Number 5
February 9, 1999

"Conservation" is the controlled use and systematic protection of natural resources

At the end of the 19th and into the early 20th centuries people of the stature of John Muir, Aldo Leopold and Henry Beston were redefining the word "conservation" and establishing a new, and at the time revolutionary, way of thinking about humankind and our relationship to the natural world. In reading Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac, Beston’s The Outtermost House or in contemplating the thousands of square miles of wilderness that are an important part of our heritage thanks to Muir’s unique vision, it is impossible to imagine people with lives more in tune with the natural world.

Anyone recently involved in fisheries issues can’t help knowing that the torch they lit has supposedly been passed down to modern self-described "conservationists" who only a few years ago were just people whose hobby was catching fish or whose businesses involved catering to those hobbyists. Today these people, who we’ll call New Conservationists, band together in "conservation" organizations and actively - and sometimes successfully - pursue political agendas ostensibly based on the proud legacy of those men who created the conservation movement. But let’s take a look at how in tune these New Conservationists might be with the conservation ethic that Muir and Beston and Leopold so successfully established.
 
 

For a fictional journey into the psyche of a mythical New Conservationist, we refer you to Rocky Saxatalis' letter on striped bass. Rocky's attitude, which we have unfortunately found isn't all that fictional, provides the basis for a coming FishNet that will explore New Economics, a discipline that appears to have arrived concurrently with New Conservation.

A note for the sensitive: Several people - we would assume New Conservationists - who stumbled upon this letter took such offense at it that they directed the attention of various elected officials and fisheries managers to it to share their outrage. Needless to say, for anyone so inclined we encourage such referrals. Probably as needlessly, if any of those who were referred to the letter shared any outrage, as yet we haven't heard about it.

One of the easiest ways to recognize a New Conservationist is to identify the vehicle he or she is driving. The sport utility vehicle is the New Conservationist’s hands down favorite. The four wheel drive pickup truck is a close second. Whichever the choice, it will probably be festooned with racks to proudly display fishing poles and ice chests. If a vehicle weighs several thousands of pounds more than it has to, if it gets less than half the gas mileage that it could, if it has four wheel drive, big knobby tires with raised lettering, and a trailer hitch on the back, there’s a good chance there’s someone driving who thinks of himself as a conservationist. If the truck or SUV is parked in a garage, driveway or parking lot located on what used to be a salt marsh or other coastal wetland, the chances are even greater.

Where this sport utility vehicle or other vehicular behemoth is being driven is another indication of whether a New Conservationist is the owner. If it’s up and down the beach - something that would undoubtedly make Henry Beston throw up his hands in bewilderment but seems to be the primary activity of many of the New Conservationists - or to the closest marina or boat launching ramp, you can be almost totally assured that the driver and passengers are basking in the glow of the conservationist’s torch. And basking in multi-speakered stereo, air conditioned comfort at ten or fifteen miles per gallon.
 
 

A line of SUVs and pick up trucks at a launching ramp in Barnegat Light, NJ	Fiberglass powerboats at a marina in Barnegat Light, NJ

When reaching the marina or launching ramp, what is our boat-based New Conservationist most likely to do? Probably climb into a fiberglass craft that might well last until the next ice age, crank up the one or two - or more, if we can actually believe what we see in boating magazines - 100+ horsepower outboard motors, and go roaring off at 40 mph in pursuit of the "fish of the day," leaving behind a remembrance of his passing in the form of a petrochemical slick on the water and a cloud of haze in the air [for a discussion of possible impacts of recreational boating]. Meanwhile, back on the beach his land-based compatriot is cruising up and down the strand in his quest for fish, turning areas that were once the exclusive domain of sand pipers, piping plovers, frisbee tossers, sun bathers and nesting turtles into a slower-speed version of the freeways back home.

Up until now it might be somewhat difficult to understand how these supposed disciples of Muir, Beston and Leopold think they are carrying on the conservationist tradition. But, on the fishing grounds once they’ve caught and killed all the fish they want to take home to either eat or hang on the wall as "trophies," they stop throwing their catch into their buckets or coolers and begin practicing what’s known as "catch and release." Catch and release is a process involving hooking a fish, allowing it to struggle at the end of the line until exhausted enough to be reeled in, taking it off the hook and putting it back in the water, supposedly to live to "fight another day." This is done until they’ve fully satisfied their urge to fish or the fish stop cooperating and is the primary way the New Conservationists think they conserve. (We must note here that catching and releasing isn’t inflicted only on the fish the anglers don’t want to eat or to hang on their walls. Fish are also caught and released because they are too large, too small, out of season or of the wrong species to be legally kept.)
 
 

Unfortunately, many of the fish caught and released by New Conservationists - or by anyone else, for that matter - don’t live long enough to fight on that other day. Research indicates that a significant percentage of released fish don’t survive this kind of conservation, in short order becoming crab, shark or seagull food. While the New Conservationists consider any fish not remaining belly-up at release a healthy and happy survivor, this isn’t necessarily so. Delayed catch and release mortality, which can reach 20 or 25 percent, has real conservationists rightfully concerned.

Catching and releasing is one of two activities that distinquishes New Conservationists. The other, of course, is condemning commercial fishermen at every opportunity for catching and keeping - and providing to consumers - those same fish the New Conservationists want for themselves. Try as they might to cloak it in self-righteous rhetoric, the New Conservationist’s brand of "blame someone else, I’m not the problem" conservation is nothing like the real thing. But they’ve found that it’s too hard to look in the mirror - those big SUVs and fancy boats must be tremenduously appealing to them - and easy to point a finger at the other guy. The first "other guy" is a commercial fisherman but behind him are millions of seafood consumers.
 

Please Note: We know some recreational anglers who are as concerned with the "footprints" they themselves leave in the natural world as those that are left by others. True conservationists, they are environmentally aware and responsible and their lives reflect it. These comments aren’t directed at them. Their houses are in order and they aren’t built of glass.

The tragic loss of ten crew members of four ocean clamming vessels that sank in a two week period has riveted attention on the issue of safety in the commercial fishing fleet. Both the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating these losses, the first in the clamming fleet since 1992. (Note: While results won’t be available until the Coast Guard investigation is much further along - hearings are still being conducted - Master Chief Dave English is available to discuss fishing vessel safety. He can be reached at the Coast Guard’s Philadelphia office at 215 271-4869.)

Without question, commercial fishing is a dangerous profession. The ocean can be a sometimes inhospitable and occasionally dangerous workplace and the periods of inhospitality or danger aren’t always predictable. Stringent federal safety requirements recognize and all the people who work on commercial fishing boats realize this. (the Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Act of 1988 - 46CFR28 - that established industry safety standards is described in the box below.

will take you to a page on this site with the "Reguirements For All Vessels" section..
will take you to the Code of Federal Regulations search page (enter "46CFR28" and the subject area you are interested in).

As they do in every workplace, accidents happen on commercial fishing boats. When these accidents happen at sea, and  when the forces of nature are stacked against the vessel, the results can be tragic.
 

- The Oil Slick -

HALIFAX (Canadian Press) -- Oil executives and biologists are having a tough time arguing their cases on the future of one of Canada's most unique marine ecosystems....The two sides appear to be coming up against the same challenge: a lack of information on how oil and gas exploration would affect Georges Bank, an area off Nova Scotia rich with marine life (Alison Auld 1/26/99)  for the full article  for another article on exploratory drilling on Georges