After years of holding up striped bass as the model of how humans can save a species from extinction, fisheries managers are finding out that the glue holding the model together is beginning to weaken.
Disease and pollution are taking their toll. Poachers steal at will. Government is unwilling to pay for scientific and enforcement muscle. Regulators posture instead of acting boldly.
It is human nature to continue to bask in a singular success long after everyone else has moved on. Ballplayers, actors and politicians extend their careers by reliving "the big one" and finding folks willing to pay for the honor of listening.
Right now, state fisheries managers are proposing a sweeping set of reforms to get a handle on a commercial striped bass fishing industry that the public doesn't trust. Weeks of headlines and photos of illegal nets filled with tons of fish will do that to your image.
Read the complete opinion piece from The Baltimore Sun.