Tag Archives: Fishery managers
Task force report identifies research needs to better understand Alaska salmon problems
Fishery managers overseeing Alaska’s faltering salmon runs should be able to rely on a more comprehensive and holistic approach to science that considers all habitat, from the middle of the ocean to freshwater spawning streams far inland, according to a task force report on salmon research needs. The report was issued last week by the Alaska Salmon Research Task Force, a group established through a 2022 act of Congress to identify knowledge gaps and research needs. The task force comprises close to 20 members and includes scientists, fishers, Indigenous community representatives and agency managers. In addition to those members, the effort included a special 42-member working group focused on salmon problems in the Yukon and Kuskokwim River drainages. The report follows a year’s worth of meetings and consultations. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 17:34
Listen to those who know: Fishery managers should be paying attention to voices of experience
Could we stop talking about working with the fishery experts and start actually working with them? The experts, in my opinion, are the folks who have survived by fishing for generations, not the ones with degrees but minimal field experience.,,, I’m not a management expert. But I have worked with most aspects of fisheries for 40 years, so I have a lot more than a clue. I have a better understanding and a lot more experience than many that claim expertise. I’ve attended more meetings, seminars, symposiums, public hearings and classes than I could afford to. I’ve dedicated my life to fishing. Much of this was to give back, trying to help. But it’s time for me to accept reality: by Capt. Van Hubbard >click to read< 08:22
Oregon wants to untangle whales from crab fishery
The number of whales entangled so far this year off Oregon, Washington state and California appears to be down compared to prior years, according to preliminary reports. But Oregon wants to avoid a lawsuit like the one brought against California by the Center for Biological Diversity. That lawsuit, over impacts to whales from commercial fishing activities, settled in March. For now, fishery managers will eliminate a two-week postseason cleanup period in the commercial Dungeness fishery,,, >click to read< 15:57
Jim Lovgren – Fishery managers responsible for Summer Flounder mismanagement
Earlier this year the state of New Jersey was found to be out of compliance by the Atlantic States Marine Fishery Commission [ASMFC] in regard to the proposed recreational catch specifications for Summer Flounder, [fluke].The ASMFC which jointly manages summer flounder with the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council, [MAFMC] had recommended an increase in the recreational size limit for Summer Flounder to 19 inches for New Jersey. New Jersey fishery management representatives balked at that proposal and instead presented an alternative proposal that would keep the size limit at the present 18 inches but with a shorter season which would still meet the conservation goals as the Commission’s plan. The Commission denied this alternative and declared New Jersey out of Compliance, an action that would result in the shutdown of the Summer Flounder fishery, both recreational and commercial sometime later this summer. Unfairly this shutdown would have occurred after the recreational season was over, and would only impact New Jersey’s commercial fishermen, who are already struggling with a 50% cut back in the quota over the last two years click here to read the story 11:32
California likely to shorten chinook salmon season
With chinook salmon at its lowest population in years, West Coast fishery managers are considering a proposal to strictly limit the commercial season and to delay its start around the San Francisco Bay from its usual May date to August. A final decision will be made on Tuesday. “You’re probably going to find it only in your upscale grocery stores and upscale restaurants, and it’s not going to be always available. It’s probably not going to be cheap,” said Dave Bitts, a Eureka fisherman and adviser to the Pacific Fishery Management Council, which manages fisheries in the federal waters off California, Oregon and Washington. Click here to read the story 08:55
The New England groundfishery is a disaster. – Improve the science
Fishery managers declare catch limits that are little better than arbitrary because our definitions of overfishing are at odds, a condition created by murky, imprecise language in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery and Conservation Management Act, further complicated by the inability to agree on the size of the fishery, its relative vitality, the impact of warming and acidifying oceans, the number of fish versus the size of the fish, the role of economics and management mechanisms — you get the idea. Read more@capecodonline 12:06
