The Chesapeake Bay Foundation reports on its blog about the opportunity to change the menhaden management plan for the better. The post again sheds light on the extreme harvest practices of Omega Protein, a company that should be on the enemies list of all recreational fishermen.
Posts from the “Save the World” Category
Reading my Sunday New York Times, I’m greeted with this advertisement on page 11. Whew, I was worried BP was going to try and sweep this under the carpet once it disappeared from the news cycle. I think they could have gone with some better photo choices though.
The dude’s got cat-like reflexes and used to play drums for Les Claypool. Last year we tried to get him propped out for the Teva Games Costa 2Fly Competition for no good reason. This year he’s rocking the 10-gallon for good cause: Raising money for Casting For Recovery. Give him a pledge for points scored over on his site, and see how he does this weekend.
Read this post on Capt. Gordon’s blog, and then this one. Then try chanting “drill baby drill” again. I dare you.
A sobering essay on disappearing migratory fish from the Yale E360 environmental journal. The author, who wrote Heartbeats in the Muck, makes a point that applies everywhere: Mitigation for the loss of wild runs of these fishes was most often in the form of the easy but nearly always ineffective — if not downright destructive — stocking of hatchery-reared specimens. The exquisitely fine-tuned life histories of natural runs to their home rivers became quashed by mass-produced specimens that were less fit, but that nonetheless competed with any remaining wild individuals, reducing their fitness, too, as they interbred. Responsibility for the continuity of the runs shifted away from maintaining ecological integrity of fish runs and rivers to what amounted to a cosmetic patch via outsourcing. Abundant…
My colleague John Page Williams, who works for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, is also involved in the Maryland CCA. He turned me on to Careful Catch Maryland, which is promoting the use of catch cradles used by muskie anglers to keep big bass in the water during release. The science behind it is that the less a fish is handled on release, and the less time it spends out of water, the more likely it is to survive. Check out this scientific paper on catch and release mortality, and how your gear and handling affect a fish’s recovery.
I asked Dr. Aaron Adams a few questions about the state of bonefish, tarpon, and permit, particularly in Florida after this brutal winter. I also asked him about the mission of the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust. Here’s what he had to say. FJ: Could you kind of summarize what the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust is all about? If I’m giving money, where is it going? AA: Bonefish & Tarpon Trust was founded as Bonefish & Tarpon Unlimited in 1998, by a group of concerned, anglers, guides, and scientists. They were concerned about the apparent decline of bonefish and changes in behavior of tarpon in the Keys, and wanted to do something to improve the fisheries. They quickly learned that very little was known about…
Get out the pencils and the wide-lined notebook paper and get your kid to write about why fishing and being on the water is so important, and he or she could win a 10′ NuCanoe that you just might be able to borrow once in a while. Go to the Fishy Kid website to check out the rules for the latest contest aimed at getting kids out on the water.
Project Permit, a new joint venture between The Bonefish and Tarpon Trust and Costa Del Mar Sunglasses, has the goal of tagging 6,000 permit for scientific research. The stuff they have found out about bonefish and tarpon is phenomenal so I imagine this will bear the same fruit. Go to the Project Permit website to apply for tags if you are so inclined.
An article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch about the debate between anglers and scientists who have seen a decline in the atlantic menhaden population and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) and the Omega Protein Corporation, who say the baitfish population is just fine. From the vantage point of my home waters on the Western Sound, I’m going with the scientists and anglers.
Tagged: bunker, Chesapeake Bay, menhaden, omega protein
