Anglers Launch New Campaign to Demand Action as Climate Change Threatens Recreational Fishing

Today, the American Fly Fishing Trade Association (AFFTA) released a report written for anglers, by anglers, to kick off a nationwide campaign to inspire and empower anglers and the recreational fishing industry to demand progress toward climate-ready fisheries. The report, titled "For Tomorrow’s Fish: Anglers Are the Key to Climate-Resilient Fisheries,” documents how climate change is disrupting fishing experiences and explores how anglers are best positioned to call for climate-resilient fisheries that are healthy, sustainable, and abundant.

“This is a call to arms for an angler-led movement that can help turn the tide and protect the future of fishing,” said Lucas Bissett, Executive Director of AFFTA. “From changing habitats to shifting fish populations and behavior, we can’t ignore the realities we’re seeing out on the water. As long-time stewards of our country’s waterways who are seeing these impacts firsthand, anglers have the power to make a real difference in the fight for climate-resilient fisheries – for our sport, way of life, and industry.”

The report details how climate change affects fish behavior, abundance, productivity, and habitat, disrupting the success and sustainability of fishing experiences coast to coast. Sea level rise and warming waters are pushing essential fish habitats to the brink, destroying places legendary sportfish need to survive. Some fish are more abundant in certain areas and deminished in others, directly impacting the success and sustainability of fishing experiences.

The report is supported by more than two dozen leading outdoor brands and organizations such as Orvis, Patagonia, Far Bank, Mayfly, Bajio, and more. The release of the report kicks off the For Tomorrow’s Fish campaign that will elevate the voices of anglers and empower them to demand progress toward climate-resilient fisheries. 

 For more information, visit www.tomorrowsfish.org

 
 

 

Biological Opinion Comes Down Against Atlantic Salmon

Adult Atlantic salmon swim in the Sandy River, the best salmon spawning and rearing habitat in the Kennebec River system.

Mark Taylor, Trout Unlimited

Atlantic salmon runs in U.S. waters have endured blow after blow over the past two centuries. They just received another one.

 The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in March released a Biological Opinion (BiOp) on an energy giant’s proposed solutions to improve fish passage infrastructure at four hydroelectric dams on Maine’s Kennebec River, one of just a handful of rivers in the U.S. to support runs of Atlantic salmon.

 The BiOp suggests that dam owner Brookfield Renewable Energy’s proposals “may adversely affect but are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of Gulf of Maine distinct population segment of Atlantic salmon, shortnose sturgeon, or the Gulf of Maine distinct population segment of Atlantic sturgeon.”

Advocates for salmon restoration expressed disappointment, frustration, anger and sadness at the contents of the 325-page document.

 In a press release, the Kennebec Coalition and Conservation Law Foundation said the NOAA decision “ignores reality.”

“Brookfield’s four dams on the Kennebec are pushing Atlantic salmon to the brink of extinction and blocking restoration of other sea-run fish critical to the health of the Gulf of Maine,” the groups said. “It is disturbing that NOAA appears to be disregarding science and blindly trusting Brookfield with the future of Atlantic salmon and other species that depend on a healthy river.

“Removal of these dams provides the best chance to prevent Atlantic salmon from becoming extinct in U.S. waters while also continuing the restoration of a vibrant, healthy Kennebec River.”

The Kennebec Coalition includes the Atlantic Salmon Federation, Maine Rivers, Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) and Trout Unlimited, including TU’s Kennebec Valley chapter. Along with the Conservation Law Foundation, the Coalition works together to advocate for the restoration of the Kennebec River.


Updating NOAA Fisheries’ National Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Policy

Last Fall NOAA called for public comments on updating its National Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Policy. The AFFTA Fisheries Fund, AFFTA, and many AFFTA members where among the more than 50 organizations and 480 individuals that submitted comments.

Comments stressed the importance of building capacity to respond to climate driven changes and impacts on fisheries and their habitats; focusing on modernizing data collection; strengthening angler engagement, education and participation in science and management; and the continued attention to equity and environmental justice concerns.

NOAA’s proposed new policy goals include:

  • Advance climate-ready policies and programs to respond to climate-driven changes and impacts on fishery resources and the ecosystem.

  • Pursue and support equitable treatment and meaningful involvement of underserved and underrepresented communities in recreational fisheries and stewardship.

 NOAA anticipates agency review of the draft policy, goals, and implementation plans June-July, public release in September, and initiating three-year implementation plans in October.

