Our Approach to Conservation

Humans have a long history of destroying the things that they don’t actively enjoy and therefore care about. It’s a known fact in conservation circles that humans need to be exposed to something to want to preserve it. Throughout history, the biggest strides in conservation efforts have happened because an influential person loved a particular aspect of the outdoors. Stephen Mather, credited with founding the National Parks, was a wealthy businessman that loved to hike. Teddy Roosevelt loved to hunt. Tom Yawkey, a previous owner of the Red Sox, loved to duck hunt and in his will turned the land that he used for his gun club into a wildlife preserve of over 20,000 acres just south of Myrtle Beach.

We like to say “Enjoy it, don’t destroy it”. This phrase can be applied to any natural resource but for us here at Rebel Salt, it is the fishes and sharks of the sea. Responsible recreation can be a very powerful driving force behind conservation efforts. Similar to an aquarium, our goal is to responsibly expose people to the creatures of the sea in a manner that is enjoyable for the human and safe for the animal.

There are many ways to enjoy the beach and ocean and sometimes we may not realize the impact of the ways in which we do so. For example: for every 1 pound of shrimp caught, 4 pounds of other fish species, including sharks, are caught and discarded as dead. Also, beach renourishment projects that protect beach front houses and make the beaches stable and walkable can actually be bad for the environment. There are ways to eat sea food responsibly, there are ways to enjoy and maintain our beaches responsibly just as there are ways to fish in the ocean in a responsible and sustainable way.

There are many examples of the positive impact of responsible recreational angling. Our hope is that if enough people are exposed to, enjoy and fall in love with the fishes and sharks of the sea, there will be enough desire to protect them for the long term. It only takes one person with enough desire to make a big stride in coastal conservation and it could end up being a kid that fell in love with sharks because he came fishing with us.