Pa brown trout-800-Noah Davis
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Capt. Tyler Nonn runs Tidewater Charters, a fly fishing and light tackle angling operation in the Chesapeake Bay that gets clients onto striped bass, redfish, speckled trout, and cobia. He offers a critical captain’s perspective on the importance of healthy menhaden populations when decision-makers are considering policy decisions. Nonn, a Simms ambassador who winters in the Florida Keys to target sportfish dependent on a healthy Everglades ecosystem, has been featured in The Venturing Angler and Flylords Mag.
Here is his story.
Growing up as a kid in the Upper Chesapeake Bay, I had two avenues to fish all the time. My family’s farm had a small pond on it and just as I was getting old enough to really appreciate good fishing, the moratorium on striped bass was first lifted. Upper Bay seasons were created that allowed me and many other anglers to enjoy the eruption of giant fish on the shallow flats and rivers creating some of the best fishing you could ask for. So between ponds, phenomenal Bay fishing, and crabbing with my father and friends the outdoors consumed me and all my time.
“I still come back to the Chesapeake… because chasing the inshore species that call this place home is my passion.”
Probably my most memorable outdoor experience was working in Alaska through the summers of my early 20s. Coming from the East Coast, it was very different and exciting to learn completely new techniques and to apply them to a fishery far from anything I had ever experienced.
I have been fortunate to travel and fish in a lot of places in this country and in several others. But I still come back to the Chesapeake not only because my business is here, but because chasing the inshore species that call this place home is my passion. Giant striped bass, redfish, cobia, speckled trout, and other species make it nearly a year-round fishery.
Like everywhere the Bay has plenty of problems. The biggest conservation challenge we have here, in my opinion, is the division or separation within the user groups of our natural resources. I feel like this is common in many places. In the end everyone wants more fish in one way or another, but the separation of user groups makes fisheries issues very politically charged, and more often than not really difficult to get anything positive accomplished.
I watch the intense harvest of “bunker,” or Atlantic menhaden, most of the year in the lower portions of the Bay and near coastal waters. As far as the impact on sportfishing goes, when the bait is present it completely changes the landscape of fishing. Fish hold consistently in areas when bait like menhaden are abundant. Then as it diminishes fish move out of areas nearly instantly. Even the differences in fishing conditions from Virginia to Maryland portions of the Bay are incredibly different, even sometimes just a few miles apart.
Conservation directly impacts my entire life and everything in it. Without fish and the opportunity to catch them, I wouldn’t have my business – or more importantly, fuel to feed my lifelong passion. It’s important for myself and everyone to be involved in conservation because it’s our legacy as anglers. I really enjoy fishing, to say the least, and I want others to be able to have the same experiences that I have been able to have, or even better in the future.
“Everyone should have the future of our fisheries in mind.”
Just like generations before us, and the generations to come, everyone should have the future of our fisheries in mind. Fishermen are some of the greatest conservationists and supporters of wildlife, and hunters as well. This will no doubt be our saving grace as time marches on and people continue to want to enjoy the outdoors.
Photo credits: Tyler Nonn
Raising bridges and adding fences allows big game to avoid busy blacktop
Like so much early, modern development across America, the railroads and highways through Idaho’s Lemhi Valley were not constructed with fish and wildlife in mind.
First, railroad tracks were laid between Salmon and Gilmore, straight lines of progress carting people to the center of the state to find and deliver a menagerie of precious metals to help build the growing nation. To accommodate the rigid tracks, the river was straightened; leaving the fish without suitable places to rest and spawn. The highway, now known as State Highway 28, followed, and no concessions were made for the area’s deer, elk, moose, pronghorn, and fish, which included ocean-going species such as salmon and steelhead.
For decades, these developments brought a litany of unexpected consequences. Many big game animals have been killed on the highway, and the precipitous decline in anadromous fish stocks can be traced, in part, to the loss of quality spawning and rearing habitat in the channelized Lemhi River attributing to, in part, a decrease of quality hunting and fishing opportunities.
Fortunately, a plucky team of state officials, federal land-managers, private citizens, and nonprofit leaders, including the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, have banded together to improve the safety of wildlife and motorists on the altered landscape near Leadore, Idaho.
“It is the coolest project I have worked on in my career,” said Jessie Shallow, a Mule Deer Foundation – Idaho Department of Fish and Game partner biologist, who has worked on the wildlife crossing project for roughly four years.
The process began when the Idaho Department of Transportation decided to update several of the bridges that cross the Lemhi River to meet federal flood standards. Although not a specific goal of the bridge project, IDFG worked with ITD to incorporate design elements that would hopefully improve wildlife movement under the roadway. Resulting accommodations for wildlife were wider and taller bridges, making the tunnels large enough for wildlife such as deer, elk, and moose to cross under the highway.
