The TRCP’s 4th Annual Saltwater Media Summit: Day One
This week, more than 50 journalists, policy makers, conservation experts, and business leaders will gather in Cape Coral, Florida, for the TRCP’s fourth annual Saltwater Media Summit. At this yearly meeting of the best and brightest in marine fisheries conservation and sportfishing, we will be focusing on habitat restoration in the Everglades, the recovery of Gulf of Mexico in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster and saltwater recreational fisheries policy, including the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
Check in throughout the week for updates on the summit, background information on these key marine policy issues and plenty of fishing photos.
Whit Fosburgh, TRCP president and CEO.
Whit Fosburgh, TRCP president and CEO, welcomed attendees and guests to the TRCP Saltwater Media Summit to Florida’s Gulf Coast following an opening reception that was held outdoors despite threatening skies.
“The goal of the TRCP Saltwater Media Summit is to mix recreation and education,” said Fosburgh. “We want you to leave our 2014 gathering with a better understanding of the complex issues impacting saltwater recreational experiences.”
Eric Eikenberg, CEO, Evergrlades Foundation
The evening’s guest speaker was Eric Eikenberg, CEO of the Everglades Foundation, who discussed the current state of the Everglades and efforts to restore and improve the habitat throughout south Florida. “Water is the new oil,” he affirmed. “We have to ensure that we have a good, clean supply.” Eikenberg noted that the Everglades supplied water to 8 million Floridians, nearly half the state’s population. “It must be protected,” he said.
Eikenberg talked at length about excess phosphorous that plagues Lake Okeechobee and the impact of that phosphorous on the Everglades. He cited figures estimating that the cost of a lake cleanup could top $15 billion.
More photos from Day One:
The Fort Myers area from the air.
Despite overcast skies and the threat of rain, a lively cocktail party was held on an outdoor terrace at the Westin Cape Coral Resort Hotel before the TRCP Saltwater Media Summit’s opening night dinner.
The Westin Cape Coral Resort Hotel, where the TRCP summit was held, is flanked by water.
Learn more about our fourth annual Saltwater Media Summit here and keep checking in for updates throughout the rest of the week.
The TRCP’s 4th Annual Saltwater Media Summit: Resources
This week, more than 50 journalists, policy makers, conservation experts, and business leaders will gather in Cape Coral, Florida, for the TRCP’s fourth annual Saltwater Media Summit.
At this yearly meeting of the best and brightest in marine fisheries conservation and sportfishing, we will be focusing on habitat restoration in the Everglades, the recovery of Gulf of Mexico in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster and saltwater recreational fisheries policy, including the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Check in throughout the week for updates on the summit, background information on these key marine policy issues and plenty of fishing photos.
Image of the Everglades. Photo courtesy of Esther Lee.
Interested in learning more about the TRCP’s 2014 Saltwater Media Summit? We’ve compiled some resources on the summit’s focal topics.
The TRCP’s 4th Annual Saltwater Media Summit: Preview
Image courtesy of Take Me Fishing.
Since 2003, TRCP Media Summits have brought together journalists, writers and other communicators with policy makers, conservation experts, business leaders and other partners for one purpose: to educate America’s hunters and anglers on today’s most pressing conservation issues. Educating sportsmen is a critical component to effecting long-term policy changes. Though our summits may look far different today than the first one held around a fireplace in Craig, Montana, the spirit of camaraderie relationship-building, and passion for the resource continue as the common thread. This week, we continue that rich tradition as we return to Florida once again from Wednesday, Oct. 22 to Friday, Oct. 24 for our fourth annual Saltwater Media Summit.
We will convene in Cape Coral, Florida, a setting that is particularly fitting for our summit agenda. To the west lies the Gulf of Mexico, a fishery that is still recovering from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill almost five years ago. To the east lies the greater Everglades ecosystem, one of the most important wetland complexes in the world and a vital ecosystem for hunters, anglers, and residents of Florida alike.
