Conservation for Christmas Is a Gift That Will Give Long After the Tree Is Down

The holiday season is upon us, and this is when I usually would put together a list of new and cool fishing gear that you can pick up at local tackle shops for the fishing-obsessed loved one in your family.

While I urge you to support our wonderful local tackle shops and to seek out their advice this coming week on what to get your fisherman or fisherwoman for a tackle gift, I would like to make a case that, this year, the best way you can really support the future of their fishing is to make a contribution in the name of advocacy on their behalf.

I feel that we are at a critical juncture in shaping the future of the fishing scene on the South Fork, the East Coast and beyond. The voices that are working very hard to mold how that future will shape up need and deserve our support, both financial and actionable.

A handful of critical fish species are in tenuous positions and, depending on how some key policy decisions break in the next year or two, could find themselves on solid footing for rebuilding or on a slippery slope toward what most of us would call collapse and long periods of low abundance, which means poor fishing.

Fortunately, there are a handful of individuals and groups who are putting in long hours, often setting aside some or much of the time they would spend focusing on their own businesses to help those of us who are only vaguely aware of simmering matters of urgency.

They are putting together the literature, blog posts, podcasts and email blasts to help us understand what the status quo of fisheries actually is (not the social media version), what the steps necessary to maintaining or restoring healthy fish stocks are, what the impediments to them are, and how those of us who are not dedicating hours of the day to the matter still can make our voices heard.

If we (you and me) don’t want to dedicate hours of every day to working on the solution, we should be willing to help them do it by tossing a few bucks in the basket, the same as we do in church on Sunday. If you’re not gonna preach, ya gotta pay the preacher.

There are literally dozens of groups all over the country who are fighting the good fight. But there are a few who, either by virtue of their specific issues of importance or their particular skills in advocacy, are worth South Fork residents throwing robust support behind.

Over the last 18 months or so, you will have seen me reference the work of the American Saltwater Guides Association on numerous occasions. That is because this very new group is doing some of the most robust and relevant advocacy out there on matters that are of the most importance to Northeast fishermen — and they are doing it in innovative and no-nonsense ways that are definitely proving to be the biggest bang for the buck in the advocacy world. They have arguably led the way in the fight to get striped bass stock management back on track after more than a decade of grotesque mismanagement that a long line of older advocacy groups failed to restrain or, worse, egged on.

There is no single fishery that is more important to the fishing world of the Northeast than striped bass, and there are some gargantuan hurdles facing it. The ASGA has proven that it can marshal the voices of fishermen, present their priorities of “manage for abundance” effectively, and is adept at navigating the bureaucratic nightmare of red tape and political influence that is the federal fisheries regulation system. We should be thankful that they are willing to dedicate so much of their time on our behalf — these are all working fishing guides who have businesses of their own to run.

To support their striped bass work, or to read up on their groundbreaking research into false albacore biology, or to support the fight for sane management of redfish in Louisiana, go to saltwaterguidesassociation.com.

Another lesser-known group that I would like to see get more support is the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. This group is not very well-known but has for years taken the smart stance on so many issues that impact hunters and fishermen around the country. From protecting wildlife corridors to protecting public access on federal lands beset by business interests, to common sense management of salmon and coastal fish stocks, the TRCP has not wasted a dollar of its supporters’ money.

While they direct a lot of their efforts to policy around the county, the reason I think the TRCP is something that South Fork anglers should support is their work on advocating for stricter limits on the harvest of bunker (menhaden), as it is perhaps the most critical forage fish species on the entire East Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico.

For decades, menhaden management was managed as though they were a resource to be tapped to the fullest extent possible without wiping them out. But thanks to smart biologists and groups like the TRCP, managers realized just over a decade ago that more abundant bunker were an important component to rebuilding or maintaining other fish species that relied on their oily, protein rich flesh for energy.

The result was an explosion in bunker stocks and an almost unbelievable surge in marine life of all sorts — whales, dolphin, sharks, tuna and even southern species like cobia — along the shores of Long Island.

As with all things, a big resurgence in a fish stock inevitably quickly leads to those who profit from the depletion of a resource calling for relaxing the rules that had led to the rebound. Which is exactly what’s happening now with bunker — and TRCP is at the fore of the fight to hold fast on the reins and keep bunker stocks as massive as they have been in the last few years.

Check out their menhaden advocacy at trcp.org/forage-fish-recovery/ and make a donation at support/trcp.org.

Lastly, I would urge you to support the Captains for Clean Water. Yes, this is a Florida-based organization that is currently dedicated to the restoration of the Everglades and the fight against the political influence — let’s call it what it is: bribery — of the billion-dollar “Big Sugar” industry.

But whether or not you are someone who travels to Florida regularly and fishes in the Everglades, it is the way that CFCW has led that fight, and the amazing success that they have had, that makes this group worthy of support from any angler, no matter where they live.

They have proven that effective organizing of anglers and business owners whose incomes depend on good fishing can bring political pressure to bear on elected officials who are otherwise blindfolded by the financial influence of big-money industries.

In the decades to come, CFCW’s range of influence in smart conservation is going to reach far beyond the waters of Lake Okeechobee, the Everglades and Florida Bay, and we should all support them to make sure their foundation is solid and growing.

The CFCW also is masterful at raising money through merchandising, which means that supporting their work and having a gift under the tree for your favorite angler can both be accomplished at their website, captainsforcleanwater.org. Hats, shirts, Yeti mugs — you name it, they’ve got it, with their very cool logo on it, and the profits go to supporting their advocacy.

Thank you in advance for supporting these groups however you can. We anglers will appreciate it for many holiday seasons, and fishing seasons, to come.

Catch ’em up. See you out there.