Folks had been asking about the recreational reform and sector separation initiatives under review by fisheries managers, which prompted me to write Management Mumbo Jumbo: Fisheries Reform & Sector Separation in the July edition. On the very day that printed copy arrived in subscriber mailboxes, I received a rather heartwarming personal message:
“The Gulf of Mexico is not the Gulf of America, you right wing nut job. I have just told The Fisherman that I will immediately drop my membership if a right wing nut job like you is ever again published in the magazine. The Gulf of Mexico is not the Gulf of America you nut job. You are an a*****e and need to be boycotted.”
Just so you know, I had absolutely nothing to do with renaming the Gulf of Mexico. President Trump did that, and like it or not, that’s what that big area of water is now officially called in terms of fisheries management and coastal navigation. Mapmakers have already adjusted their naming, with Catherine Cattell Hadad from Captain Segull Fishing Charts telling me of a flurry of chart purchases stemming from the name change. “I got a call from a guy that wanted charts before we changed it to Gulf of America,” she said.
The president’s order directed all U.S. federal agencies to adopt the name Gulf of America, and while the Associated Press refused to adopt the change in their official style guidelines, the fisheries management body responsible for that region, referenced in the article, has removed “Mexico” from its title, becoming simply the Gulf Council while explaining how it “manages fishery resources in the federal waters of the Gulf of America.”
My buddy Capt. Steve from the Miss Beach Haven and Jingles Bait & Tackle pointed out the many name changes in the Gulf over the centuries, “Gulf of Cortes, Gulf of St. Michael, Gulf of Yucatán, Cathayan Sea, Gulf of New Spain, Gulf of Mexico, and now Gulf of America!” English nautical charts in the 1700s had it listed as the Bay of Mexico, though native Aztecs called it Chalchiuhtlicueyecatl. The first Spanish explorers referred to it as Golfo de Florida, while 18th century Spanish admiralty charts labeled it Mexican Cove or Mexican Sound. Remember, Mexico’s coastal boundary once extended all the way to Louisiana until 1836, the year that Texas declared its independence.
In “Romeo and Juliet,” Shakespeare wrote, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Essentially, it describes how names and labels don’t change the basic nature of that which tangibly exists. I’ve grown accustomed to various “names and labels” directed my way; when it comes to trying to break down complex fisheries issues it’s always going to come down to politics, and inevitably someone on either extreme will end up with their knickers in a twist.
But when angler access to sustainable fisheries is bound by state and federal law, with elected officials and their appointed delegates deciding how, when and where we can fish (or the name of the water), that’s fisheries politics. I could avoid touching the political hot stove altogether – to keep from getting caught on the wrong side of that line – but that would be cowardly and weak, and a disservice to those who actually want to know how their fish sausages get stuffed.
That said, I couldn’t care less about the Gulf’s new name, nor do I have the luxury of choosing a side. On the other hand, recreational reform and sector separation are such divisive issues on their own, I’m just surprised how the name of a body of water a thousand miles away is what’s pulled some emotional trigger. Shooting the messenger, it seems, has become popular sport on both sides.
“I that do bring the news, made not the match.”