Mobilizing the "Outdoor State"

Hilary Hutcheson, Mario Molina, Brooks Scott, and Whitney Tilt share their thoughts and expertise on climate change (photo courtesy of BHA)

Whitney Tilt, Executive Director of the AFFTA Fisheries Fund

 

In March, I moderated a panel entitled “Climate Change and Tomorrow’s Fish” at the 2023 Backcountry Hunting and Anglers (BHA) annual rendezvous in Missoula, Montana. Joining me were Hilary Hutcheson, Owner & Operator of Lary’s Fly & Supply in Columbia Falls, MT (board member of AFF, BHA, and POW); Mario Molina, Executive Director of Protect Our Winters (POW); and Brooks Scott, Executive Director, Yellow Dog Community & Conservation Foundation, Bozeman, MT and Director of Business Development, Emerger Strategies.  

The panel brought a professional and personal commitment to addressing the impacts of climate change—collectively as professional fishing guides, alpinists, outdoor industry professionals, fish and wildlife conservationists, and parents. The overall question before the panel was as the reality of human-caused climate change becomes more and apparent, what can we do? 

A good deal of smart thinking was shared with an attentive audience. Most significantly for me, however, were two overarching themes.  

First, there was a real sense in the room at the Missoula Fairgrounds that we have perhaps turned the corner from having to defend whether or not climate change is real. Freed of the onus to recite the negative impacts of sea level rise, warming water, and unrecognizable weather, the conversation could turn “what the heck can we do about it?” The discussion ranged from the very broad (“How do we build the necessary political will”) to the tangible (“We need to invest in upgrading the nation’s electrical grid to be able to take advantage of the growing renewables market”).  

Second, was the emerging effort build a larger community of interest that encompasses the highest ice and snow covered peaks all the way downstream to the oceans. The AFFTA Fisheries Fund and the Tomorrows Fish Campaign have been working to raise knowledge and awareness and inspire anglers to engage in actions that build climate-ready fisheries. BHA has a similar interest among its membership. Protect Our Winters, however, has worked to form a growing community of athletes, scientists, creatives, and business leaders to advance non-partisan policies to address climate change. To get there, as Mario Molina pointed during the panel discussion, we need to “mobilize the outdoor state.”   And that outdoor state needs to include all of us that care about the outdoors—from members of the U.S. Ski Team and mountain bikers to anglers and hunters.

 To learn more about POW I invite you to:

  1.  View POW’s 60-second “Common Ground” video.

  2. Read Blake Hounshell’s New York Times article “How Rock Climbers and Snowboarders Became a Political Force.”

  3. Increase your Climate Advocacy IQ with CRUX Academy’s “Finding Common Ground: How To Be A Climate Advocate,” a free, two-hour online course that you can take at your leisure.

 

Conservation Priorities for Congress in 2023

Drifting the White River (photo: Brett Billings, USFWS)

The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) has assembled a list of how lawmakers can build on recent conservation wins and advance habitat, access, and recreation solutions that were narrowly missed last session. The 118th Congress is now underway, with narrow majorities in both the House and Senate and a considerable workload in the coming year. Fortunately, conservation issues have a way of garnering bipartisan agreement—a necessity as Congress takes up landmark legislation like the 2023 Farm Bill. The TRCP and our partners look forward to working with both sides of the aisle to advance conservation solutions in the coming months. They include Recovering America’s Wildlife Act and the America’s Outdoor Recreation Act.

Providing Necessary Resources for State Wildlife Management

For more than a century, sportsmen and sportswomen have led the charge on new ways to invest in fish and wildlife habitat. That leadership role continues in 2023 as we look for a way to pass the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, landmark legislation that would provide $1.4 billion annually in dedicated funding to state wildlife agencies to conserve species of greatest concern. Not only would this new funding restore habitat and benefit hunters and anglers, it would also keep those species from being listed under the Endangered Species Act, minimizing untold costs to the energy industry, developers, and small businesses.

The RAWA was widely celebrated, enjoyed broad bipartisan support, and nearly made it to the finish line in 2022. Now, its base of support is greater than ever before. Hunters, anglers, conservationists, recreators, landowners, and business owners agree on the importance of passing RAWA. While the path is never easy, the TRCP and our partners will be working to expand congressional support, secure approval in the House Natural Resources Committee and the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and send RAWA to the president’s desk in the 118th Congress.

Improving Recreation Opportunities on Public Lands

As lawmakers negotiated an end-of-year funding deal in late 2022, a proposed package of recreation and public lands bills wound up on the cutting room floor and should receive top billing in 2023.

This starts with the America’s Outdoor Recreation Act, a bipartisan package of bills developed by Senators Manchin and Barrasso to enhance recreation opportunities on public lands. Included are bills directing the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to expand access to shooting ranges and complete road-use planning on their lands. Other bills would streamline permitting processes for guides and outfitters, limit the spread of invasive species, support gateway communities, and make it easier for outdoorsmen and women to experience our vast public lands.

