menhaden Cap

Author: Pam Lyons Gromen Posted Under: Menhaden, Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, Blog, Prey Base, Victories

Virginia’s Menhaden Fishery to Shut Down in June 2020 if it Doesn’t Take Action to Comply with the Bay Cap The U.S. Department of Commerce is standing by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) decision to find the Commonwealth of Virginia out of compliance with a critical measure in ...

PLAN APPROVED TO MANAGE CHUB MACKEREL

Author: Pam Lyons Gromen Posted Under: Mackerel, Blog, Prey Base, Victories

Mid-Atlantic Council Takes on Management of Emerging Fishery On March 7th, The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted to bring chub mackerel into the existing fishery management plan (FMP) for Atlantic mackerel, longfin squid, shortfin squid and butterfish.  Wild Oceans supported the Council’s decision, emphasizing that chub mackerel, like the other species in ...

Victory for Atlantic Herring

Author: Wild Ocean Team Posted Under: Herring, Blog, Prey Base, Victories

Fed upon by a long list of ocean wildlife from whales to seabirds to tuna, Atlantic herring is the linchpin holding together the food web in New England waters.  On September 25th at its meeting in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the New England Fishery Management Council took groundbreaking action to better manage Atlantic ...

President Signs Billfish Conservation Act II

Author: Tim Choate Posted Under: Blog, Billfish, Marlin, Victories, Press Releases

August 2, 2018.  President Donald Trump today signed into law HR 4528, bipartisan legislation to amend the Billfish Conservation Act to clarify that Pacific billfish exempted from the 2012 law’s federal no-sale provision must be sold locally in Hawaii and Pacific island territories (Guam, Samoa, etc.).  In effect, it achieves the ...

Big Victory for Little Fish

Author: Theresa Labriola Posted Under: Blog, Prey Base, Victories

Feds Finalize Ban on New West Coast Forage Fisheries By Theresa Labriola –  For more than a decade Wild Oceans has been a champion for a broader ecosystem approach to managing marine fisheries beginning with protections of predator-prey relationships. On April 4, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued the Final Rule ...

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 ...