We’re always reading up on things taking place in fishery management and ocean conservation. Whether it be a press release, letter or blog post, we’ll look to post a couple items a day here (sometimes more, sometimes less) with a brief synopsis. These articles may not be as focused as the rest of the site, and could cover initiatives or issues that aren’t found on the rest of the site, but we found interesting.

We’ll promote these on our Facebook and Instagram, so be sure to follow us there to receive all the updates.

Other Past WWRTs:

January, 2020

February, 2020

March, 2020

April, 2020

May 29, 2020: Pebble Mine Update, Slow Return of Sockeyes in the Copper River, the Salmon’s Claim to Water, a Prehistoric Great White Shark Nursery, Another Poaching Bust and A Bird’s Eye View of a Tarpon Hookup

  • Pebble continues to move forward despite the pushback and serious concerns about the impact the project could have on Bristol Bay’s salmon population. The Army Corps of Engineers recently changed the proposal to require more surface access for the transport of ores from the mine. This change, late in the process, will not be subject to public comment or additional review, and raises even more serious concerns about additional impact on the area. This has been a years (and years) long process that, at its core, has always been a potential nightmare for the conservation of the critical salmon populations and the valuable ecosystem that they support. We need to keep speaking up as the process continues to make sure that the project is not approved later this year.

  • More news from Alaska, as very low early sockeye salmon runs have prompted closures of the fishery on the Copper River. There are a lot of reasons this could be the case, and it may just end up being a late run due to weather or other conditions. The article does touch, however, on how critically important healthy salmon populations are for the community and ecosystem in SW Alaska, emphasizing how damaging and mislead the Pebble Project really is.

  • The latest entry in One Angler’s Voyage also focuses on salmon, looking at the Administration’s efforts to roll back regulations that consider salmon and other fish when determining how rivers and water can be used. This is one of Trump’s efforts that I hadn’t heard much about, but that could have a pretty profound impact on the remaining salmon runs we have in areas where dams have been installed on rivers to divert water for other reasons. So far, these efforts have been delayed by litigation, so hopefully those efforts hold up and these incredible fish will continue to have habitat to spawn in their native rivers.

  • A cool article from Newsweek covering the discovery of what appears to be an ancient Great White Shark nursery in South America. Judging by the size of the fossilized teeth found in the area, it appears to be an area that young Great Whites would spend their early years. We know shockingly little about the breeding and migratory habits of Great Whites, but recent tagging efforts, like those of Ocearch, have begun to uncover information that gives us a better idea of how these fish mate and live throughout their lives. With information on where they breed and where young sharks live (Montauk appears to be a nursery, for example), we can better protect and manage them moving forward.

    Another report of poachers being caught, this time from Massachusetts, where a boat was found to have 225 scup and 15 black seabass on board, exceeding the legal limit of 30 scup and 5 black sea bass. It doesn’t go into detail on what the punishment was, but I’m not sure why the entire catch wouldn’t have been seized. Anway, it’s good to see that enforcement is continuing up and down the coast.

  • Here’s a quick, badass tarpon hookup from a bird’s perspective to take you into the weekend from Captain Jack Productions. Enjoy!

May 28, 2020: What Does the Striper Study Mean, Choosing U.S. Seafood, Suspension of Critical Surveys due to Covid-19 and A World Without Salmon

  • Charles Witek also explored the striped bass study on fish migrations out of the Chesapeake Bay that we covered last week. He examines the potential repercussions of the study and how the data might be used in striped bass management. One thing he points to is that it might be used by Maryland to try and establish two separate stocks of fish - those in the Chesapeake and those in the Ocean - allowing for the Chesapeake stock to be regulated separately from the rest of the coast. He points to some really interesting possibilities that the timing of the tagging that the study was based on resulted in only those fish that do not migrate until they are 32” being included. As I am sure many of you have, I have caught a lot of striped bass under 32” in Long Island Sound that have sea lice still on them. Since sea lice do not remain on striped bass in the Sound for long, it suggests those fish came from the Ocean, meaning they migrated to the Sound. I tend to think Charles is right in his analysis of the striped bass stock and its migration habits, and I certainly believe in his closing statement that there is always the need for more research and a better understanding of the speceis we fish for and attempt to manage.