In addition to the recreation-focused legislation, there are several locally developed land management changes and protections for top-notch hunting and fishing destinations like Oregon’s Owyhee Canyonlands, Nevada’s Ruby Mountains, and Colorado’s Thompson Divide. While some of these bills have been on the table for years, they could see renewed attention in the Senate.

The TRCP has remained engaged in these conversations and continues to work alongside Republicans and Democrats to advance these and other proposals to improve access and conserve one-of-a-kind habitat. Our community is confident in the ability of Congress to unite around these sensible natural resource policies, as they’ve proven able to do so through passage of legislation like the Great American Outdoors Act, America’s Conservation Enhancement Act, and John D. Dingell Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act in recent years.

Learn more from TRCP

We need climate-ready fisheries now

Photo courtesy of NOAA

Monday, November 21, 2022 10:33 am

By Greg Vespe

In Rhode Island, fisheries play a huge role in our economy and our way of life, but lately, we are seeing some concerning trends in our local fisheries. Anglers are experiencing climate impacts on fish, habitat, and coastal waters. And our fisheries managers need to move faster to make our fisheries climate ready.

The fish we catch today are different in abundance and type than we caught a few years ago. Warm-water fish such as scup and black sea bass have moved into the area in great abundance, and cold-water fish, like American lobster and winter flounder, have moved out of our region to deeper and colder water. We also see robust profiles of bait like we have never seen before, such as squid, bay anchovies, mackerel, Atlantic menhaden and a host of others. Warm water is attracting these bait fish in abundance, which in turn are attracting a variety of fish close to shore.

This year we caught sharks, giant bluefin and school tuna close to shore. We had an abundance of porpoise and dolphin in the mouth of our Bay. On one Sunday in early September, more than 25 giant bluefin tuna were caught just two to three miles off Newport and Narragansett, R.I. Striped bass, instead of migrating down south, are wintering here because the water is warm and bait is here. We actually had a striped bass fishery in our South County salt ponds throughout last winter.

Changes in fish migration and location present opportunities and challenges that our science and management needs to keep up with to make sure our fisheries remain sustainable. Recreational fishing has a major positive impact on Rhode Island’s economy. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) and their 2018 Fisheries Economics of the United States published in 2020, recreational fishing has a $419 million annual sales economic impact on the state and provides 3,963 total jobs.

To continue to grow sustainably we need to make sure our fisheries are prepared for the changes we are seeing. Our regional fishing managers and NOAA Fisheries have started to engage in initiatives to address climate change in our fisheries, but things are moving slower than the pace of change it seems. Our nation’s fisheries managers need to incorporate climate change information into decision making, and we are not doing this fast enough.

NOAA Fisheries and the eight regional fishery management councils have the power to improve the climate resiliency of our fisheries, but many are slow to adjust and too often decide to keep status quo. A Government Accountability Office report recently found that most fishery managers are not factoring climate change into their decisions, despite the very real consequences climate change is causing for the fish they are in charge of managing.

We need to act now on climate change to preserve the great tradition of fishing and the positive economic impact it has on Rhode Island.

Greg Vespe of Tiverton is an avid angler and accomplished fishing tournament competitor. He serves as executive director of the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association with 28 affiliated organizations and 7,500 members. It is the largest recreational fishing association of its type in the Northeast.

Original OpEd appeared in the East Bay RI News. The author called also for anglers to provide their input on NOAA’s national saltwater recreation policy, but that closed December 31, 2022 with many comments received thanks to Greg and many other committed anglers.

Anglers: Wade into NOAA’s Saltwater Recreational Fishing Policy

Photo courtesy of NOAA

Recreational saltwater fishing contributes an estimated $36 billion to the nation’s gross domestic product and accounts for more than 550,000 jobs. It is a large and growing segment of the flyfishing industry.

To better serve saltwater recreational anglers and our coastal communities, NOAA Fisheries is asking for the angling community’s guidance in revising their 2015 National Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Policy. Essential to shaping NOAA Fisheries’ approach to recreational fishermen and their fisheries, the policy provides NOAA Fisheries with a set of goals for recreational fisheries within NOAA's overall mission. The policy also establishes principles to help guide the agency's planning and decision-making process.

“Recreational anglers are one of NOAA Fisheries key constituencies," said Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries Janet Coit. “I am eager for input from our partners and the public to help us shape how NOAA Fisheries advances sustainable recreational fishing opportunities at a time when ocean uses and ecosystems are changing rapidly.”

With the perspectives shared during the 2022 National Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Summit, NOAA Fisheries requests anglers share their input on revising the Policy during the public comment period of August 1–December 31, 2022.

To learn more about the National Policy for Saltwater Recreational Fisheries and how to share their comments, visit our pages at Tomorrow’s Fish.

