Rick Crawford
We know climate change is the greatest threat our fisheries face today. Warmer water temperatures, less snowpack and wildfires threaten cold water species like trout and salmon. Ocean acidification is making it difficult for shelled animals (oysters, mussels, etc.) & crustaceans (shrimps, crabs, etc.) to build their shells and survive, which threatens flats species like redfish, bonefish and permit and warmer water temperatures are causing fish to change their migratory patters. At the end of the day, if you love fishing, then you should be working to protect and restore our fisheries because as worldwide population continues to grow, so does our demand.
I don’t think anyone could explain it better than angler and writer Tom McGuane:
We have reached the time in the life of the planet, and humanity’s demand upon it, when every fisherman will have to be a river-keeper, a steward of marine shallows, a watchman on the high seas. We are beyond having to put back what we have taken out. We must put back more than we take out.
Tom McGuane
Most anglers I have encountered would never do anything to intentionally harm a fishery once they have been made aware of potential threats. However, even though the scientific consensus on climate change is overwhelmingly clear (97% of climate scientists agree that man is causing climate change by putting an unnatural amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels), there are those with vested interests who are willing to spread doubt about the magnitude of climate change for the benefit of short-term gain. Once people know that something they love dearly is being jeopardized, they tend to do the right thing, but with the current climate crisis, many anglers feel helpless, so I thought I would provide you with the most powerful step you can take today to protect what you love:
- CALL YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS and let them know you are concerned about the impact climate change is having on our fisheries and the ability of future generations to meet their own needs!
I believe political action is the greatest step we can take as individuals to solve the climate emergency because if they don’t believe you care about climate change and your vote doesn’t depend on it, then neither do they. Of course, we can all act on climate change by: educating ourselves about climate change, going week-day vegetarian, planting trees, taking public transportation, switching to LED light bulbs, considering transitioning to renewable energy at our homes and businesses and asking the companies we work for to go carbon neutral, but if we don’t influence policy at a massive scale it simply won’t be enough. (SIDE NOTE: You may also want to check out the Climate Activist Roadmap from Protect Our Winters)
Imagine if everyone reading this blog picked up the phone and voiced their concern about climate change? We could reawaken the human spirit, restore our forests and wildernesses and live in a world powered by clean, renewable energy. It can be done, we simply have to take action!
Protect what you love,
Rick