Fisheries

Any doctor would point out that this year's report wasn't a clean bill of health: Thirty six of America's most commercially and recreationally important ocean fish populations are still subject to overfishing, and 45 have been depleted to unhealthy levels.

President Obama, we get that you're concerned about the US losing its competitive advantage in relation to new powerhouses such as China, Brazil and India, but how can you look us in the eye and say that any level of poverty is okay?

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Importantly, the overfishing crisis is not just about food. It is, perhaps surprisingly, about HIV/AIDS.

The Pebble Mine is a reckless project, overwhelmingly opposed by the people who live there -- and one that the world cannot afford.

Giving river herring the protection they require and implementing appropriate management practices can ensure that populations of alewives and bluebacks, and the ecosystems they support, will remain healthy for generations.

The truth is the National Ocean Policy will be GOOD for fishing. Agencies are tasked with helping preserve and restore important fish habitat, not to ban or curtail recreational fishing.

Sometimes, an idea comes forward in Washington that actually brings together people who normally disagree. The Fisheries Investment and Regulatory Relief Act (FIRRA) of 2012 does that and more.

The future health of Atlantic bluefin tuna populations will be enhanced by improving the ability to track the amount of fish caught each year.

Some people get rich by creating good things, and they support many people. But some people -- they used to be called robber barons -- succeed at others' expense. So just as wealth isn't necessarily bad, "efficiency" isn't necessarily good.

Toxic chemicals, oil, and waste contaminate our beaches and coastal waters, hurting the tourism industry and creating dead zones like that in the Gulf of Mexico, which covered an area the size of New Jersey in 2010.

Want to just solve the problem? They estimate that whaling makes about $31 million in profits. Anti-whaling spends $25 million. If the anti-whaling money directly paid whalers not to hunt -- problem solved.

A New Orleans open house held by Louisiana's coastal restoration authority last week on a draft of the state's 2012 Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast drew mixed, earnest and sometimes vehement comments.

There will always be competing needs and viewpoints on how to best manage our nation's fisheries. But the bottom line is that the system is now working.

It's a world of 7 billion and counting, wherein many people couldn't care less about seabirds or other predators -- unless they're tasty.

One of the most popular New Year's resolutions for Americans is to lose weight. But for the fish in America's oceans, we need to resolve to help them gain weight.

A federal law, as amended in 2007, required all U.S. fisheries to have management plans, and catch limits that would end overfishing by 2012. And look what year it is!

Here's how I can tell if an environmental news story has permeated the public consciousness: my 86 year-old mother phones to tell me about it.

Everyone wants more fish in our oceans -- the challenge today is finding the right way to achieve that goal.

Here are just a few of the ways climate change is expected to impact water -- and everything on earth that depends on it.

At present, there are no fewer than 140 laws and 20 agencies that govern our seas, each with its own agendas and mandates. Such piecemeal governance is unwieldy and fails to effectively address many of the oceans' problems.

Sea turtles have been swimming the oceans since before the dinosaurs. Are we going to let them go extinct now because we can't step back and see the big picture?

Healthy fish populations create jobs, support coastal economies, help repair damaged marine ecosystems and provide increased recreational opportunities for anglers like myself to bring home fish for my dinner table more often.