TRCP’s “In the Arena” series highlights the individual voices of hunters and anglers who, as Theodore Roosevelt so famously said, strive valiantly in the worthy cause of conservation.

John McMurray

Hometown: Oceanside, New York 
Occupation: Fishing guide/charter boat captain
Conservation credentials: McMurray has been the executive director of the Coastal Conservation Association New York and director of grant programs at the Norcross Wildlife Foundation. He was also a legislative proxy for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and served for a decade as New York’s recreational representative on the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

Capt. John McMurray hails as a renowned big tuna and striped bass charter captain based on Long Island, New York. The hard-charging captain has been the owner and primary operator of One More Cast Charters, Inc. for more than twenty years, where he charters trips far offshore on seaworthy Contenders and inshore on smaller skiffs. McMurray has been a leader with the New York arm of the Coastal Conservation Association and a long-time advocate for menhaden conservation. He’s also served in the U.S. Coast Guard as a coxswain and law enforcement officer, and for 16 years served as the director of grant programs at the Norcross Wildlife Foundation, which distributed over $20 million in grants that largely targeted the protection of marine fish and habitat. Driven to fish hard for his clients without respite during major runs, he’s out on the water almost every day of the season, rain or shine – including a running timeslot every other Sunday he sets aside to take his son and his friends fishing on what he refers to as “Bro-day.”

McMurray is an oft-published outdoor writer, who currently blogs for the Marine Fish Conservation Network and has had feature articles/photography published in On The Water, Saltwater Fly Fishing, and The New York Times. A decade ago he penned a weekly conservation blog for TRCP.

Here is his story.

No one ever really introduced me to the outdoors. I didn’t really come from an outdoorsy family. Just kinda got into it myself. There was a local pond we’d go to in northern Virginia. I started out with bluegills, graduated to catfish, then largemouths in the Potomac. I later enlisted in the Coast Guard, which brought me to New York, where I discovered striped bass and became a full-on addict. Eventually I got into tuna fishing. At that point fishing kinda became my life.

I guess my most memorable outdoor adventure was at that local pond, there was a “giant” catfish (I’m sure it was probably more than one) that would break people off, stole at least one “dead-sticked” rod. No one could ever land it. Eventually, one year (I think I was 9) I stuck it, did a lap around the pond while a small crowd gathered as I landed it. It was not “big” really, maybe 10 lbs., but back then? It was HUGE! I was an instant legend (in my own mind anyway).

If I could fish anywhere in the world, honestly, it would be Long Island, New York, man. Believe it or not, we’ve got one of THE best fisheries in the world. Incredibly abundant striped bass populations. The sight/flats fishing is GREAT in the spring and the fall blitz fishery is Nat Geo-type stuff. We’ve also got an extraordinary giant tuna fishery within sight of land. Mid-shore the recreational size bluefin fishery is awesome too. Fish in the 150, even 200 lb.-range can be caught on spin gear! Offshore? We’ve got an insane yellowfin tuna fishery. We get 100 lb. fish on poppers regularly.

Conservation enhances what I do because it creates abundance, and abundance equals opportunity. The main conservation challenge off of Long Island is that A LOT of our fisheries revolve around menhaden aggregations. We get the menhaden schools, we get predators.  Every year though, the large-scale processors in Virginia sail purse-seine boats and fly spotter planes up here. They sit right off the 3-mile line and rake up hundreds of thousands of pounds of menhaden, effectively shutting down bluefin and striped bass runs. It REALLY sucks.

“If we deplete forage fish stocks, those predator fish ain’t coming around.“

I’m involved in conservation efforts out of enlightened self-interest. I need there to be an abundance of both predators and forage fish around to be successful at the catching part. My business emphasizes the experience fishing brings rather than just filling coolers. So a fish in the water is WAY more beneficial than a dead one on the dock. It’s not really how many I can kill that’s important, but how many we can catch.

It’s obvious to me why conservation should matter to our next generation of anglers. We kill too many predator fish now, there won’t be any left for my kids. If we deplete forage fish stocks, those predator fish ain’t coming around. For me, or for future generations.

All images credit John McMurray