 
 

Salmon Vanishing Despite $2 Billion Plan

The U.S. Has Spent More Than $2 Billion on a Plan to Save Salmon. The Fish Are Vanishing Anyway. The U.S. government promised Native tribes in the Pacific Northwest that they could keep fishing as they’d always done. But instead of preserving wild salmon, it propped up a failing system of hatcheries. Now, that system is falling apart.

Tony Schick, Oregon Public Broadcasting, and Irena Hwang, ProPublica

The Carson National Fish Hatchery was among the first hatcheries funded by Congress over 80 years ago to be part of the salvation of salmon, facilities created specifically to replace the vast numbers of wild salmon killed by the building of dozens of hydroelectric dams along the Northwest’s mightiest river, the Columbia…

Today, there are hundreds of hatcheries in the Northwest run by federal, state and tribal governments, employing thousands and welcoming the community with visitor centers and gift shops. The fish they send to the Pacific Ocean have allowed restaurants and grocery seafood counters to offer “wild-caught” Chinook salmon even as the fish became endangered.

The hatcheries were supposed to stop the decline of salmon. They haven’t. The numbers of each of the six salmon species native to the Columbia basin have dropped to a fraction of what they once were, and 13 distinct populations are now considered threatened or endangered. Nearly 250 million young salmon, most of them from hatcheries, head to the ocean each year — roughly three times as many as before any dams were built. But the return rate today is less than one-fifth of what it was decades ago…

Reexamining our Saltwater Recreation Fisheries Policy

White marlin. Photo courtesy of Mike Winn

Recreational Fisheries in a Time of Change

In March, NOAA Fisheries and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) hosted the fourth National Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Summit in Arlington, Virginia. (Summit Report) Convened under theme “Recreational Fisheries in a Time of Change,” the summit’s hoped-for goals included reestablishing lines of communication and strengthening collaboration between the saltwater recreational fishing community and fishery managers and scientists and identifying and pursuing solutions to issues of common interest. Common themes included human dimensions, shifting data needs, community engagement and trust, and the tradeoffs inherent in “management flexibility.”

Eight years earlier, following the second National Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Summit in April 2014, NOAA Fisheries began development of a recreational fisheries policy to provide guidance for Agency consideration in its deliberations pertaining to development and maintenance of enduring and sustainable high quality saltwater recreational fisheries. The policy pertains to non-commercial activities of fishermen who fish for sport or pleasure, as set out in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) definition of recreational fishing, whether retaining (e.g., consuming, sharing) or releasing their catches, as well as the businesses and industries (e.g., the for-hire fleets, bait and tackle businesses, tournaments) which support them.

What is the Policy?

It is the policy of NOAA Fisheries to foster, support, and enhance a broadly accessible and diverse array of sustainable saltwater recreational fisheries for the benefit and enjoyment of the nation. NOAA Fisheries’ decision-making and activities in the execution of its stewardship responsibilities will be guided by the following six principles:

1.       Support ecosystem conservation and enhancement.

2.       Promote public access to quality recreational fishing opportunities.

3.       Coordinate with state and federal management entities.

4.       Advance innovative solutions to evolving science, management, and environmental challenges.

5.       Provide scientifically sound and trusted social, cultural, economic, and ecological information.

6.       Communicate and engage with the recreational fishing public.

Read more about the National Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Policy on NOAA’s website.

Opportunity for Anglers to Wade In

With the perspectives shared during the 2022 National Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Summit, NOAA is to update its recreational fisheries policy and seeking review and comments from anglers. Please visit their website to review current policy and provide feedback on any changes or updates you would like to recommend. The public comment period extends from August 1 to December 31, 2022.

Yellowstone—After the Flood

The Day After. The river’s epic flow carried huge amounts of timber and other debris downstream, creating massive drift piles as the river receded to “normal” flood levels (photo by Brian Yablonski).

A fist of water

Whitney Tilt, AFFTA Fisheries Fund

As an active member of the Upper Yellowstone Watershed Group and project manager of an ongoing recreational use study on the Upper Yellowstone, I’ve spent some time on the Upper Yellowstone.

The events of June 13th were indeed extraordinary. Just how extraordinary is depicted on the following two hydrographs. The first graph maps the river’s vertical rise. The gage height climbed more than six feet in the matter of 24 hours — not a gradual rise of water but a fist of water charging down the river, clobbering all before it.

As far as the sheer volume of water, the two largest previously recorded flood events, in 1918 and back-to-back in 1996 and 1997, discharged 32,000-32,200 cubic feet per second (cfs). The recorded discharge on the afternoon of June 13, 2022, registered 49,400 cfs! The peak was short-lived, but unbelievable powerful, leaving long lasting changes that we can only begin to assess.