The Everglades. Photo courtesy of Esther Lee.
TRCP media summits topics are always informative and relevant – and we’ll be focusing on three main subject areas at the event: Everglades and Gulf of Mexico habitat and restoration, saltwater recreational fisheries policy, including the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. These issues can change forever our ability to fish and otherwise have quality saltwater recreation experiences in Florida and across the country.
This year’s attendees represent a diverse mix of leading news and outdoor publications including the Miami Herald, the Baton Rouge Advocate, Fly Fisherman magazine, the Orlando Sentinel, and the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. They will be joined by top policy makers such as U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, Assistant Secretary of the Army Jo-Ellen Darcy, Sylvia Pelizza of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Russ Dunn of the NOAA Fisheries. Conservation and policy experts from the Everglades Foundation, the Harte Research Institute, The Nature Conservancy, the American Sportfishing Association and Berkley Conservation Institute will be present to inform the discussion and provide their insights.
We’ll be covering our Saltwater Media Summit throughout the week. Check back here for daily updates, fishing photos, policy insights and much more. You also can follow us on Facebook and Twitter or use the hashtag #TRCPsummit to find more information.
On its 42nd anniversary, the Clean Water Act has an identity crisis
On October 18, the Clean Water Act turns 42. When Congress passed the Act in 1972, it set a national goal to make all of our waters fishable and set a national policy that prohibits the dumping of toxic pollution into our waters.
If, like me, you were born after 1972, you’ve never lived in a world where America wasn’t committed to these noble ends. So it can be easy to forget that it wasn’t that long ago that our rivers were so polluted they caught on fire and we were losing up to a half million acres of wetlands each year.
Despite its successes, for the last third of its lifetime, the Clean Water Act has had an identity crisis. That’s because two Supreme Court cases in 2001 and 2006 and subsequent federal agency actions left us without a clear understanding of which bodies of water the Act protects.
It’s not clear, for example, whether headwater trout streams and salmon spawning grounds fall under the Clean Water Act. These types of waters make up 60 percent of the stream miles in America and contribute to the drinking water of 117 million Americans – that’s one out of every three of us.
It’s also not clear whether waterfowl habitat like that in the Prairie Pothole region of the upper Midwest makes the cut. These waters are the nesting grounds for the majority of waterfowl in North America.
This confusion has reversed some of the remarkable gains our nation has enjoyed as a result of the Act. Of particular importance for sportsmen is a stunning 140 percent increase in the rate of wetlands loss, which translates to the destruction of critical waterfowl habitat and decreased hunting opportunities – an impact that grows with each passing year.
Unfortunately, before the ink on the proposal was even dry, critics began spouting hyperbolic misinformation designed to undermine the very rulemaking that they had asked for. This criticism culminated in a bill supported by 262 congressmen that would kill the rulemaking. These congressmen have effectively buried their heads in the sand and agreed to perpetuate the confusion that hinders effective use of the Clean Water Act.
A suitable Clean Water Act anniversary present would be for all of us to recommit to completing the process to clarify the Act, improving the proposed rule and finalizing a rule that provides clarity and certainty to the regulated community while conserving fish and wildlife and sustaining America’s outdoor traditions.
The phrases “gross negligence” and “willful misconduct” were likely not given much thought by fishermen across the Gulf Coast before April 2010.
But, any angler who has followed the ongoing case being made by the Department of Justice against BP over the Deepwater Horizon spill certainly read the newspaper articles in early September littered with those two phrases. According to U.S District Judge Carl Barbier, who is presiding over the civil trial against the companies responsible for the largest oil spill in America’s history, BP committed a litany of negligent acts and used unsafe practices causing millions upon millions of barrels of oil to spill into the Gulf and subsequently across beaches, bays and marshes, some of which are oiled still.
