Author: Ken Hinman

Anglers need to make their voices heard and support current measures to rebuild overfished stocks of menhaden all along the Atlantic coast. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) is accepting public comment — through November 16th — on Amendment 2 to its Interstate Menhaden Plan, which covers fishing from Maine to Florida. The amendment includes long-promised catch reductions for the industrial reduction fishery, limits fishermen and conservationists have been working on for years so we can restore menhaden to coastal waters to support striped bass populations and a myriad of other dependent predators that need this small but important…

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) has taken another big step toward increasing abundance of menhaden, also known as bunker or pogies. At its summer meeting in August, the 15-state Menhaden Management Board approved draft Amendment 2 to the Atlantic Menhaden Fishery Management Plan, setting the stage for a decision on catch reductions this December that would take effect in 2013. ASMFC’s scientific team updated the menhaden stock assessment and presented the results to the Board on August 8th. They affirmed in their report and during their presentation that overfishing is occurring and that the stock is likely overfished…

West Coast Forage Fish Conservation The Pacific Fishery Management Council took another big step toward managing West Coast fisheries by using a broad marine ecosystem approach and how changes in the environment affect fisheries management. The Council reviewed a draft Pacific Coast Fishery Ecosystem Plan (FEP) for adoption in early 2013 and approved the outline for an Annual State of the California Current Ecosystem Report. In related action, the Council adopted a strategy for prohibiting new fisheries for unmanaged forage species until they can be managed consistent with new ecosystem science and policies. “We’ve worked with the council for years…

The National Marine Fisheries Service is floating ideas for future management of Atlantic bluefin tuna, with an emphasis on reducing bycatch of these threatened giants. The hope is to lower the amount of incidental landings in the United States longline fishery, including in the Gulf of Mexico, the bluefin’s only known spawning grounds in the western Atlantic Ocean. NMFS is now seeking comment on a recently-released Scoping Document. The management alternatives that survive this round of public comment will be developed and considered through Draft Amendment 7 to the Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Fishery Management Plan later this year. The…

FORAGE FISH CONSERVATION TAKES ANOTHER STEP FORWARD Progress on Menhaden, River Herring at ASMFC 2/10/12 New management measures to conserve Atlantic menhaden moved another step closer to becoming reality on February 9th when the ASMFC’s Menhaden Management Board approved a Public Information Document asking for public comment on how and when to meet a new rebuilding target adopted last November. The new population target, according to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, will “increase abundance, spawning stock biomass, and menhaden availability as a forage species.” “The commission is so far keeping to its tight schedule to approve the menhaden amendment…

Like many Americans, I was first introduced to the blue marlin by Ernest Hemingway in his classic 1952 novella, The Old Man and the Sea, which chronicles an existential battle between an old Cuban fisherman and a great fish longer than his boat. Reading the story then, I could only imagine how much that fish weighed. But today I know the real-world record for a blue marlin caught on rod-and-reel is an astounding 1,500 pounds. And they get a lot bigger than that. The blue marlin is, by any measure, a magnificent fish — an unparalleled combination of size and…

If you care about menhaden, striped bass, bluefish, bluefin tuna, osprey and other seabirds, whales, the health of East Coast estuaries like Chesapeake Bay, or the future of Atlantic fisheries in general, you now have an opportunity to support conservation measures that would restore menhaden to its rightful place as “the most important fish in the sea.” On August 2nd, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) voted to send a range of options for rebuilding menhaden out for public comment. Draft Addendum V to the Atlantic Menhaden Fishery Management Plan, approved by an overwhelming majority at the 15-state commission’s…