I first wrote an article with a similar title more than four and a half years ago, but I thought it was appropriate to revisit that topic given the constant challenges facing anglers and the waters that we fish.
Those anglers who have fished the waters of Sarasota and Tampa Bay (and all the connected bays) for decades have seen firsthand the decrease in water quality, loss of habitat and the resultant degrading of local fisheries.
Don’t get me wrong, we still have some excellent fishing and the habitat that has been referred to as “fragile” turns out to be extremely resilient. That’s the good news, but only if anglers stay engaged in protecting “the goose that laid the golden egg.”
The problem lies in the perception of anglers and residents who recently relocated here, and this is nothing new. When we’re new to an area (now or four decades ago), we experience what is referred to as “the new normal,” or the “shifting baseline” – a phenomenon in which each generation accepts a degraded or altered condition as “normal” because they compare it only to what they have personally experienced, and not to historical conditions.
This became clear to me only recently, when I read Jack Davis’ Pulitzer Prize-winning book “The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea,” a book described as a work that powerfully illustrates shifting baselines – how each generation accepts a diminished Gulf as “normal.”
I vividly remember accounts (paraphrased) by early settlers of flocks of birds so abundant they would darken the midday sky, and mullet so thick you could almost walk across the bay on their backs.
This is not intended to make anglers nostalgic for what has been lost, but to realize we can enjoy our angling adventures even more by working to protect and improve what we love, so future generations of anglers can have some of the opportunities we enjoy.
Reel Time is, and I intend it to continue to be, a way to share the adventures of angling, help introduce new tackle and techniques, explore destinations and introduce children and new residents to this amazing resource that surrounds us. A vital part of that mission also needs to explore the challenges that face us and share ways to protect it.
