Shem Creek - A seafood-lover's paradise!

Check out his short underwater video, instrumental to one of National Geographic’s covers.

In it, photographer Brian Skerry shoots life above and below the waves – as he puts it, both the horror and the magic of the ocean. Sharing amazing, intimate shots of undersea creatures, he shows how powerful images can help make a change with people’s habits.

Well worth a few minutes!

At the end, Brian says, “the ocean is willing to give to a point, but we need to be better stewards”. Hopefully the world is listening.

Shem Creek fisherman – along with a lot of other ones – are traveling to Washington this month to attend a nationwide rally protesting new fishing regulations that limit bottom fishing.

That’s fine, but I consider it a waste of gas on their part. If all the fish are gone, what would they do then? Once there’s proof things are okay, the government will loosen their restrictions, and we’ll all be able to enjoy fishing again.

Legare Smith, captain of a private sport fishing boat, says “What if they come back and say dolphin or wahoo numbers are down?” I’m assuming it’s because their population numbers are too low to sustain themselves – surely they’re not trying to drive away our tourism dollars…

Don’t forget: NOAA declared four fish stocks fully rebuilt as a result of international fishing pressure, so they’re on the right track with their regulations.

Overfishing is going to be the death of the fishing industry unless steps are taken to curb our ferocious appetites for seafood, and I for one, am 100% behind the government regulations, because I love seafood so much and want it to always be here – if you do, you should be encouraging their sustainability efforts.

For more information on new fishing regulations, visit Snapper Grouper Recreational Regulations Summary.

That ‘United We Fish’ rally will be held Feb. 24, from noon to 3 p.m. in Washington. For more information, go to unitedwefish.blogspot.com.