Conservation at home:
How we decide which waterways are worth protecting?
The other night I was watching a video featuring Alvin Dedeaux, an Austin, TX based fly guide who i’ve enjoyed following ever since he was featured in a Yeti video three years ago. Alvin made a powerful video on racism just a couple of weeks ago that everyone should watch…the guy is a fly fishing hero of mine.
However, this particular video I’m talking about was from the Das Boat series from “Meateater” and featured well known Austin chef Jesse Griffiths. Dedeaux took an old beat up boat down his home waters of the Colorado River (the one in Austin…not that other one) and I was struck by how much of the water they were floating reminded me of waters near Baltimore.
The waters around the city of Baltimore have been historically polluted and continue to remain contaminated to such a degree that swimming is effectively forbidden and eating fish from the harbor generally inadvisable. The harbor is an amazing natural resource that, despite the conservation efforts of groups like Blue Water Baltimore , The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, The National Aquarium and many others, has been crippled by sewage overflows, industrial pollutants, trash flows and general neglect. From my experience in Baltimore it’s not that people don’t want the water to be clean, it’s that the problem seems insurmountable.
Baltimore Harbor in 1976 (Borrowed from Baltimore Sun Files)
When it comes to urban waterways, however, it seems that angling advocates don’t always show up. Conservation in the angling community usually has to do with saving pristine waterways that currently hold target species. Initiatives like saving Bristol Bay are incredibly important when it comes to saving threatened species, in that case salmon, and have gained national attention. To be clear, those initiatives are important and we should continue fighting for clean, cold rivers across this country when regulations or industry threaten them.
Likewise, there is plenty of concern for the Chesapeake Bay at large. Once the pollution from the city dissipates and water quality improves, there are scores of efforts to conserve and protect. Species throughout the entire bay are threatened and deserve protection. All of that work serves to benefit the harbor as well.
But where is the sense of potential for places like Baltimore’s Harbor? Where are the fly fishermen when it comes to advocating for what was once the one of the most diverse, prosperous fisheries on the east coast? Anglers generally go where they are pointed and organizations like Trout Unlimited do a great job of giving anglers an outlet for whatever conservation commitment they have. But for anyone who lives around Baltimore and loves to fish, how is it we’re not discussing the potential of our waters at home?
Baltimore Fly Fishing
We’re curious about conservation efforts in other cities around urban waterways. If you have experience or know about efforts to restore historically polluted rivers, bays and streams, give us a shout. As far as Baltimore goes though, we should be thinking big pictures. We should be advocating for the water in our backyard…it may not be a fly fishing destination yet, but that doesn’t mean our advocacy couldn’t change that.
We’ll finish with this thought. Let’s think critically about how we discuss and frame conservation. We seem to talk about passing on the sport to the next generation but we don’t always fight for waterways in places where kids can access them. Race and socio-economics play a significant role in which resources we choose to conserve and Baltimore’s harbor is a prime example of that. If we want to pass on a mindset of conservation and intersectional-environmentalism, we need to fight for water is places youth can access it. Just because we paved over it doesn’t mean the natural world isn’t still right outside or doorstep.
All resources deserve protecting. Those rivers and streams that flow through remote mountains and valleys need protection and anglers are the perfect people to protect them. However, we should also think about taking an active stand for waterways that are not yet amazing fisheries, but could be. It’s no coincidence that polluted waterways flow through black and brown communities across this country and it’s even less of a surprise that fly anglers aren’t advocating for those waterways. If we want to make our sport more welcoming, inclusive and diverse we have to show up for everyone and everything…not just distant west coast salmon.
-Nick
(We’re looking to have a conversation around the subjects. Reach out to info@fishercat.co to get involved.)