Whenever I lose faith in government, I default to episodes of the early 2000’s TV hit, The West Wing. I know it’s not reality, but the show has offered me some level of solace when things are going sideways at the national level, and they’re going sideways. From the president’s barbed State of the Union […]
Top photo: pilot whale with a rescue team from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, FL. The ocean means a lot to a lot of people. Here’s why it means so much to me and how climate change and its impact on fish and habitat fit in. For years I had a scallop recreational fishing license on […]
My vision is actually 20/30 according to my last eye exam, a necessity every five years to renew my US Coast Guard 6-pack license for my professional fish guiding business, or at least what’s left of it. It’s been a hard couple of years in the fish guiding business. Last year, we had a decent […]
Top photo by Ralph D’Angelo The grind, the glory, and the absurdity of giving a crap Well, it’s done. Finally. Jan 2, the 36′ Contender just got wrapped and the 31′ is stripped and on a trailer, ready to go north for some long overdue shop work. The Maritime Skiff’s rear-end is bare, waiting for […]
Photo courtesy Sitka Salmon Shares As the sun was setting over the evergreen trees and reflecting off the buildings in downtown Portland, the crowd gathered around the grill in front of the Redd on Salmon St. The smell of sizzling fat from the black cod collars was irresistible, as was the banter from the cooks. […]
Chub mackerel caught by Kevin Fetzer off Beavertail Light, Jamestown, RI. Fetzer said, “They put up quite a fight on light tackle and are good to eat.” I step on the dock, and that intangible essence of what boating and fishing brings to me turns on. I have tried to put my finger on it […]
A sea change has happened in the fisheries conservation world: longtime advocate, expert and visionary, Ken Hinman, has retired as president of Wild Oceans. Ken has been at the center of the fisheries conservation movement for more than 40 years, and for most of that time as the head of Wild Oceans (formerly the National […]
Read the second part of this two-article series. It was with great joy that I commercially fished for salmon this summer in Bristol Bay, Alaska, and for a very personal reason. I had returned after a hiatus of some twenty years to help a friend establish a shore-based, family-friendly commercial setnet camp for his youngest […]
