I learned to fish almost as soon as I could walk. It was my first connection to the ocean and itโs how I learned to respect and appreciate our natural environment and all that it provides.
Looking back now, itโs what inspired me to study the ocean and devote my career to its conservation.
Despite growing up fishing, being Brown and female โ particularly on Floridaโs Gulf Coast โ meant the collective term โfishermenโ rarely applied to me. Iโve lost track of how many times Iโve had to defend my purchase choices at a tackle store or turn down patronizing offers to help:
Once, when I went to get fingerprinted for a job piloting boats, they didnโt even have a demographic category that fit me. The employee told me that she would just put โunknown.โ How many others have fallen through the cracks of representation in fishing โ unknown, unheard, and unrepresented?
So, I am here to speak out for all the people who are โfishermenโ yet donโt look like those represented by all the fishing organizations who have vehemently opposed the Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act โ a comprehensive piece of legislation that seeks to leverage the power of the ocean in the fight against climate change โ due to its recommendation that we protect 30% of U.S. waters by 2030.
Those interest groups do not represent the voice of the collective fishing community. They represent short-sighted and parochial interests of the people who look like them. They are using the powerful lobbying voice of โthe fishermanโ to push an agenda thatโs neither good for the ocean nor for the long-term success of any species we fish. Iโm a fisherwoman and a marine scientist, and Iโm here to tell you that protecting at least 30% of our ocean is critical if we want to keep fishing into the future.
In the United States and around the world, marine protected areas are proven tools to take pressure off of the ocean, give it a chance to heal and increase the number of fish available outside of the protected space. Even though certain areas are closed to fishing, we actually boost a fishery through whatโs called the โspillover effect.โ
Federal fisheries in the U.S. are managed by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), and while this law makes our fisheries some of the most well-managed in the world, it does little to protect the ecosystem and habitats all species rely on, including the commercially-relevant ones. Look no further than my home state of Florida where more than 98% of the coral reefs have died, to see we need policies that help us manage more than fisheries. In todayโs rapidly changing ocean, conservation and restoration are essential to ensure those fisheries can exist into the future and continue to support fishers and coastal communities.
Beyond the direct benefits to habitats and species, marine protected areas also help create jobs, boost the economy, and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Commendably, the Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act promotes coastal community resiliency and adaptation and places an emphasis on increasing coastal access for communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities. Nor does it undermine our existing fisheries management law, it enhances it. The Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act does not arbitrarily close 30% of our waters, but sets up an inclusive process so that all stakeholders have a voice in what is protected.
We are rapidly reaching a tipping point from which we cannot recover. We, as fishers, as ocean-lovers, and as Americans, need ocean leadership that moves beyond the fish wars of the last 50 years and towards ocean justice. The Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act creates a new path forward, one that recognizes the disenfranchised, creates opportunities for justice, and protects our planet and its biodiversity for future generations.
