Policy News
“Silt happens!” That simple riff off a common bumper sticker is a quote from Gary Esslinger, manager of the Elephant Butte Irrigation District in southern New Mexico (Weiser 2011). His sentiment arose from desert country but might have been uttered by Exelon Power about its Conowingo hydropower project on the Susquehanna River or the owners... Read More
Doesn’t everyone revere Mother Nature? Granted, some might not be as love-struck as me, but I suspect most AFS members appreciate Mother’s ability to get things right. It was while reading about the science and policy of habitat conservation (protection and restoration) that I began to sense a theme, or at least imagine one. If... Read More
by Thomas E. Bigford, Policy Director, American Fisheries Society Advocacy in its simplest construct has two components — an issue and a voice. Life is rarely so simple, as is definitely true about advocacy. AFS is actively engaged in that debate as we consider roles that may position us to be a stronger advocate... Read More
Serving as your dutiful correspondent and policy wonk, I wrote this column from the AFS Southern Division Annual Meeting in Savannah, Georgia (late January), a gorgeous coastal city that also hosted the mid-year meeting of the AFS Governing Board (early February). The hugely successful Southern Division event reminded me how much AFS members offer to... Read More
I dedicated one of my columns to how we and our Society can wield greater influence through partnerships. Fish-centric opportunities abound, but bonus points await those who reach beyond fish and toward aquatic systems on larger geographic scales, toward other natural resources such as wildlife, toward cross-cutting efforts based on topical themes such as resource economics,... Read More
by AFS Policy Director Tom Bigford This column started with a singular focus on the ecological value of artificial or engineered spaces as surrogates for natural habitats. After some enlightening conversations at the AFS Annual Meeting in Québec City, my topic morphed into a broader policy arena. Besides habitats, we might create with sculpted sediments,... Read More
Aquaculture is a complex arena, complete with ever-expanding science, shifting management implications, and growing societal demands. How, then, do we create useful policy to guide our way? And how can AFS its members lead the way? by Tom Bigford – American Fisheries Society Policy Director AFS proudly describes itself as the “oldest and largest professional... Read More
In closing my last column, I promised to share the top 10 issues facing fisheries, an inclusive term defined here as the fish, the people who fish, and the recreational and commercial industries. This is my list, based largely on deep immersion in science, management, and policy issues during my 18 months on the AFS... Read More
ABSTRACT: The United States has a small net-pen salmon industry dating back over 40 years and a nascent net-pen industry for other marine fish. The United States net-pen aquaculture sector has improved its resource efficiency in terms of the amount of fish meal and fish oil used in feeds and reduced its environmental impacts in terms of the mass loading... Read More
by Tom Bigford, Policy Director Most of my previous columns focused on fish, fish habitat, fishing, fish agencies, fish communications, etc. Anything fishy was fair game. But my supposedly wide net may well have been naïve. The last month has been eye-opening, and incredibly exciting. With better hindsight than foresight, I now see what I... Read More
