Arlington, VA – The Marine Fish Conservation Network (Network) today launched a new online
resource created for recreational fishermen that provides clear, reliable news and opinions about
fisheries management in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Developed and administered by longtime
fishermen and advocates, Captain Patrick Paquette and Captain John McMurray, Fissues.org
simplifies the complicated fisheries management process for the species that matter to average
citizens in order to better inform and engage anglers in important management decisions.
“Although U.S. fisheries are public resources that should be managed with community input, the
reality is that the government process is too complicated for most of us to get involved,” said
Paquette. “We launched Fissues.org to make fisheries management more accessible to everyone
who cares deeply about catching fish.”
“Fissues.org boils fisheries management down to the basics that your average angler can
understand,” said McMurray. “We want to provide the essential information needed for a
conservation-minded angler to stay informed and get involved, such as writing a letter or
attending a hearing, which could directly affect what happens on the water.”
The website will focus on management by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the
New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils, plus Congress, Department of
Commerce and NOAA Fisheries as it pertains to stocks in the region. It will feature those species
most targeted by recreational fishermen, such as black sea bass, cod, bluefish, Atlantic herring and
summer flounder, which are often the subject of the most complicated and controversial
management decisions.
“We need fisheries management – from regional regulations to federal law and policy – to benefit
the people and communities that rely on healthy oceans and productive fisheries” said Robert C.
Vandermark, executive director of the Network. “Creating this online tool for anglers is one of the
many ways we hope to get fishermen more engaged in the decisions that affect them most.”
The Network is piloting Fissues.org in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast and may extend its fisheries
management coverage to other regions in the future.
