Chapin moose
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As all anglers know, where you find the bait, you find the fish. Forage fish like herring, sardines, and shad are an essential part of marine ecosystems, serving as a nutrient-rich superfood for larger fish, marine mammals, and seabirds. These bait fish support the diets of humpback whales, ospreys, striped bass, Alaska pollock, and bluefin tuna, to name a few. Forage fish are key to America’s fishing economy, supporting it directly when sold as raw material or bait, and indirectly as prey for other marine species.
Recognizing forage fish’ importance to coastal ecosystems and economies, the TRCP has been engaged in the push for better forage fish management; including supporting the bipartisan introduction of the Forage Fish Conservation Act in the House and Senate in 2021. But the act had remained in limbo since.
Last week, the bipartisan Forage Fish Conservation Act was reintroduced in the House by Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and Brian Mast (R-FL). This legislation seeks to fill existing gaps in forage fish management by building on the achievements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which has been vital in combating overfishing and preserving fish stocks for anglers over the past five decades.
This legislation would improve federal fishery management by requiring managers to evaluate the importance of forage fish to the ecosystem and the diet needs of predators.
The bill aims to amend the Magnuson-Stevens Act to account for the ecological role of forage fish, moving beyond traditional single-species management to include considerations of ecosystem impacts. This legislation would improve our federal fishery management framework by requiring managers to weigh the impacts of forage fisheries expansion on the ecosystem and evaluate the importance of such forage fish to the ecosystem and the diet needs of predator species.
“Safeguarding fish stocks from further decline is critical to protecting marine ecosystems and strengthening coastal economies,” said Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) in a news release. “This legislation’s science-based conservation framework for forage fish will both help promote sustainable fisheries and preserve marine wildlife for the enjoyment of future generations.”
Shad and river herring in particular once supported some of the largest commercial and recreational fisheries along the Atlantic coast. However, habitat loss due to dam construction and stock depletion from overfishing have caused herring and shad landings to plummet by 96 percent since 1950.
Economic impacts from recreational angling support nearly 700,000 jobs across the United States. Recreational fishing also generates $138 billion in sales impacts, $45.1 billion in income, and $74.9 billion in value-added impacts annually. The sustainability of our recreational angling economy rests on the health of fish populations on the water. Without thriving forage fish populations, the fish we love to catch won’t have enough to eat.
“This is important and bipartisan sustainability legislation that will help protect our coastal health, environment, and economy,” said Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) in the release.
This act would ensure that consistent, science-based conservation measures are applied by each regional fishery management council, addressing gaps in current management practices that have led to forage fish overharvest in recent decades, which undermines recreational and commercial fishery productivity. This common-sense, good-governance approach ensures managers responsibly consider the impacts of new commercial harvests on critical ecosystem components, aiming to proactively prevent costly resource failures.
To improve the conservation of forage fish and strengthen the marine ecosystem, the legislation addresses key needs, including:
Boosting forage fish populations will enhance sportfish and fishing opportunities. By implementing the Forage Fish Conservation Act, we can improve management strategies and ensure that anglers benefit from thriving coastal ecosystems and economies for generations to come.
TRCP, onX, RMEF, Outdoor Life, and One Montana delve into the challenges between landowners, hunters, and elk management in the West
The division between landowners and hunters is a perpetual topic of discussion. Both sides have something to say—and something to protect. But when both parties sit down at the table and discuss how to conserve the land and manage big game, there’s often more agreement than dissent. Watch this dynamic play out across Montana and see what happens when both hunters and landowners work together for big game management.
Watch the film below.
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We don’t make bigger investments in conservation than those in the Farm Bill. Totaling about $6 billion per year it is the single largest investment in conservation that the federal government makes on an annual basis.
Every five years, Congress drafts a new Farm Bill. It’s a massive piece of legislation that supports agricultural producers and ensures hungry families have food on their table. Tucked inside this legislation are crucial conservation programs that incentivize habitat creation, sustainable agriculture, and even access to private land for hunting and fishing. The reauthorization and improvement of these programs is a top priority, not just within the TRCP, but for our partners and the agriculture and nutrition communities.
The 2018 Farm Bill expired on September 30, 2023, and was eventually extended until September 30, 2024. Early this summer, there was a flurry of activity in the Agriculture Committees. Unfortunately, budget challenges and policy differences have so far prevented the consensus needed to pass any bill in a split Congress, and especially one that traditionally generates wide bipartisan, bicameral support.
