Potential Cause: Rehabilitate Fishing?
I’m still researching ideas on where we can best utilize our fundraising ideas. Fortunately, I’m getting great support. I’d like to take a few minutes to discuss one of the causes I have been considering. It’s certainly not finite but I’d like our fans to know a bit more about why I may seem stubbornly passionate about coastal Maine conservation and protection (aside from being an outdoorsman). Here’s a quick history on my experience witnessing the decimation of fishing in Maine.
Growing up spending summers in Midcoast Maine we used to be able to catch a lot of fish, namely Cod, Stripped Bass, Bluefish, and infinite amounts of Mackerel. Over the course of one summer, however, the fishing fish population was all but completely destroyed.
My dad used to take my brother and me out fishing and a few times each summer we used to get schools of Blues coming into our harbor to feed on baitfish. It was an amazing scene to witness; every 30 seconds or so the surface of the water the area of a two-car garage would appear to boil as baitfish leapt out of the water to escape their predators. It was an absolute feeding frenzy. The chaos would ensue for a minute before the Blues would regroup and plan their next attack. This process would last for almost an hour and fishing during this time was always extremely exciting. We could catch almost as many Bluefish as we could real in. Nothing went to waste; what we didn’t eat we gave to a friend to use as bait in his lobster traps.
Example trawler.
Then in the late 90’s the Russian fishing trawlers came into US waters under a joint-project allowed by the New England Fishery Management Council (Source: CHOIR). They anchored their gigantic processing ship off the coast of Pemaquid Point. In the course of a couple months they managed to completely decimate the population of fish. We caught fewer fish in the decade following their arrival than we did in one day prior. The only Strippers and Blues I have caught since all fell on one day when we caught four. Coincidentally, it was the morning of my wedding in 2005. I have not caught any others since. You hear stories about environmental disasters, over harvesting, and poor land management but to be able to witness something so first hand and clearly is something amazing. Like turning off a light switch, the trawlers turned off fishing.
I’m researching the problem and looking to see if anyone is addressing it. Is it simply a political issue or are their environmental issues at play here, too. Again, it’s just an idea but can Wicked Philanthropy help the fish population recover?
