June 11, 2024 — In the 1970s and 1980s, U.S. fisheries were so overfished that fishermen were steaming farther and longer to fish, only to return with smaller catches. Now, decades after laws were successfully put in place to revive our fisheries, fishermen are once again finding it harder and harder to find fish, and many economically important fish stocks are depleted and are not rebuilding. This lack of rebuilding and chronically depressed stocks doesn’t just impact me personally; it affects my whole community.
Perhaps most concerning is that the federal agency with the power to save our fisheries isn’t telling the whole story when it should be sounding the alarm.