Today’s paper caught my attention for a couple of reasons. One, I read a separate blue crab/Blue Catfish article a couple weeks ago. Two, one of my staff was at a family gathering recently, and indicated they were asked if the Chesapeake Bay blue crab fishery was going to be shut down – they apparently were supposed to know the answer because they are involved in fisheries! 

Today’s paper caught my eye because I have read a few items regarding the introduction of salmon to the Great Lakes. I was aware of the variety of issues that caused the decline of the Lake Trout, including the thiamine issue due to the Alewife diet.  I was unaware that similar issues were prevalent in other salmonids, or of the high offspring mortality due to thiamine deficiency in Chinook Salmon eggs.

I recall sitting in the audience at the AFS-TWS Joint Meeting in Reno, when Tom Annear was given the Carl R. Sullivan Fishery Conservation Award. I got a brief introduction to his life’s work then, and afterwards invited him to come back home to Iowa to talk at our Iowa AFS meeting. Through a number of conversations, I came to understand much more deeply the importance of his work connecting science, law, policy, people, water and ecosystems to fisheries management.