  • Medium posted a pretty quick article on how Covid-19 has impacted the seafood industry in the U.S., and points to a potential benefit that might come from it. As commercial fishermen find a need to go more directly to consumers with restaurants closed, the need to eat local is raising awareness about the way the U.S. commercial fishing industry works. Once infrastructure returns to normal and restaurants reopen, hopefully consumers continue to ask questions about their seafood and seek out sustainable fishing. The author points to a few important benefits of the U.S. fishing industry in comparison to imported seafood, but leaves out the fact that the U.S. is home to some of the most sustainable and well-regulated fisheries on earth. The more we can rely on that type of fishery, the less black market and poached seafood will be shipped here globally.

  • NOAA announced last week that it is taking an ‘unprecedented step’ in cancelling five major Alaska fisheries research surveys that are critical to the management of Alaska pollock, Pacific cod and other major groundfish species in the North Pacific. These are not the only surveys and studies that have been suspended or cancelled due to complications resulting from Covid-19, but all of them highlight the potential impact on fishery management that lockdowns could have. On the east coast, MRIP is not collecting data on recreational effort that is critical in estimating the number of fish caught and released each year. The health of anglers (both recreational and commercial), monitors and others comes first, but hopefully we can get through this year without any serious impact on fish stocks and get back on track with monitoring the condition of our fisheries without long-lasting damage.

  • Patagonia has been posting some really cool content recently, and this is no exception. An excerpt from the book, Salmon: A Fish, the Earth, and the History of Their Common Fate highlights the critical importance of salmon on their ecosystem, and the health of the natural world generally. When reading this, think about other keystone species we might be exploiting, and think about how critical it is that projects like Pebble Mine are prevented from damaging the species and ecosystems we all rely on.

May 21, 2020: The ASGA’s Take on the Chesapeake Striped Bass Study, Climate Change and Smallmouth Bass and eDNA and Southern Visitors to NJ and the Northeast

  • The American Saltwater Guides Association weighed in on the striped bass study we covered tomorrow and focused on a couple of important findings. First, the fact that both male and female striped bass remain in the Chesapeake Bay until they reach approximately 32” or so before they migrate. Historically, it was believed that the vast majority of striped bass that remained in the Chesapeake were males and that females migrated out of the Bay at age 3, so that the Maryland harvest had less of an impact on the species because very few of those fish harvested were females. This study, however, points to the fact that both males and females remain in the Bay until they are 32”, meaning that more fish being harvested are females. When you combine this information with the fact that Maryland overfished by more than 100% for the past few years, it’s no wonder that there are fewer large fish migrating up and down the coast and that the spawning stock biomass is down. They also highlight the fact that fish in the bay are twice as likely to die than those in the Ocean. The more we know about a species, the better we can manage them, so introducing this information into the discussion as the ASMFC begins the Amendment process later this year will be critical in making sure we have effective regulations and management in place.

  • Smallmouth Bass in the Potomac River have been declining, and a recent study points to climate change as a culprit. This article, reporting on that study, shows how certain species are thriving, while others are declining as a result of climate change and the impact it is having on the river. With higher water flows in the spring, more silt in certain areas and the introduction of new species, the predator/prey and spawning dynamics of the river are changing. There are efforts to keep these fish populations up through stocking programs, but, as we are seeing everywhere, the impact of our changing climate and the ecosystems in which these fish live are having a significant impact on many species in many bodies of water.

  • Some very cool results from aquatic environmental DNA (eDNA) in New Jersey from a study that has taken water samplings twice monthly for two years, with results signaling Brazilian Cownose Rays and Gulf Kingfish frequenting the waters of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Beyond the impacts of warmer waters and the increased range of a number of species as a result, the viability and effectiveness of eDNA as a way to track species in water without having to see, catch or remove them could be an incredibly powerful tool in management moving forward, as we will be able to track species in certain areas effectively and efficiently. Further, there is promising evidence that this science will allow us to gain an understanding of how many individuals of each specie are present. The potential for this type of science is immense, allowing us to protect species we didn’t previously know were there, protect key spawning areas and gain other knowledge to help managers.