When the bridge replacement project came in under budget, the excess funds were allocated to build wildlife fences that would funnel the wildlife to the new structures. In 2020, the IDT built three miles of funnel fence on each side of the highway, ushering animals to cross the highway under the bridges and not on the asphalt. The fences were a game changer. Fish and Game documented roughly 40 animal crossings in the underpasses before the fence was built, and over 400 through the underpasses per year once the wildlife funnel fence was in place.
“It is the coolest project I have worked on in my career.”
Jessie Shallow, Mule Deer Foundation – Idaho Department of Fish and Game partner biologist
Project partners are now using more grant funding to extend an existing funnel fence two more miles along both sides of the highway. The location of the extension was prioritized based on frequent road-kill counts, and sadly, a wildlife-vehicle collision which caused a human fatality in that section.
Shallow predicts that the extended fence will reduce wildlife vehicle collisions by more than 80 percent in that section.
Using game cameras, Fish and Game officials have captured dozens of animals traveling under the highway. Everything from deer, moose, and mountain lions and even a mountain goat, which was miles from the nearest mountain ranges.
“It has been a complete success,” said Shallow.
The only remaining issue on this stretch of Highway 28 was aiding the animals that became stuck inside the funnel fence and needed to exit the roadway. Traditionally, biologists designed steep jump-outs for animals, but in this instance, there was not sufficient space within the right-of-way for those to be constructed.
Shallow overcame this challenge by adapting a gate project designed in Utah that allowed elk to escape apple orchards. Instead of using traditional V-gates, which allow anglers to access the river, Fish and Game and the Mule Deer Foundation created one-way gates that wildlife could push through to escape the highway side to safety. Think of a beaded curtain in a palm-reader’s hazy shop, but instead of beads, the curtain is made of metal posts that swing only out. Placed on a fence corner, these new one-way gates are wide enough for whitetails and similar-sized animals to leave the road but narrow enough to keep cattle off the highway.
The one-way gates were immediately successful as Fish and Game tracked a substantial increase in the number of animals that were able to escape the roadway after gaining access at the fence end. Although not the perfect solution, the effectiveness of the one-way gates has been encouraging. The key to success for these one-way gates is that they must be placed where the funnel fence makes a corner – these are natural areas that wildlife will congregate and attempt to escape.
While there are many other places throughout Idaho that still need infrastructure to help animals cross roadways safety during their daily and seasonal movements, the bridge underpasses and miles of fencing on Highway 28 are tangible work that directly improve motorist safety and increase hunting opportunity.
“We are making a difference,” Shallow said. “It is very rewarding.”
Bryan Young, traffic/operations engineer for ITD agreed and looks forward to partnering with the agency and organizations in the future.
“It has been very exciting to be part of this project and to build a partnership with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game that will last for a lifetime,” said Young.
Learn more about wildlife crossing work in Idaho HERE.
Photo courtesy of IDFG
The TRCP is your resource for all things conservation. In our weekly Roosevelt Report, you’ll receive the latest news on emerging habitat threats, legislation and proposals on the move, public land access solutions we’re spearheading, and opportunities for hunters and anglers to take action. Sign up now.
The United States has the greatest conservation system in the world, and hunters and anglers have been the foundation of this system since the late 1800s. Today, by uniting and amplifying the voices of America’s sportsmen and sportswomen in federal law and policy, the TRCP is ensuring that this legacy continues for another 150 years. But the challenges have never been greater.
August is National Make-A-Will Month, and you can help support our mission and Theodore Roosevelt’s vision, by empowering the TRCP to seize opportunities, address threats to conservation, and launch our next chapter of advocacy by leaving a legacy of conservation. Learn more by visiting our planned giving webpage HERE.
We invite you to join donors like Greg Singleton and help guarantee all Americans quality places to hunt and fish—now and forever – by leaving a legacy of conservation.
“I vividly remember days from my childhood when I would leave the house early and head into the woods or out on the water with my dad and granddad. I looked forward to those days more than anything else. As I grew, I saw development take over our beautiful South Carolina coastline and I watched as magnificent wildlife areas disappeared to development. During this time, I realized that if children are to experience the great outdoors and develop a love and respect for these wonderful places, we need to protect it. That’s why I put TRCP in my trust, along with other like-minded organizations devoted to conserving and protecting the outdoors. There’s no better way to get children excited and inspired by the rugged wilderness than by taking them on camping, fishing, and hunting trips on our fabulous public lands. Letting them hear the barred owls, helping them dig up crawdads, and “catching” tadpoles and bringing a few home to turn into frogs, and marveling at the dance of the red-winged blackbirds as thousands fly overhead in their amazing, seemingly choreographed dance of flight was crucial. TRCP ensures public access to our great public lands where kids can do all these things and more. I encourage everyone who has the means to give back to the outdoors by putting TRCP in your will or trust. The nation’s children will be forever grateful.”