Opportunities to give back

Members of the angling community, including AFFTA Fisheries Fund. Yellow Dog Community and Conservation Fund, and the Fishing and Outfitters Association of Montana (FOAM), are raising funds and organizing volunteers to assist Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, USDA Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management in getting the river access sites cleaned up, made safe, and open for business.

100 percent of donated funds will go to clean-up/restoration efforts

After the initial cleanup, the next steps will be to make the river better: for the fisheries, for the recreational use, for the people who make the watershed their home.

To this end we are pleased to support the Give Back to the Yellowstone program, spearheaded by Montana Freshwater Partners. All donations will be dedicated towards priority on-the-ground projects implemented collaboratively by local organizations working in partnership with the Upper Yellowstone Watershed Group.

Learnings from previous floods provide a few important lessons for us all, whether we live near the Yellowstone, recreation on it, or want to conserve its natural resources.

First and foremost. Putting property and lives back together will take time, patience, and persistence. While eager to stabilize banks, rebuild, and protect, experience shows that processes like river channel response will be ongoing and difficult to assess in the short-term.

With or without our permission, nature likes change, and flood events benefit river systems in myriad ways, from flushing out small-grain sediments to create new spawning areas to re-seeding and reinvigorating willow and cottonwood growth.

Point of Rock Fish Access Site, June 15, 2022, with the damaged Highway 89 bridge behind. June 30, 2022: the bridge has been repaired, the access site is open (but still in need of clean-up, and the river has created changed its meanderings in ways still to be explored. (photo by Brian Yablonski)

Anglers Must Lead on Climate Change

Fishing for Yellowstone Cutthroats in Yellowstone National Park (photo: W. Tilt)

As reported in Moldy Chum, Greg Fitz’s article, “Restoring Resilience: Anglers Must Lead on Climate Change” challenges the angling community to be leaders in addressing climate change. “As anglers, we are seeing the changes play out in our fisheries and watersheds in real-time,” Greg observes, “especially if they depend on cold water, an increasingly precious and fragile commodity.”

 The article’s focus is the February 2022 release of the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) latest assessment of the current scope and expanding impacts of the warming climate. The IPCC report’s conclusion is that the impacts of climate change are arriving faster and more severe than previously predicted and it calls for urgent efforts to move away from burning fossil fuels. The report makes it clear that we still have time to avoid the worst impacts, but that we have acted too slowly to not avoid all of them. Greg’s message is both urgent and hopeful.

“Fundamentally, stopping climate change comes down to energy production, efficiency, and utilization. We need to quickly deploy clean energy on a massive scale, shift fossil fuel burning machines to those powered by electricity or zero-carbon fuels, and find ways to make our food systems less carbon intense. Individuals can help this process on a personal level by adding solar panels to their homes or business, driving electric vehicles, changing their diets, disconnecting the gas line to their house and using electric appliances for heating and cooking, and supporting businesses that do the same. But, ultimately, the scale of change required to transform our energy systems requires supporting the political and economic policies needed to continue improving the clean energy technologies, make them affordable, and replace fossil fuel burning. 

“Decarbonizing our energy systems will be a monumental task filled with compromises and difficult decisions. It is necessary and urgent work. We have the tools and technology required, and we can use and move energy far more efficiently than we do now, but we need to accelerate the work.”

Greenhouse gases can come from a range of sources and climate mitigation can be applied across all sectors and activities. These include energy, transport, buildings, industry, waste management, agriculture, forestry, and other forms of land management. Photo: Karsten Würth, Upsplash

Mitigating Impacts

Taking action requires a focus on the mitigation of climate change, i.e., taking actions that reduce the rate of climate change. According Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change, authored by the IPCC Working Group III, mitigation will be achieved by limiting or preventing greenhouse gas emissions and by enhancing activities that remove these gases from the atmosphere.

 The IPCC’s reports are tough reads for those of us not accustomed to reading technical reports, especially those written by large committees (the Climate Change 2022’s “Summary for Policymakers” is 64 pages long). The World Resources Institute takes a stab at boilings it down in its 6 Big Findings from the IPCC 2022 Report on Climate Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability which points out the rapidly closing window of opportunity:

 1.       Climate impacts are already more widespread and severe than expected.

2.       We are locked into even worse impacts from climate change in the near-term.

3.       Risks will escalate quickly with higher temperatures, often causing irreversible impacts of climate change.

4.       Inequity, conflict and development challenges heighten vulnerability to climate risks.  

5.       Adaptation is crucial. Feasible solutions already exist, but more support must reach vulnerable communities.

6.       But some impacts of climate change are already too severe to adapt to. The world needs urgent action now to address losses and damages.

The WRI article concludes, “Coming to grips with the climate crisis will not be easy. Governments, civil society and the private sector must all step up. As the IPCC report makes clear, there is no alternative. And that is where the angling community must step up.