May 20, 2020: A Study on Striped Bass Migrations and Mortality Rates in the Chesapeake vs. the Ocean, Sector Separation and a Bust on Striped Bass Poachers

  • A recent study put acoustic tags on 100 striped bass in the Chesapeake Bay in an attempt to get a better understanding of which fish remained in the Bay year-round and which ones migrated. The study found that stripers generally spend 8-9 years in the Bay before starting to migrate at around 32”. Those fish that migrate include both males and females. A pretty stunning finding to me is that there is a 37% mortality rate for those fish in the ocean, compared to an incredible 70% mortality rate for those fish in the Bay. We’ve talked about Maryland in the past and how their Conservation Equivalency proposals resulted in a harvest more than 200% higher than the ASMFC had targeted, and while all of this 70% mortality in the Bay cannot be attributed to fishing pressure, it’s not a stretch to say a lot of it is. There are a few quotes in the coverage below that suggest that we can manage these as separate stocks - one in the Bay and one in the Ocean, which is a bit odd to me. The fish that end up migrating end up in Massachusetts in the summer (nearly all of them that left the Bay ended up in MA), meaning that we’re all fishing the same body of fish. Those smaller fish become the bigger, oceanic fish. Accordingly, since it is one body of fish, we should manage it as such and not separate it out and have separate regulations for different states and areas. Anyway, studies like this are continuing to expose how little we still know about striped bass, and are incredibly important as we continue to evolve our management and regulations around them. Here are two articles and a link to the full study as well.

  • Charles Witek examines the ASMFC’s decision to reject a Conservation Equivalency proposal from Rhode Island regarding its tautog fishery and sector separation. It’s a longer entry that includes some interesting statistics about how quotas and harvest are split across recreational and for-hire anglers and different species. In general, sector separation (different regulations between recreational and for-hire boats) can work, as it has with red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico, but it requires transparent catch data and a split quota system, rather than a shared one. The statistics he highlights regard the # of trips taken by the for-hire fleet regarding the % of harvest taken for a few species. FOr striped bass, for example, for-hire trips made up 2% of striped bass trips, but accounted for 9.5% of the harvest from 2015-2019. Obviously, if the for-hire fleet had an increased bag-limit, that % of harvest would increase further. Sector separation can work, but it needs to be done carefully, but require accountability and separate quotas that each sector is allocated. So far this year, this is one area where the ASMFC has appeared to be on the right side of.

  • Some bittersweet news coming from the Hudson River, as a boat was caught with a gill net with 24 striped bass, 12 herring, 3 white perch and 2 yellow bullhead in it. It’s good to see enforcement taking action, and I hope the punishment deters the offender from doing it again. The full story highlights that the officers were tipped off by another angler who witnessed the gill net in action. Here’s a reminder to call in violations if you see them!

May 15, 2020: ASMFC Meeting Recaps - good and bad, A NOAA Study on the ASMFC’s New Regulations, Another Horrible Mine Proposal and an Inspiring Video on ‘The Complete Fisherman’

  • Captain John McMurray wrote the following recap of what happened at last week’s ASMFC / MAFMC meeting for Fissues / The Marine Fish Conservation Network. His writeup does a great job of bringing the reader up to speed where we are with key situations, discussing developments and discussions that happened at the meeting and then looking at what might be next. We’re going to focus on his commentary on striped bass, menhaden, bluefish and a bit on tautog here, but he also touched on scup, black sea bass, summer flounder, so read through to get the whole picture. On striped bass, it’s really same-old story. There were no decisions made, and items that we were hoping would be voted on (accountability & start of amendment) were pushed until August. With accountability, this is really important as a few states are once again using Conservation Equivalency to increase their harvest and put the stock at risk. The goal of the addendum last year / this spring was to reduce harvest coast-wide by 18%. After analyzing where we ended up in each state up and down the coast, it looks like we have a 50% chance of achieving only a 15% reduction, so… we’re not starting from a good place. For menhaden, there was some progress on outlining the importance of using Ecological Reference Points in managing the species going forward, with hope that they’re implemented at the next meeting in August. This would be a big step forward for the way forage fish (and predators) are managed. There was some encouraging discussion around bluefish in that fish left in the water / fish that were released might be considered in coming up with quotas. Right now, catch & release is essentially not even a defined thing in management, so if we can get the commissioners to start looking at the value of fish in the water and of availability for bluefish, there’s hope it could set precedent moving forward for other species as well. Lastly, I want to touch on tautog briefly because of what happened here. Rhode Island proposed CE for tautog that would allow their for-hire fleet to keep more blackfish than recreational boaters, and was rejected. After the discussions that took place around striped bass in February and this action here, it seems to me like the Commission is FINALLY considering the purpose of management and pushing for consistent regulations that achieve their goals, and not blindly giving in to states and constituents who are pushing for higher harvest at the detriment of the overall stock. Read up and stay tuned for the August meeting, there’s LOTS to come on some of these topics, especially striped bass.

