Five Minutes To Make A Difference

The Brewster Flats stand like a desert of shifting sand when the tide pulls back. If you’ve experienced walking those vast bars, felt the water rushing around your ankles, and cast into channels that seem crafted by an artist's hand, you know exactly what I mean.

Striped bass cruise those flats like ghosts. One moment, the flat looks empty, the next, a dark shadow glides toward you, its tail and back breaking the surface. That first hit, whether it’s a schoolie on a sand eel pattern or a cow inhaling a crab, never loses its thrill. For countless anglers like me, this is sacred ground.

But here, in these timeless waters, the silence is growing. Warming seas, loss of forage, and policies that undervalue fish science are tipping the scales.

What’s Truly at Stake

The health of striped bass in the Brewster Flats, bluefish off Chatham, or tuna off Stellwagen is not just a matter of chance. It hinges on strong science, effective habitat protection, and adaptive management. Yet federal programs designed to track fish populations, restore estuaries, and adapt to climate-driven changes are being slashed.

This is unacceptable. Recreational fishing alone generates an economic impact over 100 times greater than NOAA’s fisheries budget. The guides, fly shops, and coastal towns thriving on striped bass represent far more than the savings Congress foolishly thinks it is achieving.

Please Act Now

Here's the challenge: invest five minutes. Call or email your members of Congress and let them know:

• Fund fish science, so we can track and respond to changes in striped bass and other species.
• Protect estuaries and forage fish, the lifeblood of the flats.
• Support resilient management, so that the Brewster Flats and countless waters like it remain alive with fish.

Five minutes. That’s about the time it takes to rig a leader.

Make Your Voice Count

When hundreds of us raise our voices, we create a powerful wave that policymakers cannot ignore. If we stay silent, the silence of the flats will only grow. If we act decisively, the tides can continue to carry fish for generations to come.

A Choice for Our Future

On my first day on the Brewster Flats, I didn’t catch a bass, but I witnessed the push of water, the flash of bait, and the way the entire flat seemed to come alive. I refuse to let my daughter miss out on that experience, and I demand that her children have the same opportunity. This is what’s at stake.

Visit tomorrowsfish.org. Take five minutes. Call. Email. Share.

The flats will endure when the tide recedes again. The real question is, will the stripers still be here?