Tag Archives: bycatch

  • July 25, 2018

    No Going Back

    The National Marine Fisheries Service is questioning whether long-standing measures to minimize longline bycatch, such as time-area closures, are still needed.  The answer is most emphatically yes. No Going Back by Ken Hinman July 2018 The first meaningful action taken to reduce bycatch in the U.S. pelagic longline fisheries occurred in the year 2000 –...
  • November 03, 2016

    Pacific Council Corrects Course on Buoy Gear

    by Theresa Labriola In September, the Pacific Fishery Management Council reversed an earlier decision to postpone permitting buoy gear in the swordfish fishery in favor of more research. Changing its mind, the Council has now decided to pursue authorization because five years of research already tells us that this new, highly selective gear can catch…

  • August 04, 2016

    Pacific Council “Flip-Flops” on Greener Gear

    by Theresa Labriola When a politician changes heart over something that millions of others have changed their mind on and owns up to it, we call them “evolved.” But when the Pacific Fishery Management Council, led by California, changes course on authorizing deep set buoy gear (DSBG) despite overwhelming public support for transitioning away from…

  • December 29, 2015

    The Fall 2015 Wild Oceans Horizon

    In the cover story of the Fall 2015 issue of the Wild Oceans Horizon, president Ken Hinman writes about emerging threats to the Arctic Sea from global warming, which is not only melting the sea ice but opening up this fragile polar ecosystem to unregulated shipping, oil exploration and commercial fishing (The Plight of the...
  • September 01, 2015

    The Summer 2014 Wild Oceans Horizon

    Wonder what’s on the horizon for Atlantic striped bass, west coast swordfish or deep sea corals?  Check outthe latest issue of our newsletter, the Wild Oceans Horizon.  Other featured stories include our priorities for the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Conservation and Management Act, with a special Ocean View commentary by Wild Oceans President Ken Hinman.
  • June 19, 2014

    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 fishing year to help these…

  • January 13, 2014

    “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 fishermen and conservationists weighed in...
  • July 18, 2013

    The Public Weighs In: Strictly Enforce the Billfish Conservation Act

    By Ken Hinman We’d like to thank the many Wild Oceans supporters who signed our petition asking the National Marine Fisheries Service to enforce the Billfish Conservation Act of 2012 with a strict prohibition on the sale of marlin, sailfish and spearfish in the continental United States, allowing only a limited exemption for the local...
  • June 30, 2013

    Federal Councils Act to Protect River Herring and Shad at Sea

    Bycatch of river herring and shad in federal fisheries will finally be regulated, affording these imperiled forage fish protection at sea where they spend most of their lives. Measures adopted by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council two weeks ago in New York City and last week by the New England Fishery Management Council at its...