The Big Sink

John on Press Herald Post   All life on Earth depends on the ocean.   Even yours. I’m often struck that when policy makers worry about Climate Change they don’t also talk about Ocean Change.   Ocean IS climate – the two are in an inseparable dance that creates the...

Message from a Lapel Pin

John on Press Herald Post   Barak Obama seemed a bit bewildered.  I’m sure he hadn’t given it much thought.  But suddenly people were asking him “Why don’t you wear a flag on your lapel?  Don’t you love your Country?”  Of course he loves his Country – it’s a given...

Fountainhead of Life in the Gulf of Maine

John on Press Herald Post   From the deck of a boat it all just looks like water.  But from a fish eye view, this is a wonderful place. Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary is at the ecological heart of the Gulf of Maine.  This is where cold nutrient-rich water,...

Who Owns the Fish

John on Press Herald Post   Who owns the fish in the sea? Who owns the whales?  Who owns the habitat they live in? You do.  We all do.  Fisheries and the marine environment are a public resource trust. The United States has jurisdiction over 3.4 million square...

Breaking the Rule

John on  Press Herald Post   My wife has a rule in our house – no talking about fish or boats after 6pm. Good luck, honey.  Most evenings that prohibition lasts until about 6:20 and then, somehow, the conversation wanders back onto the latest boat project, or fishing,...