LAW · MARINE POLICY · SCIENCE · MANAGEMENT
Better decisions
Sustainable fisheries
Healthier oceans
Fathom helps agencies, foundations, NGOs and fishing communities turn complex marine challenges into practical action.
Explore our work
SELECTED CLIENTS, FUNDERS & PARTNERS
OUR EXPERTISE
Science and policy,
put to work.
Sound fisheries management takes more than good science. It takes an understanding of the law, meaningful engagement and the capacity to see complex projects through.
Policy & legal analysis
Clarifying legal considerations and developing practical pathways for marine policy and management reform.
Project management
Managing complex initiatives, coordinating technical teams and keeping partners focused on shared objectives.
Fisheries data & technology
Supporting electronic monitoring, reporting and the modernization of fisheries information systems.
Engagement & funding
Connecting agencies, fishing communities, NGOs and funders to advance well-informed, achievable solutions.
SELECTED WORK
Moving fisheries
management forward.
Select projects connecting marine science, policy and practical implementation.
Modernizing fisheries
data collection
Management and oversight of electronic monitoring and reporting pilots, alongside modernization of California’s Recreational Fisheries Survey.
Explore project
The initiative tests electronic tools in the Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessel, market squid, Dungeness crab and set gillnet fleets. It also supports a transition from paper forms to electronic data entry for the California Recreational Fisheries Survey.
Climate-ready
fisheries management
Management and oversight of initiatives strengthening stock assessments, management strategy evaluation and stakeholder engagement.
Explore project
Work spans barred sand bass, white seabass and California halibut, together with quantitative decision support, peer review and fisheries management planning.
California fisheries portfolio
Managing a portfolio of philanthropic fisheries initiatives for Resources Legacy Fund.
Explore project
Helping to manage and guide RLF’s California state fisheries portfolio by identifying and overseeing projects that advance the sustainability goals of the State’s Marine Life Management Act. This includes supporting grant and renewal development, budgeting, reporting, and fostering partnerships across California and beyond.
Supporting fishing communities
Development of a website on California’s fishing communities.
Explore project
California is home to a diverse range of fishing ports, each with a rich history, species portfolios and unique challenges. Fathom oversaw the creation of a comprehensive set of port profiles and the development of a visually rich and interactive website that brings each port to life. The goal of the site is to make fisheries information readily accessible, tell the stories behind the data, and identify the current issues facing each port.
Visit Fishing CommunitiesConnecting the
EM4.fish community
Management of EM4.fish, a platform for sharing knowledge, experience and developments in fisheries electronic monitoring and reporting.
Explore project
EM4.fish brings together practitioners and stakeholders operating in the electronic monitoring and reporting space to share lessons, innovations and perspectives. The site also highlights the potential for EM to protect human rights at sea.
Visit EM4.fishData Modernization Working Group
Analysis and outreach supporting the Data Modernization Working Group’s efforts to advance data modernization policy and implementation at the federal level.
Explore project
The Data Modernization Working Group is a group of NGOs that works with industry partners to advocate for more effective and efficient data collection through technology, enabling policies and regulations, and better funding.
Vessel tracking in California
Analysis of the legal and practical considerations associated with implementing vessel tracking in California.
Explore project
As California moves towards modernizing its fisheries data collection efforts, understanding evolving technologies and the legal implications of their use is essential. This project synthesized the lessons learned elsewhere and analyzed them in the California regulatory context. By providing case studies, a compendium of available technologies, and an assessment of the needs of specific California fisheries, the analysis is aimed at designing vessel tracking programs that are both effective and legally defensible.
Read the reportA guide to the MLMA
Making California’s fisheries management law accessible.
Explore project
Co-authoring the second edition of the guide to California’s Marine Life Management Act, explaining the framework that guides the state’s fisheries management.
Read the guideCalifornia's Master Plan For Fisheries
Supporting California’s fisheries management framework.
Explore project
Drafting California’s Master Plan for Fisheries to support implementation of the Marine Life Management Act.
Visit the Master Plan websiteCrab and lobster trap limits
Supporting trap-limit reforms in two California fisheries.
Explore project
When crab and lobster fishermen felt like there were too many traps in the water, Fathom worked with them to initiate trap limits. In crab, that meant advancing SB 369 (Evans) through the legislature. For lobster, it meant securing $1 million in funding from the Ocean Protection Council to advance a fishery management plan for spiny lobster. Both fisheries have trap limits in place today, supporting sustainability and profitability.
West Coast groundfish closed areas
Supporting changes to groundfish spatial management following the transition to catch shares.
Explore project
After the Pacific groundfish fishery transitioned to catch share management, a different set of incentives was in place. With 100% observer coverage and strict limits on overfished species, there were more targeted means of reducing fishing mortality than broad closures designed for that purpose. Reopening historical grounds while maintaining protections for sensitive habitats took analysis, dialogue and navigating a complicated management process.
Low-impact trawl gear
Helping reduce habitat impacts and bycatch in the Pacific groundfish trawl fishery.
Explore project
New technologies and approaches are essential to reducing the impact of bottom trawling. This project brought together NGOs, trawlers and scientists to design lower-impact trawl gear and test its efficacy at reducing habitat impacts, bycatch and fuel consumption. In addition to peer-reviewed science, the project also led to a gear modification workshop funded by NOAA’s Saltonstall-Kennedy program that brought together fishermen, gear manufacturers, NGOs and fishery managers to share lessons and perspectives.
See project video
ABOUT FATHOM · HUFF MCGONIGAL
Experience across
science, law and policy.
Huff McGonigal founded Fathom Consulting in 2006 to help advance practical solutions for marine and fisheries management.
Previously, as a Senior Project Manager at Environmental Defense Fund, he worked on fisheries policy change and improvement projects that aligned fishing and conservation interests. As Marine Policy Coordinator for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, he addressed fisheries, water quality, desalination and coastal development.
His earlier work includes evaluating marine reserve effectiveness with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and working as a commercial diver. That experience informs an approach grounded in science, an understanding of the law and the realities of working on the water.
Huff is a member of the California State Bar Association and holds a law degree from Lewis & Clark Law School, with undergraduate studies at UC Santa Barbara and the University of Otago in New Zealand.
Connect with HuffLET’S TALK