LISTEN

The pace of time sometimes seems simultaneously fast and slow, but there’s nothing like looking back over a year to put these feelings in perspective.

Looking back on 2015 from the perspective of National Fisherman’s online readers paints a picture of your year, too — the individual stories that caught your attention and the issues that have been important from start to finish.

One theme stands out from the year’s most read stories, and that, unsurprisingly, is regulation. From Coast Guard safety edicts to fishery management mandates, the stories that commanded your interest largely pertained to the rules you have to follow to conduct your business on a daily basis.

1. The Dalniy Vostok sinking

“How do we define sustainable? Does it not include safe working conditions for seafood harvesters? Does it not encompass a right to fair labor practices?”

- Trawler sinking raises old questions, April 2, 2015

 

2. Oceana

“Ask a fisherman to help you solve a problem, and in most cases, you’ll get a pretty useful solution that saves jobs, reduces bycatch and keeps fresh fish on your plate.”

- Ohhhceana, May 12, 2015

  

3. Catch sharing

“For many fishermen, this means a loss of our livelihood and culture. It means a break in a family tradition. And perhaps more importantly, it means future generations in these fishing families will have no access to using and stewarding the fish stocks and marine ecosystems that have sustained them for so long.”

- A five-year failure, April 23, 2015

 

4. Automatic Identification Systems

“In the comment period to the proposed rulemaking, one concern from several people in the fishing industry was that having to install and use AIS meant that a fishing boat captain's hot spots would no longer be his secret; other boats would quickly join him.”

AIS rule becomes effective March 2, February 24, 2015

 

5. Winged trawling

“Fuel savings and bycatch reduction are the two main benefits to using the winged trawl.”

Winged trawling system takes flight, January 22, 2015 

 

6. Rising lobster prices

Surging demand from China brought record prices for U.S. lobster.

Record U.S. lobster prices due to exports to China, Aug. 5, 2015 

 

7. Alaska salmon certification

“In the world of Alaska salmon politics, it doesn’t get better than a ringside seat at this fight.”

Is the salmon season on ice?, June 2, 2015

 

8. The benefits of omega-3 fatty acids — for some

“Unless you’re Inuit, the study, published in the journal Science and reported in The New York Times and elsewhere last Friday, suggests that you may be whistling past the coronary bypass unit.”

Inuit genes, Sept. 23, 2015

 

9. Debate over a proposed Atlantic marine monument

In New England this fall, the possible designation of the area around Cashes Ledge as a permanent marine monument was hotly debated between fishermen and conservationists.

Monument debate worries New Bedford fishermen, Nov. 22, 2015

 

10) Fishery management

“So tell me why does a state senator from a district on the Atlantic Ocean and a state representative from a landlocked district really think they know better than commercial red snapper fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico?”

- It’s not a game(fish) to us, Dec. 9, 2015

 

Have you listened to this article via the audio player above?

If so, send us your feedback around what we can do to improve this feature or further develop it. If not, check it out and let us know what you think via email or on social media.

Jessica Hathaway is the former editor in chief of National Fisherman.

Join the Conversation