The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) issued a statement acknowledging public concern about the treatment of comments received during the scoping process for the MAFMC’s Atlantic Mackerel, Squid and Butterfish FMP.

In all, the Herring Alliance petition generated over 1,700 comments! Thanks to all that participated in this important public process. We'll keep you posted on new ways you can get involved in our campaign to protect river herring from bycatch in the Atlantic trawl fleet.

Paul Earnshaw, president of the Buckeye Brook Coalition, has issued an appeal to members and those interested in preserving the brook's herring run to support regulations to measure the numbers of the fish caught by offshore trawlers.

Peter Baker

My connection to the sea started as a boy in Portland, Oregon. My father was a commercial fisherman, first for crab in the Bering Sea, then for shrimp off the Oregon Coast, and finally as a crawdad trapper in the Columbia River. Some of my earliest memories were visiting him in Newport, Oregon when he was just in from shrimp trips. I remember pulling crawdad pots onto his skiff just off Sauvie Island. It taught me a respect for the sea and the people who work on it.