  • Charles Witek weighed in on the ASMFC meeting as well in his latest entry of One Angler’s Voyage. He points to a few discussion points that were specifically COVID-19 related, commenting on perceived vs. actual effort resulting from lockdowns, unemployment and other impacts of the virus. Apparently during the meeting there were discussions of new regulations and extended seasons to ‘make up for’ the restrictions on fishing for the for-hire and other boaters during this unprecedented time. He points to what we have heard from a few other people, in that there may well be MORE effort as a result of this than less, so doing anything to further increase effort and harvest would be misguided and potentially very damaging to the stocks in question. At the end of the day, using data and relying on science to determine management actions is critical for success, so hopefully none of these discussions have legs and we don’t use the lack of data resulting from the inability to collect it during this time as an excuse to blindly loosen regulations.

  • NOAA Fisheries reports on a study by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole on managing striped bass to reduce harvest and increase the female spawning stock biomass, which suggests that the slot limit that the ASMFC implemented this year is the best way to do so. The study weighs what drives anglers who target striped bass and the biology of the species, and determined that this keeps anglers happy while significantly reducing removals of the spawning stock. I hope they’re right, but it seems to me that the study weight the ‘well-being of anglers’ at least equally to the weight it applied to the well-being of the fish. They even point to the fact that anglers likely won’t be that impacted because it is relatively rare to encounter a 35”+ striped bass. Taking that statement alone suggests that reductions in general will probably not be much lower than they were before, and will also prevent all those sub 35” fish from reaching the larger size where they are most fecund.

  • We have covered Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay a lot, and the petition to President Trump from Save Bristol Bay goes out today, so if you haven’t signed it, try to get your name on there NOW!! Anyway, here’s an article from Hatch Magazine that covers another potentially devastating mining project in the border area in Northern Minnesota. Take a read through, but a lot of the same issues are covered, except in this case the type of mine has an apparent 100% chance to damage waterways and ruin pristine land that is home to invaluable wild fish populations and wildlife. As the subhead says ‘North America’s biggest wilderness and best inland fishery is endangered by the continent’s most toxic industry.’

  • The Friday video this week is a bit longer than we’ve posted in the past, but it’s pretty incredible. Patagonia did a film on Alberto Pugano, a trout fisherman in the Italian Alps and last known practitioner of an ancient style of fishing. It’s worth a watch.

May 12, 2020: Hopefully Good news from the Cape Cod Canal, How We Can Hopefully Learn From Mistakes to Better Manage Striped Bass & Bluefish and Exposing the Marine Stewardship Council

  • Potentially some positive news for striped bass coming out of Massachusetts, as the state Division of Marine Fisheries is considering making the Cape Cod Canal a recreational-only fishing area. We have weighed in on the Canal in the past, and I think the entire fishery should be catch-and-release. You can read more about it in our blog, but my reasoning is that the waterway is man-made, placing these fish in an unnaturally vulnerable position, it is over-crowded and poaching is rampant, even when large fish were legal for both recreational and commercial anglers to keep. With the new recreational slot-limit in MA, commercial and recreational limits do not overlap, which would make enforcement all the more difficult on days commercial fishing is allowed, since for some, a 35”+ fish is legal and for others, it is not. The difference in these regulations raises other issues with the state’s commercial fishery, but we won’t get into it here. At the end of the day, while this action is not as far as I would like it to go, it would be a step in the right direction, and I hope the state moves forward with this to help enforcement’s effectiveness and protect the large fish that are so readily accessible in the artificial barrel that the Canal really is.

  • Charles Witek’s latest entry in One Angler’s Voyage does a great job of debunking an argument made for higher harvest for striped bass and bluefish. As the ASMFC moves closer to beginning an amendment process later this year (hopefully), the argument that the current biomass target and threshold is unattainable given the current environment has been raised by a number of ASMFC commissioners and other pro-harvest constituents. This argument is based on the fact that, when looking at historical harvest and historical biomass populations, the target has never been achieved in either species, dating back to the early 1980’s. What Charles points out here, and what I believe is a very good argument, is that, while the target was never achieved, the target annual harvest was hardly ever achieved either. For striped bass, this is due primarily to Conservation Equivalency in certain states increasing the harvest targets, and with bluefish it was much higher effort than originally believed. Either way, it is hard to argue something cannot be achieved if we have never successfully implemented measures that attempt to achieve it. Hopefully as the discussions on striped bass and bluefish continue, regulators take that into account and push to maintain (or increase) the targets and thresholds to ensure that there are abundant stocks for us and future generations to chase up and down the coast.

