Fishing Families Archives - Saving Seafood

Maine, Virginia fishermen unite against further menhaden quota cuts

November 6, 2026 — Commercial fishermen from Maine and Virginia are calling on fisheries managers to maintain the Atlantic menhaden quota for 2027, arguing that additional reductions could threaten fishing families and coastal communities that depend on the species.

In a new video produced by the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA), Maine fishermen Dustin Delano and Jim Wotton join Ben Landry, a spokesperson for Virginia’s menhaden reduction fishery, to discuss the industry’s economic importance and the potential consequences of further restrictions.

The video, highlighted in a Nov. 5 release from the American Small Pelagics Network, comes as the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) prepares to consider coastwide menhaden quotas for 2027 through 2029.

“We’re all commercial fishermen,” said Wotton, a fisherman from Friendship, Maine. “I think we need to stick together. We need to work together.”

The ASMFC reduced the coastwide Atlantic menhaden total allowable catch by 20 percent for 2026. According to the commission’s latest stock assessment, Atlantic menhaden are not overfished, and overfishing is not occurring.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

OREGON: Seafood Trail launched celebrating local fisheries, Oregon-landed seafood

November 6, 2026 — The Oregon Coast Seafood Trail, a new initiative inviting travelers to experience local seafood closer to its source, has been launched by the Oregon Coast Visitors Association (OCVA) in partnership with the Oregon Ocean Cluster.

Featuring more than 20 local businesses, the trail helps visitors discover fisher-family-run eateries, seafood markets, dockside retailers and food carts that prioritize Oregon-landed and Oregon-grown seafood. Along the way, it introduces travelers to the fishing families and working waterfronts that sustain Oregon’s blue economy, according to a release from the OCVA.

The trail addresses a disconnect between Oregon’s seafood harvest and what reaches local plates. A 2022 study commissioned by OCVA found that about 90% of the seafood supplied to the Oregon Coast businesses and institutions studied was classified as non-local catch. The trail helps travelers and residents find businesses committed to local sourcing and learn where their seafood comes from.

Behind The Scenes: What ‘Shoreside Support’ Really Looks Like for Fishing Families

August 12, 2023 — What is it really like for those considered “Shoreside Support?” You met some of our fishing families in the previous article, Fishing Family Point of View: Regulations and Policies across the Coasts, but what does it take to love a commercial fisherman? My fellow Partners of Commercial Fishermen and I can tell you straight.

Lindsey Hoadley is the owner of the lifestyle brand Mothersun and the Captain, wife to John Hoadley, and mama to two girls, Soleil and Echo. John is a spiny lobsterman, urchin, and sea cucumber fisherman out of Santa Barbara, California. The husband and wife team are currently building their new business, thegoodcaptainco.com.

Their love story began as a decade-long friendship before love, marriage, and John becoming a stepfather to her oldest, Soleil. “When we gave birth (to our second child), we had just bought our lobster permit to start our first lobster season, so we birthed a baby and a new business at the same time,” Lindsey said. “It has been a thrilling ride growing a family and our businesses.”

Challenges of this lifestyle vary from fishery to fishery, and Lindsey can testify. “John’s original fishery is sea urchin, which is WAY different than lobster. So it’s diving vs. trapping, which is not similar in any way, really,” Lindsey said. “I had to talk to my therapist about his line of work because it really scared me that he was underwater all day, every day, out at the islands where there are tons of sharks and weather and current.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman