Menhaden- Little Big Fish

A bucket of menhaden. Photo courtesy of Chesapeake Bay Foundation

In 2019, AFFTA and the AFFTA Fisheries Fund convened a panel of scientists and managers to identify the primary threats to the sustainability of our marine fisheries. A major finding of the report, “Recommendations to Improve the Health and Sustainability of America’s Marine Fisheries”, was the need to ensure forage fish are managed in a way that acknowledges their role as a critical food source and essential for abundant and sustainable recreational fisheries.

Known locally as bunker or pogies, menhaden are a silvery-blue herring with dark spots on the sides. They are energetic filter-feeders, swimming rapidly, mouth agape to filter water across their gill-rakers to harvest plankton. In turn, they are prey to striped bass and osprey, dolphins and humpback whales. And they are the East and Gulf coasts’ most-caught fish—and the second-highest catch in the U.S. behind Alaskan pollock.

”Menhaden may be the most important fish you’ve never heard about.” (PEW).

In 2020, responding to years of anglers and scientists expressing concerns of over-harvest and declining populations, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission unanimously adopted a system under which catch limits on the forage fish will account for the needs of its predators and the broader health of the environment. Coming from the regulatory body that sets catch limits for menhaden that was long overdue good news, at least on paper.

In the Fall of 2021 news flashed around the Chesapeake Bay reporting a Canadian fishing company spilling 400,000 "presumably dead" menhaden from torn nets, apparently the latest in the company's 13 fish spills in Virginia since 2018—an important reminder of the need to better manage menhaden, and the need to move from a sound policy on paper to on-the-water results.

The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) has partnered with other leading voices in the recreational fishing sector to encourage fisheries managers to leave more menhaden in the water for gamefish and protect sensitive ecosystems from industrial fishing. As TRCP observes, the importance of menhaden and other forage fish to recreational fishing cannot be overstated and great sport fishing depends on abundant and healthy forage fish.

TRCP and partners put forward two main goals:

1. In the Atlantic—where anglers have already been successful at advocating for ecological reference points in menhaden management and a new menhaden advisory committee—support the implementation of the new management model to benefit striped bass populations and pushing for additional conservation measures for menhaden and other forage species. 

2. In the Gulf, build upon an existing coalition of concerned organizations to establish an ecological management model for menhaden over the next three years, and support state legislation and policies that prioritize menhaden conservation and protect sensitive habitat from damage during menhaden harvest activities.  

Striped Bass Amendment 7 Call to Action

Stripers stir up the bait off Montauk Point, NY (photo courtesy of Ray Ryan)

A 2018 stock assessment of Atlantic striped bass conducted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) found the species has been overfished since 2013, confirming what striper anglers up and down the Atlantic coast had already witnessed.  

In an attempt to rebuild the stock, the ASMFC is currently revised the fisheries management plan that regulates Atlantic striped bass—the first revision of the plan since 2003. The “Amendment 7” process is complex and technical but it needs the attention of all recreational anglers who care about the future of striped bass.

ASGA’s Positions on Striped Bass Amendment 7: A Comprehensive Guide

Tony Friedrich, American Saltwater Guides Association 

By now you have probably heard the podcasts, seen the infographic, and read the first blog describing our positions on Draft Amendment 7 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass. This is where we get into the “why.” We didn’t put this out first because we want to encourage comments. Not many people are going to read a 4000-word blog. However, some folks might want to understand how we came to our position on each issue. So, we did both. 

[Read on for] the reasoning on our positions for Draft Amendment 7. Some of this is technical and some of this is what our gut told us. Enjoy the read and attend a public hearing or send in your comments to ASMFC by April 15. Email comments@asmfc.org with the subject line “Amendment 7.” Make sure and cc stripercomments@gmail.com to be entered into the ASGA raffle. 

Senate Bill 2508: A Florida Fight for Clean Water and a Lesson for Conservation

Will Poston, Policy Consultant, American Saltwater Guides Association

On February 17, I made the journey down to Tallahassee, FL, to join Captains for Clean Water and a bunch of fishing guides to watch the Florida Senate debate and vote on Senate Bill (SB) 2508. To say the least, it was powerful. I sat with generations of fishing guides from all over the state and all different fishing methods up in the Senate gallery. The gallery was dominated by Costa sunglasses, the accompanying tan lines, and Captains for Clean Water hats. The peanut gallery, if you will, was respectful and offered no outcry or excuse for the Senators to discredit or remove them. It was a textbook public pressure campaign, and it was effective.

Chances are you’ve heard some rumblings about SB 2508 over the past couple of weeks. If you did, you probably heard about it through your favorite tarpon guide, a fishing buddy, or Captains for Clean Water. You also might be wondering why we’re even talking about an issue a thousand of miles away from our core membership; we’re talking about this because within the fight over SB 2508, there are lessons that we can apply to our striped bass/Amendment 7 battle—hopefully finding similar success.

Originally, SB 2508 was a suspiciously filed bill that would have disrupted efforts to restore the Everglades to the benefit of one primary special interest group. For example, the bill originally contained language which would have threatened funding for the highest priority Everglades restoration project, the EAA reservoir. This is an incredibly complex issue—entire books have been written about this decades long fight…

While SB 2508 was certainly bad policy and process, something else stole the show: the power and effectiveness of a grassroots, organic—whatever you want to call it—group of people who were motivated, educated, and passionate for a cause. That’s exactly what happened down in Tallahassee on Thursday, February 17 and for the week leading up.

This experience really showed me what a grassroots movement of fishy people can accomplish. In just over a week, this group of fishing guides, coastal residents, stakeholders, you name it, was able to substantially influence government and legislation for the benefit of Florida’s estuaries, fisheries, and coastal communities.

Russia Gains Two Vast New Protected Areas

Ramona DeNies, Wild Salmon Center, February 10, 2022

Tugur watershed

““There aren’t too many places like this on Earth,” he says. “These rivers are capable of growing salmonids that surpass 100 pounds, and they support amazing wildlife: Steller’s sea eagles, Blakiston’s fish owls, wolves, brown bears, moose, Manchurian elk, and dozens of other species.” ”

— Guido Rahr, President & CEO, Wild Salmon Center

In January, two areas of the Russian Far East totaling 3.7 million acres were set aside for protection under the “stronghold” strategy championed by Portland-based Wild Salmon Center and its Russian partners. The reserves, primarily along the Tugur and Maia watersheds, are home to 100-pound taimen and various salmon species. Not only do these protections help guard against logging, mining, and development, they also act, much like Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, as some of the planet’s most effective carbon sinks, crucial in the fight against climate change.

Last month, in a huge step forward for the stronghold protection strategy developed over the past two decades by partners including the Russian Academy of Sciences and regional fisheries agencies, the government of Khabarovsky-Krai officially created two massive new protected areas on the Tugur and Maia watersheds—a combined area of 3.7 million acres. 

Together, the two reserves constitute an area roughly one-and-a-half times the size of Yellowstone National Park in the United States. The designations add to earlier successes by our Russian partners to protect places like the Kol River in Kamchatka, the Vengeri and Pursh-Pursh Rivers on Sakhalin Island, and the establishment of the Shantar Islands National Park just north of the Tugur in Khabarovsk.  

According to Rahr, these combined protections are helping to act as a brake against expanding threats from logging, mining, and industrial development in the Russian Far East. In the Tugur alone, local conservation and fishing interests have battled new logging concessions and placer gold mining operations in recent years.

Abandoned Mines Need Good Samaritans

Many of us grew up learning the Parable of the Good Samaritan. The parable tells of a traveler (from Samaria) coming to the aid of another traveler, unknown to him and not of his tribe, who had been beaten and robbed by bandits.

Today “Good Samaritan” laws across the United States offer legal protection to individuals who give reasonable assistance to others who are injured, ill, in peril, or otherwise incapacitated. These laws are intended to reduce bystanders' hesitancy to provide assistance, for fear of being sued or prosecuted for unintentional injury or wrongful death. Now there is a long-standing need for Good Samaritans to come to the aid of clean water and fisheries.  

Acid rock drainage from a mine site in Douglas County, Oregon (photo: Bureau of Land Management

An estimated 110,000 miles of streams are impaired with heavy metals and/or acidity and abandoned mines are a significant source of this pollution. The people and mine operators who caused this pollution are long-gone and there is no one to hold responsible for the cleanup of these toxic wastelands. As these abandoned mines continue to leak toxic chemical pollutants, day after day, decade after decade, we need all the Good Samaritans we can find. But without legislative relief, such good Samaritans risk incurring substantial liability for their good deeds. Current laws treat those who want to clean up abandoned mines as if they are polluters themselves. Conservation organizations, watershed groups and state agencies who might want to help clean up abandoned mines are dissuaded from doing so by regulations and immense liability risks.

 Good Sam Legislation

 Trout Unlimited has been working with stakeholders and members of Congress to draft legislation that would create a pilot program to facilitate Good Samaritan cleanups. The effort got a major boost with the introduction of a bipartisan bill in the Senate on February 3, 2022 by Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and James Risch (R-ID) along with eight cosponsors.

The legislation would establish a new pilot program for the EPA to permit up to 15 projects and provide conditional liability relief for qualified volunteers to begin cleaning up abandoned mine sites. As long as the Good Samaritan complies with terms and conditions of the permit established by the EPA and carries out the project, then the Good Samaritan cleanup would be considered a success and the permit terminated.

We Need Your Voice

 Toxic, acid mine drainage from abandoned hardrock mines continues to degrade western trout and salmon fisheries. The EPA estimates that 40% of headwater streams in the west are impaired, impacting over 100,000 miles of important habitat. To learn more about the issue download TU's primer or go to www.tu.org/goodsam 

 Outdoor Recreation Businesses — Sign On

For those of you representing outdoor recreation businesses nationwide who support clean, healthy rivers, you can lend your support by contacting Ty Churchwell, TU’s Mining Coordinator, at ty.churchwell@tu.org or 970-903-3010. Ty is collecting endorsements for a petition (copy below) that will be delivered to Congress in support of Good Samaritan legislation.

The Roadless Rule in America's Salmon Forest

Fishing the Tongass. Photo courtesy of Jim Klug

Kevin Maier, The Drake

I pay my bills here in Southeast Alaska, at least in part, by having short and intense conversations on airplanes. I help wedge wadered clients from all over the globe into DeHavilland Beavers, then drop in on some of the planet’s most spectacular temperate rainforest to make brief, intimate connections with the salmon, char, and trout that thrive in this unique environment. The conversations on the plane are of course just prelude to the main act—visiting the forest itself. Yet the flights offer important moments to contextualize the experience for folks visiting the Tongass National Forest. From our sub 2000-foot cruising altitude, it’s so much easier to see connections between the glaciers, steep mountains, spruce-and-hemlock-clad hillsides, and our short high-gradient, salmon-producing streams.

 Like any worthwhile guide, I want my clients to feel the fight of a good fish, and to get their trophy shot for Instagram. But it’s equally important to me that they understand that image’s place in the larger ecological picture. Recounting the details of their trip—sharing a run with a brown bear teaching her cubs to catch chum; rapidly retreating as a 22-foot tide floods a thousand yards of flat; watching salmon and dollies repeatedly slash at slowly stripped poppers—my hope is that my clients could string the moments into a larger story about our day fishing. I’d hope they could describe an ongoing Tongass narrative about providing average Americans amazing recreational opportunities on public lands.

Trout, Lost and Found

Jim White, Tim Haarmann and Aaron Jones prepare rare native cutthroat trout for release on Banded Peak Ranch.

Page Buono, On Land, Western Landowners Alliance

Just a few days after Jim White, aquatic biologist for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and his colleague spotted the smoke of what would become the 416 fire, they were riding ATVs through a smokey haze up a remote drainage. They drove as far as they could, then trekked with large packs and electrofishing equipment into the creeks where the cutthroat were. Fire burned around them, and they had only a few short hours to catch as many fish as they could. 

By the time they arrived back at their truck with bagged fish—exactly 54 of them—in hand, the journey had really only just begun. The already tenuous existence of the species had just become more so.  

Eventually, White and his colleagues would turn to Tim Haarmann, the ranch manager of the 52,000-acre Banded Peak Ranches in southern Colorado for help buoying the species.  

But we’ve stepped into this story midstream. Before the bags of fish and before Banded Peak, before the fire, we weren’t certain this strain of native cutthroat existed at all.

Watch the video: The Fish and The Flame | A Collaborative Conservation Success Story in the Western U.S.

Take a Stand for Oregon Wild Fish

Casting on the Rogue. Photo courtesy of Ken Morrish and the Wild Salmon Center

In a matter of days, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will discuss the Rogue-South Coast Multi-Species Conservation and Management Plan (RSA) for the final time.