Are we in new territory? What is, and what isn’t at stake for hunters and anglers? Here are six things you need to know:
Reauthorizing and updating Farm Bill programs is always important (I don’t think anyone would argue with me when I say the world is a different place than it was in 2018). But for hunters and anglers, and really anyone who cares about a sustainable food system, there is a major incentive to passing a Farm Bill now. The budget reconciliation bill, commonly known as the Inflation Reduction Act or IRA, included nearly $20 billion for climate-smart uses of Farm Bill conservation programs. Currently, all “Four Corners” of the Ag Committee (the Chair and Ranking Members of both the House and Senate Committees) are calling for the remainder of those funds to be incorporated into the Farm Bill baseline and used for conservation. The process for this is complicated, but the important part is that doing so would raise funding for Farm Bill conservation programs by nearly 25%. If Congress fails to act this year, that number will decrease considerably next year and beyond.
“Every day – or year – that goes by without a new Farm Bill, our nation’s ability to conserve habitat and increase sportsmen’s access through CRP and VPA-HIP will suffer. Right now, our opportunity to prioritize agriculture and conservation is greater than ever, as is the risk of letting partisan politics prevent us from supporting our farmers, ranchers, and private landowners with the tools and resources they need to put conservation on the ground.”
Andrew Schmidt, Director of Government Affairs for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever
Although the challenges this Farm Bill is facing feel daunting, there is plenty of precedence for a delay. Congress is often late in passing Farm Bills. The longest recent process was for the Farm Bill that was signed in 2014 – discussions began in 2011, and it should have been reauthorized in 2012. Both the 2008 and 2018 Farm Bills were several months late as well.
This history of challenges may indicate that passing Farm Bills is getting more difficult, but it also demonstrates that while coalition efforts toward highly bipartisan bills might be slow, they are effective.
In addition to providing supplemental funding, the Inflation Reduction Act reauthorized several conservation programs through 2031.
Even if a new Farm Bill or an extension isn’t passed, many practices that benefit hunters and anglers will continue through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), and Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP). Through these programs, wetlands will still be restored and protected, upland habitat will still be managed, and field buffers will still be planted to improve water quality.
Not all of the programs we care about have been spared. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has expired. It is one of our country’s most successful conservation programs and provides tremendous benefits for wildlife and habitat. Existing contracts will continue, but new acres can’t be enrolled. This means that the CRP will slowly, but steadily, shrink until either a new Farm Bill is passed, or the current bill is extended. This can lead to a loss of habitat for countless species across the country. Luckily, relatively few contracts are set to expire in the upcoming months, so the overall picture is a little less bleak.
Another key program for hunters and anglers, the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program (VPA-HIP), also suffers from a delayed bill. Funding for VPA-HIP, a crucial Farm Bill program that has opened hundreds of thousands of private acres for walk-in access to hunting and fishing, has historically been distributed once per Farm Bill cycle. VPA-HIP received $10 million when the Farm Bill was extended last year, but without a new Farm Bill private land access programs across the nation will suffer from a lack of much-needed resources.
“The Farm Bill impacts all Americans by investing in conservation and natural resources. Its conservation programs drive beneficial practices across the country—creating wildlife habitat, improving water quality, repairing soil health and protecting human health. Our lawmakers have an opportunity to make a generational investment in these programs and lay a foundation for a more resilient future. But they must get the timing right to maximize their impact. Congress should seize the opportunity to protect our natural resources by passing a bipartisan Farm Bill this year.”
Kate Hansen, Agriculture Program Director for the Izaak Walton League of America
The next few months will be critical for the Farm Bill and the conservation programs we cherish as hunters and anglers. Congress is out of session until after the November 5th election, so we won’t see action before then, and any post-election progress will compete with the appropriations process for lawmakers’ time. Passing a Farm Bill on such a short timeframe will be an uphill battle, but we will keep the pressure on Congress to get this bill passed and avoid a missed opportunity to fund conservation, and we will work to ensure that hunter and angler priorities are met.
In the face of gridlock, conservation is, and should be, a shared priority regardless of party affiliation or ideology. Congress needs to hear that this is important to you. Take action here and stay up to date at trcp.org/farm-bill.
Louisiana’s extensive barrier islands are among the many features that distinguish the state from its Gulf of Mexico neighbors, as well as every other Atlantic Basin state.
Certainly, others have barrier islands and extensive beach shorelines. However, none of them have the unique and numerous mix of headlands and back-barrier marshes of the Bayou State, thanks to the shifting deltas and fertility of the Mississippi River.
