This section will cover all federal offices, agencies & actions related to fisheries including US Congress, NOAA Fisheries, NOAA Highly Migratory Species (HMS), National Marine Fishery Service (NMFS), and the Greater Atlantic Regional Fishery Office (GARFO).
What various news outlets are reporting isn’t entirely accurate By Capt. John McMurray Frankly, we’ve been ignoring all of this up to now, because, the version of the Modern Fish Act that passed, and the way it was passed, is well, kinda inconsequential – to us anyway. But the reporting on the subject? It’s been,
NOAA recently released three reports that might interest our readers. The first was Fisheries of the United States, 2017 of both recreational and commercial fisheries. The data shows how important both sectors are to the national economy. After reviewing the data, it is also apparent that we must manage our resources well because a lot
The 2018 meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) was held in November. Major issues on the agenda included a new stock assessment for Atlantic bigeye tuna, conservation measures for overfished white and blue marlin stocks, and a proposed restriction on shark finning. In each of those cases, ICCAT took
On March 1, the National Marine Fisheries Service adopted emergency regulations to protect shortfin mako sharks, after a new stock assessment conducted by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) indicated that the species was severely overfished, and undergoing very severe overfishing. Such emergency regulations increased the minimum size limit for shortfin
Black sea bass, summer flounder and red snapper will likely be impacted first by new MRIP data “I can’t understand… we’ve got 350,000 anglers in New York not 900,000.” said the caller from New York when questions opened up during the July 13, 2018 webinar about the revised Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) estimates. New
By a narrower margin, HR 200 makes it through the House. Now what? By Capt. John McMurray Well, we all expected it. HR 200, “Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act” (A.K.A the “Empy Oceans Act”), with a few amendments, including one really bad one, sailed through the House of Representatives
On July 11, H.R. 200,the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act passed the House of Representatives. The vote on the House floor was disappointing but close – as this partisan bill passed by a vote of 222-193. To see a breakdown of how Members voted, go here. As we have told
Photo courtesy of Northeast Fisheries Science Center – NOAA By Tony Friedrich If you follow this blog, you probably know by now that the writers stand united against H.R. 200, the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act. We’ve written extensively about this deeply flawed legislation to make all of you
The northwest Atlantic cod fishery is arguably one of the best-known and most historically important fisheries in the world. That importance made the collapse of the region’s cod stocks all the more noteworthy, and adds a degree of urgency to ongoing efforts to return such stocks to health. Unfortunately, biologists have found cod slow
This legislative session (the two-year 115th Congress, 2017-2018) has been a busy one for federal fisheries policy, with relevant legislation being introduced and moving through the Committee process in both the House and the Senate. But the bills have seemed to have hit a stalling point. When that point breaks and things begin