  • A recently released study by the BLOOM Association exposes the sham that is the MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) label that is placed on seafood that the MSC deems sustainable. It doesn’t take much digging to start questioning the validity of this label, given that the out-of-compliance menhaden reduction fishery in Virginia maintained its MSC determination even as it willingly exceeded the quotas set on the fishery, but this study goes into more detail that is pretty alarming. According to their study, industrial, high-impact fisheries represented 83% of MSC-certified catches between 2009 and 2017. This type of fishing includes bottom trawls & dredges, purse seines, etc., that have the highest impact on the fish populations and the ecosystem in which they operate. The report finishes with guidelines for purchasing seafood, and includes questions for people to ask restaurants, markets and other distributors about where their seafood comes from and, as importantly, how it is caught. Take a read through and keep the findings and the questions in mind as you consume seafood moving forward. Decreasing the demand for unsustainable seafood is an important and effective way to lower your carbon footprint and redirect effort to more sustainable practices globally.

May 11, 2020: A lot of Trump Administration Stuff - ASGA’s Initial Take on the Executive Order from Last Week, ASA and CCA’s Take, and A summary of how the Administration is Rolling Back Environmental Protections

  • The ASGA was quick to weigh-in on the Executive Order that the Trump Administration signed late last week on the US seafood industry, and point to a few things in its initial writeup on the order. They outline a few positives, and a couple negatives, which we will all need to pay attention to moving forward. On the positive side, there’s an apparent crackdown on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing operations, which damage the ecosystem, fish stocks and legal fishing operations. This is poaching, so something that needs to be addressed and it’s great it’s being looked at here. Second is trying to cut down on our seafood deficit internationally. As we’ve pointed to through this lockdown, US commercial fisheries are some of the best regulated and most sustainable fisheries in the world, so trying to increase their reach and cutting back on our reliance on less sustainable fisheries, is a positive. There are some pretty serious potential implications to the negatives. The Executive Order attempts to ‘reduce burdens on domestic fishing and to increase production within sustainable fisheries.’ This is a very scary thought, and the timeline of 180 days for input is very, very fast. Many of these fisheries are sustainable because of the regulations in place now. Cutting back on those quickly, without appropriate science, could have very negative results. The second negative is an overall push for increased aquaculture. The ASGA points to different types of aquaculture, but breaks it down between ‘fed’ and ‘unfed.’ Aquaculture is going to be a bit part in future seafood production, but how it is managed and what kind of that is critical in its success. It will take a lot of discussion to avoid the environmental drawbacks that have emerged from finfish aquaculture historically. Take a read and stay tuned.

  • The American Sportfishing Association and Coastal Conservation Association also weighed in on the Executive Order, and pointed to a couple things. First, they praised the Administration for pushing for increased aquaculture. As we outlined above and the ASGA covered, aquaculture is an important piece of the fishery puzzle moving forward, but one that needs to be approached very carefully, and the lack of specificity in this EO is concerning, so I think it’s a bit early to say what the Order outlines is a positive. The ACA and CCA did, however, recognize the concern with looking to increase productivity of sustainable fisheries. The reason these fisheries are sustainable is because they are managed under Magnuson-Stevens and for Maximum Sustainable Yield. Increasing production will either go above that, bring in harmful fishing methods or take quota away from the recreational sector. Again, stay tuned.

  • The Guardian posted this article today highlighting the way the Trump Administration has continued to rollback environmental protections throughout the presidency and well into the COVID-19 pandemic. There’s a lot included in here, and a lot of this has been covered here before, but it attempts to bring it all into one article. From reducing mercury regulations, to cutting back the clean water act, the Trump Administration has consistently ignored science and the health of the American people. Luckily organizations like the Natural Resources Defense Council is fighting back, and has sued the Administration 110 times, winning about 90% of the lawsuits resolved to-date. If these rollbacks seem to be accelerating in numbers, it’s because the Administration is likely trying to get them done in advance of the election, so that if Trump is unseated, it would be much more difficult to overturn the laws it is putting in place.