How many millions are still to be determined by Barbier. The Justice Department is making the case that 4.2 million barrels came through the bent drill pipe nearly one mile below the Gulf’s surface. BP, of course, says it’s responsible for about half that amount while maintaining the spill was a series of unfortunate accidents it had little control over.
The finding of gross negligence means BP’s penalties under the Clean Water Act will swell to $4,300 per barrel, making the determination of how many barrels were released of extreme importance in settling what the ultimate civil fine will total. The fine could have been as low as $1,100 a barrel had BP not cut so many corners with willful disregard for the safety of its workers and the health of the Gulf. If BP’s estimate for barrels spilled is accurate, the fine will be about $10 billion for its gross negligence. That total could be in excess of $18 billion if the Justice Department is right.
Image by NASA.
Barbier is expected to rule on the spill’s totals in early 2015, weeks before the five-year anniversary of the accident that took 11 men from their families and sent the Gulf’s ecosystem and economies into a tail spin from which some have yet to recover. That decision is being anxiously awaited by state and federal agencies, conservation groups and coastal communities because it will determine how much money the RESTORE Act Council, states, counties, parishes and research institutes will have to spend on ecosystem and economic restoration efforts.
Every milestone, public engagement opportunity, judge’s decision and project announcement is an opportunity to reflect and be reminded of how the Gulf’s anglers, commercial fishermen, business owners and communities got to this point. Those who revel in the Gulf’s recreational bounty and make their living off its resources don’t need to be told by a judge BP was grossly negligent. The images of oil-soaked pelicans, beaches and marshes and the ongoing uncertainty about the future of fisheries remain fresh in many memories. The wounds that have healed are likely to be reopened for some next April as media attention focuses on the state of the Gulf five years since gross negligence caused tragedy.
There is also opportunity to reflect on how so many concerned about the impacts of the oil spill and the decades of habitat loss in the Gulf joined together to implore Congress to make sure that the penalties from the spill came back to repair the ecosystems and communities damaged the most. Recreational fishing and hunting certainly suffered at BP’s hands, which is why so many sportsmen across the country united to push for passage of the RESTORE Act.
Trips were made to Washington by avid outdoorsmen to talk directly with Congressional staff. Businesses that support hunting and fishing joined arms and talked about how healthy habitats throughout the Gulf are essential for them to thrive and be capable of employing millions of Americans. Sportsmen’s organizations found common ground with environmental groups who also wanted spill fines to improve fishing habitat and restore ecosystems.
Despite Congressmen from outside the Gulf(even some in the region) and some state officials insisting the RESTORE Act had no chance of passing, hunters and fishermen leaned harder and harder until Congress made the prudent choice and passed the bill.
Image by Louisiana GOHSEP.
More than two years since the bill passed, the time has come again for hunters and fishermen to continue to be actively involved in the recovery and sustainability of the Gulf. The states are soliciting project ideas this fall that they can begin working on and can submit to the Restore Council for consideration for funding.
All of the projects and initiatives needed to make Gulf fishing better, from restoring marshes, mangroves and barrier islands to better management and science to education programs to needed repairs and expansion of docks, boat launches and artificial reefs are all eligible for funding. The states have asked for recommendations. They recognize how important recreational fishing is to coastal economies.
As the picture becomes clearer about how large the funding source may be, there is certainly time for recreational fishermen to reflect and appreciate the work it took to secure the funds. However, the harder task is ensuring the needs of fish and fishermen are addressed with those funds.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
CHEERS TO CONSERVATION
Theodore Roosevelt’s experiences hunting and fishing certainly fueled his passion for conservation, but it seems that a passion for coffee may have powered his mornings. In fact, Roosevelt’s son once said that his father’s coffee cup was “more in the nature of a bathtub.” TRCP has partnered with Afuera Coffee Co. to bring together his two loves: a strong morning brew and a dedication to conservation. With your purchase, you’ll not only enjoy waking up to the rich aroma of this bolder roast—you’ll be supporting the important work of preserving hunting and fishing opportunities for all.
