Rick Crawford
Because fly fishing and surfing are both outdoor sports, and lifestyles for that matter, anglers and surfers tend to be more aware about things that negatively impact our environment. Fly fishing requires that we have an understanding of not only the fish we are targeting, but also their environment. When fishing for trout, we need to have a basic understanding of entomology and the flies to match the hatch. When fishing for saltwater species, we need to grasp not only what the fish is eating, but also moon phases and tides.
Anglers are aware of the cause that negatively impact the environment. Take for example, plastic pollution and climate change. It’s estimated that there will be more plastic (by weight) than fish in the ocean by 2050, and we know climate change is warming our land and water to dangerous levels resulting in less snow pack, wildfires and drought making it more difficult for cold water species like trout to survive. As a surfer, I know that surfers are also keenly aware the impact plastic pollution and climate change is having on surf breaks.
Surfing challenges us to understand the moon phases, tides, winds and other features that result in producing swell. Surfing also requires that we understand different geographical features that cause the waves to break and also how to read water so that we can ride more waves. It’s impossible to catch waves with no swell, but to understand if there will be swell we need to know such things as wind direction and intervals between waves to determine whether the surf will be ride-able.
Surfers are sensitive to how things like plastic pollution and climate change are affecting the environment and the surf. For example, waves wash a lot of plastic pollution on the beach, so surfers see first-hand the negative affect plastic pollution is having on beaches around the world. Additionally, surfers are especially aware of the impact climate change will have on our favorite surf spots as more frequent and intense hurricanes combined with sea levels continuing to rise are eroding shorelines. In fact, sea levels have risen 8 inches over the last hundred years and hurricanes are indeed becoming more frequent and intense which results in the destruction of our favorite surf breaks.
Fly fishing and surfing teaches us that we are part of nature and not separate. Because fly fishing and surfing are both outdoor sports, or what I would call passions, we connect with our natural environment in a way that the average person may not understand. Having an intimate knowledge of a local surf break, or getting tuned in to a particular salt flat connects us to the water in a way that is hard to describe, but you begin to feel and understand natural rhythms and cycles and become increasingly aware of your connection with the land and water.
As a result, we anglers and surfers will do anything to protect what we love, and because fly fishing and surfing teaches us that we are part of nature, and not separate, we understand that whatever we do to the environment, ultimately we do to ourselves.