Greg Singleton, TRCP donor
For more information about making conservation part of your legacy, please visit Planned Giving | Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (trcp.org) or contact Josh Walters, TRCP’s director of program development, at (304) 261-4941 or jwalters@trcp.org.
The information stated here is not intended as financial or legal advice. Always consider seeking the advice of your financial or legal advisor.
The TRCP is your resource for all things conservation. In our weekly Roosevelt Report, you’ll receive the latest news on emerging habitat threats, legislation and proposals on the move, public land and waters access solutions we’re spearheading, and opportunities for hunters and anglers to take action. Sign up now.
The Menhaden Management Board (MMB) of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted yesterday to establish a workgroup to consider options for precautionary management of the Chesapeake Bay industrial menhaden fishery, including time and area closures, to account for seabird and fish diet needs at critical points in their life cycles. The workgroup will be organized over the coming weeks and will start the process of thinking through what future management measures for the Bay menhaden fishery might look like, to lower the pressure that ospreys and other menhaden predators are facing in one of America’s most important estuaries.
Menhaden are baitfish that play an essential role in marine food webs, providing a vital food source for not only ospreys, but many larger species like striped bass, redfish, whales, dolphins, and seabirds.
The motion to establish a workgroup, which was unanimously supported by the MMB, was put forward by the Maryland ASMFC delegation’s Allison Colden, who is also Maryland executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. The group should begin to answer some of the questions that conservation groups have had for years about the menhaden fishery’s impact on the Bay ecosystem, and will propose potential sustainable solutions for the ASMFC to deliberate.
“We’re seeing some major ecological red flags in the Chesapeake Bay,” said Allison Colden, CBF Maryland executive director. “From struggling osprey populations to dismal menhaden bait landings, it’s clear that additional precautions are needed.”
Chesapeake Bay residents and scientists have been sounding the alarm about a lack of menhaden in the Bay leading to lower osprey chick-rearing success. This led to the MMB inviting the U.S. Geological Survey to make a presentation on Aug. 6 to inform the Board about the status of osprey in the Chesapeake Bay, and the problems these birds of prey are currently facing. Data shows that ospreys in some parts of the Bay are particularly reliant on oil-rich menhaden as food for their young, especially in the spring and summer months during chick-rearing season when male ospreys must bring in extra food to feed their mate and offspring. In recent years, the numbers have shown that ospreys in parts of the Bay are unsuccessful in raising enough young each year to sustain stable long-term populations, due in part to a lack of food availability for young chicks.
While the Atlantic menhaden fishery is already managed to account for the diet needs of multiple fish predators, such as striped bass and bluefish, to leave enough forage in the water for those fish to eat, osprey are not explicitly included in that management structure despite their clear reliance on menhaden in their diets. Updated stock assessments will be published in fall 2025, which will essentially model how menhaden have been interacting with the Atlantic ecosystem in recent years, and will help managers set appropriate harvest quotas in future fishing seasons. Unfortunately, those assessment calculations are not detailed enough to determine how the menhaden fishery is impacting the ecosystem in specific zones, such as within the Chesapeake Bay region, where harvest is concentrated.
“Setting specific regulations tailored to regional differences in harvest, based on what we know now, is a way to manage the menhaden fishery in a precautionary manner until the stock assessment science can catch up,” said Jaclyn Higgins, forage fish program manager for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “We have a wide range of longstanding seabird data that has been collected for decades, which shows us the ebb and flow of osprey populations along the Atlantic. We know that osprey chicks aren’t getting enough to eat in the Chesapeake, and we know they are reliant on menhaden in that important chick-rearing timeframe.”
Higgins says that establishing regulations that leave more menhaden in the water in the Bay at critical times, based on osprey needs and the needs of other Bay predators, is an ideal way to expand upon the ecosystem-based management framework that the ASMFC already uses to manage this iconic forage fish.
“The TRCP is excited to support this movement towards further refining the ecosystem-based management of the Atlantic menhaden fishery,” Higgins said. “Refining the spatial components of the ASMFC’s menhaden management structure will further improve the sustainability of this fishery, and will allow for more predators to have sufficient access to this critical forage species into the future.”
The workgroup expects to present their findings to the MMB at its October 2024 meeting.
For more information about the key role menhaden and other forage fish play in marine ecosystems, visit TRCP’s forage fish recovery page.
Banner image of osprey with menhaden courtesy Chesapeake Bay Program
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