The Native Fish Society, Wild Salmon Center and other fisheries conservation/angler groups are urging the Commission to take a precautionary approach to steelhead management in southern Oregon. This would not only include catch-and-release angling regulations, but also monitoring programs, management triggers and the corresponding actions, and hatchery management practices that reflect the best available science.

These actions are critical to safeguarding the region’s natural resources—and the economies and communities that depend on them. And our opportunity to speak up ends soon.

TAKE ACTION: Add your name to the Native Fish Society Action Alert

TAKE ACTION: Send a letter via the Wild Salmon Center

There's still time to lend your voice in support before the Commission’s December 17 vote. Make your voice heard Write to the Commission today to urge their support for catch-and-release, wild fish emphasis areas for all south coast species, and other wild fish protections for Oregon’s South Coast rivers. Ultimately, we are calling for a plan that protects wild fish—and On December 16, the public will have one more opportunity to comment on the RSP. The commission will make its final decision on the following day.

Hard Lined for Stripers

The American Saltwater Guides Association works to promote sustainable business through marine conservation. With the striped bass population at a 25-year low, ASGA is urging recreational anglers to get involved with the future of striped bass management, to educate themselves on the issues, and make their priorities heard to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

ASGA is also headlining the striped bass with HARDLINED, a film by KGB Productions. The film, featuring mouth-watering footage of striper fishing, explores the nuances of the striper’s complex conservation story while showing why these fish are so special to so many people. Despite its popularity and significance to the coastal communities in the Northeast, the fishery is once again in jeopardy. The last time this happened, we witnessed one of the greatest conservation success stories of all time, restoring the stock to astronomical numbers.

Today, the question on everyone’s mind- can we do it again? Watch the video and get involved.

Ranchers find new, more sustainable ways to draw water from Utah's Bear River

Rancher Wade Lowham on his land south of Evanston, Wyoming (Photo by Kevin Sweeney) Salt Lake Tribune

Shara Sparks and Therese Thompson | Special to The Salt Lake Tribune | October 7, 2021

All along the Bear River, there is evidence of Western resilience. In the face of daunting water challenges in Utah and neighboring states, ranchers, environmentalists, and staff from state and federal agencies are coming together to protect ranches and communities, while bolstering the long-term health of the river.

The Bear is home to the charismatic Bonneville cutthroat trout, Utah’s state fish, and is the largest source of fresh water for the Great Salt Lake. We recently organized a tour that traced most of the river, from its headwaters in the Uinta Mountains, into Wyoming and Idaho, then back to Utah and the Lake.

We visited places where temporary dams had previously been put up each spring so water right holders could withdraw their allocations. When installed, these structures raised the river level to divert water to an irrigation ditch. Many have accessed water this way for generations, but there are problems: These dams block fish passage, change river dynamics, can waste water and are expensive, time-consuming and sometimes dangerous to build.

At more than a dozen sites, we saw alternatives to dams that are better for ranchers and the river.

At his ranch south of Evanston, Wyoming, Wade Lowham no longer relies on push-up dams. (These were made when heavy equipment pushed streambed gravel into a large pile.) In 2018, a collaborative project recontoured the river channel on his ranch to maintain a natural flow at a slightly higher elevation. He now accesses his water by opening a simple headgate. He saves time and money, and fish pass unobstructed.

North of Evanston, Shaun Sims previously used concrete blocks, rock and other materials to stabilize banks and protect his pasture, and annually built push-up dams to draw water for irrigation – all at significant cost. That is changing, with work funded by multiple agencies. He now accesses his water from a headgate, and crews are restoring safer and more natural bends in the river. His new headgate system held up in 2019′s high flows.

Outside Montpellier, Idaho, Rancher Sean Bartschi showed us a dam built by his grandfather and a creek that was channelized to allow for more efficient land use. A multi-year project will maximize the efficiency of his pivot irrigation system. It will remove both the dam and channel because a meandering creek helps groundwater recharge — increasing soil moisture across the full pasture. It’s better for frogs, ducks, and other wildlife — which Sean is quick to point out. He doesn’t judge past practices, but knows water is increasingly precious and wants to get the most of every drop.

