Written by The Lost Anchovy May 6, 2022
The San Francisco Bay is a bio-diverse body of water that provides a tremendous amount of value to the region’s residents and tourists. The bay provides access to national ports and is a magnet to worldwide tourism that is a boom for the local economy. It is home to an abundant amount of life from coastal seabirds to migrating Pacific Herring.
However, behind sprawling pier 45 and tourist buses that zip through popular travel destinations such as Chrissy Field and the iconic San Francisco Golden Gate lies a slow and insidious cancer that residents know all too well — Trash! And lots of it. Plastic bottles, beer cans, and micro-plastics pile up along the Bay Area coastline by the TONS!, and directly impact the fish we consume.
This is why the 2022 Alameda Rock Wall Halibut Tournament is partnering with “I Heart Oakland-Alameda Estuary”, a local volunteer organization dedicated to reducing trash and debris along the bay shorelines.
I’m a long-time kayak fisherman and I have witnessed the tremendous amount of trash that takes refuge on the top bay waters. However, for every piece of trash visible on the surface there are hundreds if not thousands that get buried underneath the waterline. The buried trash eventually descends along the shorelines where it impacts seabirds and marine life. The micro-plastics, oils, and chemicals become intertwined with the bay’s ecosystem and impact the fish we harvest such as White Sturgeon, California Halibut, and Striped Bass.
Meet Mary Spicer who leads the I Heart Oakland-Alameda Estuary volunteer trash clean-up program. Her dedication and passion for preserving and protecting the bay shorelines are evident from the short time we spent together at the 2022 Earth Day ocean and bay clean-up.
“I started doing this because the ducks, geese, bat-rays, fish and harbor seals are living in human created garbage squalor.” Says Mary Spicer who frequents the bay on her stand up paddle and outrigger.
Mary and her team are supported by the Oakland Parks and Recreation Foundation, which works in tandem with the organization to support their cause as a fiscal agent. Years ago, I made a personal vow to leave the world a better place than when I entered it. To do what I can, where I can, and take action big, or small to fulfill that promise and live adhering to that creed.
Margaret Mead is famously quoted as saying, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world. It’s the only thing that ever has.” Mary and her small group of committed individuals are passionately working to promote a safe a clean bay!- Their commitment deserves our support.
Thank you all involed thinking of our present and future!..Wonderful to read..