The Jim Range Conservation Leadership Award

The Jim Range Conservation Leadership Award is presented annually in recognition of exemplary efforts to advance the fisheries conservation and stewardship mission of AFFTA and the AFFTA Fisheries Fund. The 2022 award will be presented at IFTD in Salt Lake City, March 30th-April 1st, 2022.

The award is named in honor of James "Jim" Range, a passionate champion of fish and wildlife who spent more than a decade as AFFTA's voice on Capitol Hill. A life-long sportsman, it was Range's bipartisan, cooperative style that made him as beloved as he was effective. Range died of cancer in 2009, leaving a legacy of shaping and advancing meaningful legislation to protect our natural resources.

The Jim Range Conservation Leadership Award seeks to recognize individuals in the AFFTA family who embody Jim Range’s commitment and passion on behalf of America’s fisheries and anglers.

To Nominate an Individual for the 2022 Award. Please fill out the form below and include a brief description of the individual’s contribution to fisheries conservation and stewardship. Nominations will be accepted until Friday, February 11, 2022.

One of Jim Range’s Many Conservation Hats — Jim (left) as a board member of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation presenting Maynard Reece’s “Autumn Wings,” and its support of North American wetlands conservation, to President Ronald Reagan, January 1988.

Protect the Resource... and enjoy it

Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat trout. Photo courtesy of Joshua Duplechian

Whitney Tilt

With the New Year, Hatch Magazine recapped the 10 most read stories of 2021. Following their count-down on dry-droppers, the best flies, and the like, I was interested to learn that the two most-read stories for Hatch in 2021 dealt with more philosophical subjects.

Coming in as #2 on Hatch’s 2021 Hit Parade is Chris Madson’s “Fly Fishing’s Lost Heart.” Chris notes that fly fishing used to be practiced as a craft requiring a “personal commitment to a discipline that could never really be mastered, only studied with close attention to detail and undying enthusiasm.” Now Matson fears the craft has become an industry and lost its soul to maximizing profits, making a splash on social media, and getting a picture to document the trophy.

 Todd Tanner’s “The Great Fishing Divide” ranked #1 and examined a lot of anglers “wading off in opposing directions.”  Todd finds one group united in their search for a “quality” experience while the other group of anglers emphasizes “quantity.” As fly fishing becomes more and more mainstream, Todd is concerned about this growing divide and how “we’re losing certain core values that have long set our sport apart from other forms of angling.” But Todd does not see the trend as inevitable and offers three considerations that emphasize that it’s okay to view the sport through our own personal lenses, to do it our own way, and to have fun doing it.

As executive director of the AFFTA Fisheries Fund and as a life-long fly fisher, I can understand the underlying concerns expressed by both Chris and Todd. It’s tempting to wring one’s hands that fly fishing is in danger of losing its heart amidst the present day’s apparent emphasis on having the best/most recognized/most followed/most everything. And certainly, a philosophical divide can be conjured up between chasing “the most, the biggest, the hardest” with social media postings to follow, as opposed to the search for a “quality experience,” however it might be defined.

But with the beginning of a New Year, let some optimism ring out.

First, I take comfort that the two most read Hatch articles in 2021 dwelt, not on matters of the best fly or neatest new gadget, but on the heart and soul of flyfishing. It is a debate that will continue, and it is dialogue that has continually led to innovation and making fly fishing more and more sustainable.

Second, my experience with the fly fishing industry points out its continued, and to my mind growing, commitment to the resource—both because of the recognition that their very corporate existence depends on stewardship of the resource—and because they like to fish! The fly fishing industry is not populated with MBAs who went in search of corporate riches and landed on fly fishing as the way to make millions, but rather the industry is led by fly fishing and outdoor enthusiasts who went searching for ways to combine their passion with a livelihood.

Today’s fisheries and their habitats owe much to the past conservation efforts of anglers. Tomorrow’s fish need us even more. And the “us” our fisheries need is a diverse, committed group of fly fishers that don’t take themselves too seriously but take protecting the resource very seriously.

Tongass on My Mind. Show Your Support Today

Tongass Roadless. Photo courtesy of Lee Keupper.

The AFFTA Fisheries Fund stands with the people and businesses of Southeast Alaska as they urge the U.S. Forest Service to reinstate roadless protections on the Tongass National Forest. These roadless areas are foundational for Southeast Alaska’s robust fishing and tourism industries, vitally important recreation and subsistence lands, and essential to the local way of life.

The U.S. Forest Service has announced they have a new vision for Southeast Alaska, and that includes putting an end to industrial-scale old growth logging. To begin this effort, the USDA Forest Service has launched a 60-day public comment period to reinstate the Roadless Rule on Alaska.

