Stripers

I’m quite sure that by now almost everyone has read the glowing reports that have been published on the state of our striped bass fishery. Most have painted a picture of a healthy, robust and ever expanding stock, so you can go to bed and not worry about a thing. That is of course if […]

‘Freak’ occurrence may have been caused by suffocation Millions of dead fish blanketing the beach strand of Wrightsville Beach earlier this week created a scene that one expert called “phenomenal.” Menhaden fish, which are not typically eaten by humans, began washing up along the beachfront Sunday morning. A cause of the occurrence has not yet […]

THE INDIVIDUAL waterman seems headed in the same direction as the family farmer and may well reach extinction first. Both are being done in by huge industrial-style competitors that benefit from economies of scale. In the case of the watermen, though, the damage is even greater because giant fishing concerns are also wiping out the […]

Rich Roberts, who covered outdoors for the Los Angeles Times, quit years ago when every story he tackled turned into an environmental battle. Fishing and boating, camping and hiking lose their appeal, he said, when all you get are diatribes about declining resources, government inaction and corporate malfeasance, and it’s your job to ferret out […]

Atlantic states fishing regulators agreed Wednesday to cap industrial menhaden fishing in Chesapeake Bay for five years – a victory for recreational fishing and environmental groups, but one that could be challenged by a fleet that’s already been kicked out of New Jersey waters and other coastal states. Omega Protein’s net boats would be limited […]

Fifteen or 20 years ago I wrote a column urging William Donald Schaefer, then governor of Maryland, to do something bold if he wanted to leave a mark. Schaefer should climb to the top of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge like the Hunchback of Notre Dame, that column said, and forever protect the troubled waterway by […]

Researchers who studied decades of catch records from Japanese fishing fleets say fishing has greatly reduced the diversity of fish in the world’s open oceans, leaving ocean ecosystems less resilient against environmental changes like global warming. The scientists, who report their findings in today’s issue of the journal Science, say it has been known for […]

Stocks of a small, herring-like fish that provide omega-3 essential fatty acids for supplements taken by millions of people could be endangered because of the western world’s obsession with health foods, conservationists warn. At risk is the future of the menhaden fish, which breeds in Chesapeake Bay and lives along America’s eastern seaboard. Vast shoals […]

The organization says menhaden harvests affect the food chain REEDVILLE — Amid heavy security to protect the state’s largest fishing fleet, Greenpeace demonstrators staged a peaceful protest in Cockrells Creek at the tip of the Northern Neck yesterday. “I’m very pleased with the way it went,” said Col. Steve Bowman of the Virginia Marine Police, […]

Some years ago we were wandering around Ireland on vacation and stopped in the little town of Cahirciveen on the coast of County Kerry. The proprietor of our bed-and-breakfast mentioned that a big sea-fishing tournament was underway, so we went down to the harbor to watch the weigh-in. The competitors had come from an angling […]