May 8, 2020: TAKE ACTION for Bristol Bay, Pushback on Recent Bluefin Protection Changes, The Impact of Climate Change on Different Species, An Executive Order on American Seafood Production, Protecting the Tongass Forest and a Video on the Return of Yellowstone Cutthroat

  • CALL TO ACTION - We’ll start with this this week. We’ve covered the Pebble Mine and the importance of Bristol Bay extensively, and as the process moves closer to a conclusion, it’s important that President Trump and other government representatives hear from as many of us as possible. Please, before next week, sign the Save Bristol Bay petition urging President Trump and his administration to not permit the ill-advised Pebble Mine and protect the incredible, magical wilderness of Bristol Bay. The link is below.

  • Charles Witek covers recent litigation that was initiated against the proposed bluefin tuna regulation changes we covered last month. While he (and I) views this development as a positive, and I agree that there’s really no sound reasoning or rationale for opening these areas back up to long-lining, he takes a very legal approach to it and suggests that, unfortunately, it’s likely the regulatory changes that have been proposed will stick due to the so-called ‘Chevron Doctrine,’ which set precedent as to what is required to prevent government agency action to be prevented or overruled in court. Hopefully the plaintiffs find a way to convince the courts and bluefin continue to enjoy the protections that have helped the rebound in recent years.

  • A decades-long study on how warming waters from climate change are impacting fish species reveal that some species seem to be getting larger, while others are getting smaller. Interestingly, the larger fish are tending to get bigger while the smaller fish are shrinking. What I have read doesn’t point to any increase or decrease in population, but if prey fish are getting smaller while predators get larger, if populations stay the same we’re going to run out of food over the long run. It’s great to know that this type of study is taking place as we look to manage fisheries and ecosystems in light of climate change moving forward.

  • The White House issued an Executive Order yesterday on promoting American seafood competitiveness and economic growth. Honestly, I’m not versed enough to know what this actually means, but it seems like there may be some language in here that loosens regulations to promote additional harvest. The ASGA is working on a write-up, and I am sure others will cover soon, so we’ll keep you posted on what this means.

  • The Tongass National Forest in Southeastern Alaska is a critical habitat and remaining natural resource that is currently in the crosshairs of the logging industry. With the ‘roadless rule’ being debated, up to 9 million acres of the forest could be opened for subsidized logging, which would be detrimental to a unique resource that generates millions of dollars and supports jobs and the economy in the area. Craig Shirley and Frank Donatelli dive into the economic and job impacts that this decision could carry with it. Combined with the unique natural importance and value, it’s critical that this area and others like it are protected as much as possible.

  • FRIDAY VIDEO - This week’s video to take you into the weekend covers the return of the native, Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout to some of their native range. It’s an uplifting video, with a writeup, on the process and how nature can and will take off if we give her a chance. Enjoy it and have a great weekend.

May 6, 2020: Striped Bass - a Recap of Where we Are and a Preview of Yesterday’s ASMFC Discussion on the Species, A Menhaden Study Exposing the Impact of Omega, A Suit to Protect Herring and More Seafood Consumption at Home

  • This writeup from Flylords Magazine is one of the best all-in-one-place summary of where striped bass stand as we enter the 2020 season. It includes a lot of information, but reinforces what we’ve included here before. Everything from how striped bass got to where they are now, to the ASMFC’s lack of accountability, the abuse of Conservation Equivalency by certain states, to the new regulations on a state-by-state basis (including detail on NJ and MD), to how important proper catch and release practices are for striped bass, and even including the potential impact that COVID-19 could have and is having on our fishery management process. The article is well written and finishes up with a few quotes from guides and business owners who rely on these fish that really show how important they are and how important everyone standing up to fight for them is for anyone who enjoys targeting them on the East Coast.

  • The American Saltwater Guides Association published this piece in advance of yesterday’s ASMFC discussion on striped bass. The failures of the ASMFC in successfully and sustainably managing striped bass and other fish is well documented, so the doubt that the ASGA has around its ability to start doing the right thing now and moving forward is founded in experience. I wasn’t able to listen into the discussion yesterday, so I don’t know how the general conversation went (my guess is that very little was accomplished, and, as the ASGA points out, that might be a good thing), but these issues that are included in this article are of very real concern moving forward as the ASMFC begins discussion the next Amendment to manage striped bass under. One thing I did see from yesterday’s webinar was a slide that suggested that those states that utilized Conservation Equivalency this year resulted in an increase in reduction, when in reality it was the opposite. I am hopeful the rest of the discussion laid the groundwork for the amendment to move forward so we can get start rebuilding the stock and put a group in charge who is interested in what is best for the fish, and will keep you posted when we hear more about what was discussed and what’s happening now.