We are in the home-stretch for the roadless rulemaking comment period, which ends January 24, 2022. To help garner support Trout Unlimited and its partners have created a toolkit for organizations and businesses.

Demonstrating wide-spread community support for the new management direction on Alaska’s Tongass National Forest is key to making sure it sticks moving forward. Take action today.

Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework signed into Law

Increased funding for fish passage improvements are one of the priorities for BIF (Washington F&W photo)

The recent enactment of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act marks a victory for anglers. Significantly, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (BIF) addresses infrastructure not solely in terms of “gray” infrastructure such as roads and bridges, but also includes “natural infrastructure” such as marshes and floodplains that provide invaluable environmental services. The Act will help to provide more than $40 billion in funding to enhance fish and wildlife conservation programs and increase access. Its passage is testament to the hard work of many AFFTA members, partners, and others.

Among the Act’s conservation provisions:

Restoring aquatic habitat connectivity by authorizing $4 billion for a competitive grant program to replace, remove, and repair culverts to restore fish passage.

Reauthorizing the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund that provides more than $650 million annually in vital funding to state fish and wildlife agencies for local fish habitat conservation as well as boating and fishing access through excise taxes generated by anglers and boaters.

Increasing access to federal lands by authorizing more than $2.1 billion over five years to improve infrastructure on National Park Service, Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and other federal lands.

Enactment of BIF represents a job well done. But the challenge now is to ensure these important investments are dedicated to the projects that yield the strongest and longest-term benefits for fish, wildlife and the fly fishing industry.

We are working with federal agencies like the Department of Interior and NOAA to help them allocate monies they are receiving through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework Bill. We working to assemble a list of shovel-ready projects that will have positive economic and conservation benefits for the fly fishing industry. Give us your ideas today.

With your help, we could see real attention given to projects that have been ready to complete but lacked the funding to do so. This money will be allocated to state, local, and tribal governments to complete projects.

Our Thanks to the Packard Foundation

The AFFTA Fisheries Fund has received a generous grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to support our Sustaining Healthy and Abundant Fisheries Initiative. The Initiative works to unite the fly fishing industry, conservation community, and conservation-minded anglers around fisheries conservation and climate change.

We greatly appreciate the continued support of the Packard Foundation and will continue to keep the AFFTA community engaged and informed on this project.

Chinook tail (photo courtesy of Brian O’Keefe)

Are net-pens worth the risk?

Last week, the Washington Supreme Court heard a legal challenge filed by four conservation groups—including Washington-based Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC)—on whether Cooke Aquaculture Pacific should have been granted its five-year permit from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to raise steelhead at their Hope Island facility in Puget Sound's Skagit Bay. They are awaiting the Court’s decision.

The WDFW permit was issued in January 2020 and is good for five years. If the name "Cooke Aquaculture" rings a bell, it's likely because of this event from August of 2017, in which Cooke's Cypress Island net-pen collapsed, releasing more than 200,000 Atlantic salmon into Puget Sound. Hundreds of these very non-native salmon were later caught from Washington's Skagit River in November and December.

If Cooke survives this legal challenge, the company will still need the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to grant an extension of its Hope Island aquatic lands lease, which expires in March of 2022. Though DNR Communications Manager Joe Smillie says the agency is not likely to make a decision until after the end of 2021, the past four years has produced several contentious lawsuits between DNR and Cooke, often followed by combative public comments made by both sides.

            "When I terminated Cooke’s lease, I did so based on clear evidence that the company failed to properly clean and maintain its facility," Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz said in Spring of 2018, in reference to a lawsuit Cooke had filed against DNR over the termination. "I encourage Cooke to drop this baseless lawsuit and work with us to safely and quickly wind up its operations and vacate the site." 

Cooke Aguaculture open-ocean salmon pens. Photo courtesy of National Fisherman

Cooke Aguaculture open-ocean salmon pens. Photo courtesy of National Fisherman

Rallying Support for Bristol Bay

In 2019, the AFFTA Fisheries Fund organized a Day for Bristol Bay which helped raise over $100,000 for the Bristol Bay Defense Fund. The fight for Bristol Bay is in our DNA and will remain so until we see Bristol Bay protected. 
— Whitney Tilt, AFFTA Fisheries Fund

August 23rd marks the start of a month-long petition drive that will once again engage sportsmen and women in the epic battle to protect one of the planet’s finest wilderness fishing destinations – southwest Alaska’s famed Bristol Bay region. 

This season in Bristol Bay gave us an in-your-face reminder of exactly what so many have fought so hard to defend.  As of early August, a record-setting return of 65.8 million sockeye salmon came back to the rivers of Bristol Bay.  This was the 7th consecutive year with a sockeye return over 50 million fish.  The commercial fleet harvested 40.2 million fish (4th highest in history, likely to end up 3rd highest once the final numbers are tallied).  That means that an astounding 25.6 million fish moved up river to continue the cycle of Bristol Bay salmon.  This escapement number is the 3rd highest in the recorded history of the fishery.