While the brown river silt and thick, sometimes rotten-smelling mud isn’t the tourist attraction of white sand and high-rise hotels, the fish, crabs and, especially, native and migrating birds sure do love those “ugly” beaches and marshes.
Singling out one barrier island or even a chain of barrier islands as most important or most unique is difficult. They all serve multiple purposes as vital habitat for fish and birds (and fishermen and bird watchers) and all play a crucial role in knocking down storm surge and protecting more sensitive inland wetlands and communities from bearing the brunt of the strongest hurricane waves. The Chandeleur Islands, though, stand out.
The Chandeleurs are home to the northern Gulf of Mexico’s largest seagrass bed, encompassing more than 5,000 acres and providing food and shelter for innumerable fish, mammals, sea turtles, and birds.
It may come as a shock to most Louisiana waterfowlers that tens of thousands of diving ducks, particularly redheads, spend part of their winter on northern Chandeleur’s massive grass flats. An estimated 40,000-50,000 birds utilize the islands each winter and more than 30,000 sea birds make their nests on the islands annually.
The islands’ remote nature has left them unmolested, but also passed up for large-scale restoration projects.
Those flats also attract sea turtles, most notably endangered Kemp’s ridley turtles. Biologists believed for decades Kemp’s ridleys, while ranging Gulf-wide and along the Atlantic Coast, only nested in Mexico and South Texas. Not so, according to a host of recent findings by Louisiana’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) that show dozens of nesting sites along the Chandeleur’s beaches.
Of course, Louisiana anglers and saltwater fishing enthusiasts world-wide know the Chandeleurs for their massive schools of redfish, extraordinary speckled trout production, enormous populations of sharks, and even as a stopping and feeding spot for migrating tarpon coming from Florida each summer to feast on pogies and mullet near the Mississippi’s mouth.
This remarkable bounty of fish and wildlife prompted President Theodore Roosevelt to designate the islands as the Breton National Wildlife Refuge in 1904, the second-ever National Wildlife Refuge established in the United States.
There’s no such thing as an easy trip to northern Chandeleur Island. It’s more than 30 miles across a lot of open water from any launching spot along the Mississippi coast. Add a dozen or more miles to that from popular Louisiana ports.
Its remote nature has left the islands mostly unmolested by people and keeps predators like foxes, racoons, and other egg eaters away from bird and turtle nests. But, because the islands are so far away from the mainland, it also meant they were often passed up for large-scale restoration projects.
The storm surge reduction benefits just didn’t score as highly as islands in the Barataria or Terrebonne basins, while the distance from shore meant additional expenses in moving material and manpower on site. Facing limited budgets, state coastal planners had to pick islands that had the most combined benefits for both people and animals.
Construction could begin in 2026 to restore more than 13 miles of the barrier island chain.
Ironically, it’s the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster that changed the equation for the Chandeleurs. The impacts to sea turtles, birds, fish, and other wildlife across the northern Gulf means habitat restoration and enhancement is weighted as much or more than storm surge reduction and coastal community protection when it comes to spending oil spill fines.
Louisiana’s CPRA is trying to secure an approximate $280-plus million from various oil-spill penalty funds, including the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund as well as donations from nonprofit groups like Ducks Unlimited. Should the CPRA succeed, construction could begin in 2026 to restore more than 13 miles of beaches as well as sand dunes and pockets of back barrier marshes.
Here’s hoping CPRA succeeds. The Chandeleurs’ beaches and dunes are miniscule now compared to the estimated 11,000 acres there when Roosevelt established the refuge. Hurricanes, especially Georges in 1998 and, of course, Katrina in 2005 have ripped the islands apart, contributing to the loss of more than 90 percent of the landmass over the last 100 years.
Louisiana has lost far too much coastal habitat in the last century. That land loss has contributed to the slow erosion of a cultural identity intrinsic to the people of the Sportsman’s Paradise. Hopefully, restoring the Chandeleurs will play a big role in making sure that identity is passed on to the next generation of Louisiana sportsmen and women.
Every barrier island in Louisiana between the mouth of the Mississippi River and the Atchafalaya River has been restored and enhanced in some way in the last 25 years. It’s time the northern stretches of the Chandeleurs get their turn.
(Note: This story originally appeared in the October 2024 issue of Louisiana Sportsman.)
Banner aerial image credit: NOAA Restoration Center/ Erik Zobrist
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.
$4 from each bag is donated to the TRCP, to help continue their efforts of safeguarding critical habitats, productive hunting grounds, and favorite fishing holes for future generations.
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