  • The attachment at the link below contains a pretty in-depth study of how Omega’s reduction fishery for menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay is impacting both the fisheries in the Chesapeake and the rest of the Atlantic Coast. Omega, which is a foreign-owned company, consistently points to the jobs and financial impact that the Company provides to the coastal communities, specifically Virginia. Looking at these statistics, however, expose that they put thousands more jobs and livelihoods at risk by risking the depletion of a resource that supports the striped bass and other fisheries on the Atlantic. During yesterday’s ASMFC discussion on menhaden, the use of Ecological Reference Points were again the focal point, however the implementation of them were pushed off further down the road. Hopefully the ASMFC starts to implement this new way to regulate this forage species and menhaden can be managed according to their value in the ecosystem and not for their value of being harvested.

  • The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has sued the US National Marine Fisheries Service for failing to protect river herring, whose populations have declined precipitously since the 1970s. We have covered the herring runs in certain rivers, and their recovery in those rivers, a number of times this spring, but, as the NRDC points out, the number of herring out there are a tiny fraction of what they once were. These fish provide valuable energy to the rivers and ecosystems around them, and the NRDC is right in saying that it is going to take effort to encourage their recovery.

  • A bit of positive news for the seafood industry in the U.S. in light of Coronavirus. While restaurants remain closed and the demand for seafood generally is down, there has been a spike in retail demand from those stuck at home in quarantine. The positive takeaway from this, to me, is the willingness of people buying seafood to buy, cook and eat species that generally are not targeted or sold / marketed by restaurants or at markets. I firmly believe the future of sustainable seafood is going to be expanding the types of fish and seafood we eat to reduce pressure on ‘glamour’ species like Salmon, Tuna, bass, etc.

May 1,2020: Pebble Mine Update, The Guiding Industry in COVID-19, 2020 Commercial Salmon Fishing in Alaska, a Response to Menhaden from MFCN and an Incredible Video from TU on the Recovery of Steelhead in the Elwha

  • The Pebble Mine project in Alaska continues to move forward, as the Army Corps of Engineers reviews the plan. This article from Hakai Magazine outlines the significant issues with what has been submitted, focusing on the mitigation efforts proposed by Pebble Limited Partnership. These mitigation efforts would be required to ‘pay-back’ for lost or damaged wetlands, under the Clean Water Act. The issues here are that it is almost impossible to replace or pay-back for waterways and habitat as pristine as what is being threatened by this project, and even if there were, it seems as the PLP has not even attempted to match that value. Bristol Bay is an incredible place, and this project is just the wrong project in the wrong place. The proposals are being reviewed now, with a decision on the project expected towards the end of this summer. Please visit our TAKE ACTION page, or www.savebristolbay.org to see how you can help.

  • An update from the American Saltwater Guides Association on how they are working to ensure that fishing guides get the support they need from their state and local governments. We have covered the impact the COVID-19 lockdowns have had on the fishing industry and the small businesses that we all rely on within it, and these are meaningful steps outlining a specific framework designed to keep charter boats safe for the captain, crew and anglers. Hopefully states include charter fishing in the early phases of reopening, but the ASGA will stay on this issue and continue working, so tune in there for more updates and we’ll keep reporting on them as they come.

  • The commercial salmon fishery in Alaska is a unique fishery that supports a region and involves many transients to fish on boats, process fish and support the fishery. Given the near-term timeframe of the fishery ramping up, COVID-19 presents a significant obstacle to whether the fishery would happen at all this year and, if so, it was uncertain on what that fishery would look like. Much of it takes place in remote areas where COVID-19 has not been detected yet, so keeping those populations safe was of paramount importance. The Anchorage Daily News just covered recently announced restrictions on travel and on the fishery, which could provide some insight into how boats and commercial fisheries will operate nationally.

  • The Marine Fish Conservation Network issued a response to Virginia’s decision to lower the quota on menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay. As we highlighted yesterday, this is a hugely positive decision that holds Omega Protein accountable for willingly exceeding the limits last year.

  • Here’s a video from Trout Unlimited about the recovery of summer steelhead in the Elwha River in Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. It’s another incredible reminder of how quickly nature can recover if we give her a chance.