commercial fishing

Chesapeake Gold is the type of book you read while sitting in an Adirondack chair overlooking the water on a crisp autumn afternoon. Accompanied by rich illustrations, Chesapeake Gold offers a glimpse into the lives of Chesapeake oystermen, as they struggle to manage and maintain their livelihoods and culture in the face of declining oyster populations in the Chesapeake Bay. Author Susan Brait shares her experiences of working alongside men and women who make their living on the Chesapeake.

Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs)—a socio-biological term—are large (≥200,000 km²) regions of the world's oceans tied to coastal areas and related to “Exclusive Economic Zones” (EEZs). LMEs include the river basins and estuaries that feed into a coastal area and extend out to the continental shelf and beyond, to the edges of deep open water. Ninety-five percent of the biomass yields from oceans are produced within or near EEZs. To keep our oceans healthy, it is important to manage and conserve these areas of our planet properly.