Just over one year ago, President (then candidate) Biden stated that Bristol Bay is “no place for a mine.”  While serving as Vice President, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President Obama used peer-reviewed science to initiate a process under the Clean Water Act that would protect Bristol Bay from the threat of Pebble Mine and other potential large-scale mining development. That process was held up by litigation from Pebble against the EPA, and the four years of the Trump Administration saw twists and turns that would have won a medal in gymnastics at the recent Olympics.  In the end, the line was held and Pebble’s permit was denied by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  While a good thing, the permit denial is not permanent and Pebble is litigating over that decision.  The door remains open for Pebble (or another mining firm) to continue efforts to advance projects to mine in the Bristol Bay region.  In fact, Pebble’s CEO has recently stated that the company has no intention to abandon its plan to build a mine in Bristol Bay.

Right now, EPA has the opportunity to resume the Clean Water Act process and that is what we are seeking.  It would fit squarely with President Biden’s “no place for a mine” declaration and we must press the agency to act this fall to ensure the process can be completed in a timely fashion.

“As an industry that has long been attached to and supportive of this campaign, Bristol Bay is a success story for sustainable fishery management when salmon runs nearly everywhere else are struggling.  It’s proof that we can have both thriving wild salmon populations and economic prosperity.”
— Lucas Bissett, AFFTA Executive Director

That’s why the American Fly Fishing Trade Association, the AFFTA Fisheries Fund, Businesses for Bristol Bay are excited to announce a new promotion aimed at getting the EPA to “finish the job” and reinstate the Clean Water Act process to secure protection for this incredibly productive and valuable region.

By signing the Bristol Bay Challenge, sportsmen and women will receive a free entry in a drawing for prizes from many outdoor brands.  Additional entries may be gained by making a donation to the AFFTA Fisheries Fund

Giant, Native Fish Deserve Our Attention

 Blane Chocklett, Fly Fisherman, March 15, 2021

The ancient megafish of North America need a spotlight and our respect of valuable gamefish. Bowfins, paddlefish, gar, and sturgeons are all aquatic dinosaurs—megafish that have gone mostly overlooked or ignored by fly fishers. I call them “the forgotten ones.” Their aggressive eats and acrobatic leaps can beat or at least equal any gamefish on the planet, and they can change the way you look at your home waters.

Unfortunately, all these nearly forgotten fish are facing an uphill battle as their habitat is being depleted in the name of progress. Dams and diversions have damaged many of their natal spawning areas. Many of them are extinct in parts of their native ranges because they are cut off by dams. Due to their large size, they are subject to overharvest by both legal means and by poaching.

When they are close to spawning, peacock-colored bowfins rival any autumn brook trout. Bowfins are native to the eastern United States from Upstate New York all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Jay Nichols

When they are close to spawning, peacock-colored bowfins rival any autumn brook trout. Bowfins are native to the eastern United States from Upstate New York all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Jay Nichols

Sweeping Protections for the Tongass

Old growth forest, Tongass National Forest (photo: Gillfoto, Wikimedia Commons)

Old growth forest, Tongass National Forest (photo: Gillfoto, Wikimedia Commons)

On July 15, 2021, the Biden Administration officially announced sweeping protections for the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, including an end to large-scale old-growth logging, important investments in restoration and fisheries, and its intent to restore the 2001 Roadless Rule, which protects more than nine million acres of forest in southeast Alaska.

These changes will at long last align management of the Tongass with the needs of the public and be critical to the long-term health of the forest and its thousands of salmon, steelhead, and trout streams. 

The Tongass is home to five different species of salmon and fuels the local economy with fishing, guiding and tourism dollars, as well as being globally significant for its role in mitigating the effects of climate change. Trout Unlimited and many others have been working tirelessly to achieve this outcome and to better realign the Tongass to support mainstays of the local economy—fishing and tourism.

The support of AFFTA, it members, and many others for so many years helped make this big win possible.  While there is more to come to make sure this good news sticks, this is a milestone.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SAYING THANK YOU

Sometimes we forget to acknowledge those who helped something good happen. Here are a few near and mid-term things that can help:

  1. A quick thank-you note to our friends at the USDA and Forest Service. Even an informal email would be helpful.

  2. TU is planning a series of OpEds praising this new strategy, and we plan to team up on one from the fly-fishing community.

  3. The Forest Service will soon hold a public comment period on this announcement. 96% of the public comments favored protecting roadless areas last time around and we want to reach similar numbers this time around. Even though the comment period hasn’t started yet, we’re starting to collect comments here.