The projects we visited — all of them voluntary — each started with questions, conversation and brainstorming between a landowner and a state fish and wildlife agency, federal resource agency or nonprofit partner. Trout Unlimited (TU) started several by asking ranchers what they need to make their ranch more efficient. They listened. They built trust. When the time was right, they brought in staff from state or federal agencies to navigate permitting processes.

The trust and common understanding are obvious. At one stop, we heard TU staff talk about the rancher’s need for a more reliable water diversion while the rancher talked of how beavers help restore streams — each told the other’s story. Our two groups — Resources Legacy Fund and Western Native Trout Initiative — work across the American West providing funds and services for multi-benefit projects like these. Some of the best work we’ve seen is here.

With prolonged drought, Westerners must retool our water infrastructure. Bear River ranchers are showing the way. They are open to new approaches willing to partner, and are building more efficient operations. Under difficult circumstances, they’re providing inspiration.

An Artery Restored

A Bighorn River side channel before restoration (note excessive sediment build-up and vegetation encroachment into channel)

In an earlier issue of this newsletter we noted the work of the Bighorn River Alliance to identify and restore disconnected or low-functioning side channels on the Bighorn River in Montana.

Side channel habitats are vital contributors to the health of the Bighorn River fishery, As a result of sediment deposits, encroaching vegetation, and lasting drought, however, many side channels have lost much of their connectivity with the main channel.

With funding help from the AFFTA Fisheries Fund, Montana Trout Foundation, and many other supporters, the Bighorn River Alliance evaluated 30 channels with 13 considered “top tier” and two, Juniper and Rattlesnake side channels, selected for a demonstration projects.

During the summer of 2020 the two channels were surveyed in detail and permit-ready designs are complete. In 2021 restoration work began.

In total, almost a half mile of channel was opened up by excavating over 500 yards of material. At river flows of 1,750 cfs, when these channels would have been isolated from the main river, the Alliance was pleasantly surprised to see that both side channels flowed. 

These two reconnected channels are valuable in their own right, but the Bighorn River Alliance hopes to use them as demonstration projects and seek additional funding to pursue another dozen or so. That would represent a material impact of the quantity and quality of spawning and juvenile rearing habitat in the system.

AFFTA MEMBERS actively supporting the Bighorn River Alliance include Adipose Boatworks, Patagonia, Simms, and Yeti. Learn more about the Alliance, their project, and lend your support.  

Court Issues Decision on Utah Stream Access

A section of the Provo River near Victory Ranch in Woodland Valley. Photo: Trent Nelson, Salt Lake Tribune.

In April 2011, the Utah Stream Access Coalition filed a constitutional challenge to HB 141, Utah’s Public Waters Access Act. The case eventually made its way to the Utah Supreme Court resulting in a remand to the lower court to determine a threshold issue: whether there is basis in historical fact–in the understanding of public easements in the late 19th century–for the easement recognized in Conatser v. Johnson.

On August 16, 2021, Judge Derek Pullan granted the Utah Attorney General’s and Victory Ranch Acquisitions’ Motion for Summary Judgment. In so doing, Judge Pullan ruled: “[t]he Coalition has come forward with substantial evidence that in the last half of the 19th century, Utahns widely and freely touched and used both public and private beds of Utah’s lakes, rivers, and streams for a variety of purposes, including recreation. But, the Coalition has failed to prove that this historical use gave rise to a public easement dictated by our law in the late 19th Century.”

The USAC Board of Directors had the following response to the judge’s ruling:

“While we are deeply disappointed by this decision, which comes after more than a decade of effort in Utah’s courts, the Coalition is in the process of digesting Judge Pullan’s ruling and determining our strategy moving forward. USAC’s Board of Directors will be meeting later this week, and will provide an update on our next steps to restore access.

“It is important to note that nothing in this ruling diminishes what USAC previously accomplished in establishing navigability of the Weber River, or what we stand to accomplish in the future with other navigable rivers.

“As always, we appreciate your continued support and we look forward to continuing the fight to restore access.”

““...nothing in this ruling diminishes what USAC previously accomplished... or what we stand to accomplish in the future.””

— USAC Board of Directors

The Utah Stream Access Coalition works to promote and assist in all aspects of securing and maintaining public access to, and lawful use of, Utah’s public waters and streambeds. The AFFTA Fisheries Fund ‘s Grants Program is proud to have supported the work of USAC in its efforts to promote enhanced public access to Utah’s fisheries.