Chincoteague, Va My vacation story, by Alexi

Fishing was slow, so we picked up this barnacle encrusted crab pot float and called it a success!

Ari getting in on the topwater action

   

P.S.

      Every year millions of folks on the Eastern seaboard flock to the shore.  It's an age-old tradition dating back to who knows when.  When you look down into the ocean from above it often looks like a blank slate.  It's because we are not aquatic animals.  Only avid divers know some of what is hidden underneath, and even they only get to see a fraction of it.  If we were aquatic creatures we'd look up and never know about the Rocky Mountains and the vast forests or desserts.  The sea-floor is larger, and un-seen is un-known, only because many humans are short sighted.  The impact that humans have had on the visible planet has been devastating.  The impact we've had on the unseen oceans has been even worse.  One family occupies a rental shore house for a week,  keeps a few short fish, crabs, clams, or whatever, and doesn't think the impact is so large.  The next family comes and does the same thing, and so on and so on times millions....
    States have tried to manage their fisheries.   Their rules and laws are written on the brochures for all to read... and for some to dis-regard blatantly.  Most management efforts are there to insure the future of the species for all to enjoy.  They are usually designed to give the fish a chance to reach maturity to breed at least once, or to protect them during breeding, so that there will be some around for generations to come (if we are lucky.)
     So this vacation season I leave you with this advice:  pick up trash, (it's way cooler,)  don't poach, get a license, follow the local regulations!