From Patagonia:
There’s nothing on earth like connecting with a wild fish. Chasing that feeling—and those fish—keeps us inspired, inspires our gear and brings us together. It’s why we support and celebrate the tireless anglers and groups fighting to protect the wild fish and clean water we love.
Over the last five years, we’ve donated more than $6 million to groups defending wild fish and clean water. We’ll continue to support and celebrate the boots-on-the-ground heroes working on river cleanups, defending access, doing the science and acting as a first-line defense against polluters. We’ll pull together with the advocates — brave souls willing to sit through board meetings, endure negotiations and design for a future that includes wild fish and clean water. Our donations — whether in dollars, gear or sweat — make their jobs easier. Meanwhile, our editorial work will continue to shine a light on their efforts.
We’ll keep showing up for our community. We’re planning more opportunities that bring us together. Look for more wader repair events, films, readings and river cleanups.
We’re also bolstering our efforts to oppose three of the biggest enemies of an abundant, fishable future — dams, net pens and hatchery programs. We’re focused on spreading the truth about methane-spewing, salmon-killing dams. On the Elwha — and now the Klamath River — we’re seeing what community-led activism can accomplish. When dams come down, we bring back our fish, unite communities and repair our climate. Now it’s time to apply what we’ve learned to the four deadbeat dams on the Lower Snake River.
We’ll continue to fight against outdated, expensive, dysfunctional hatcheries — a band-aid solution to an urgent problem. Hatchery fish compete against wild fish, weaken gene pools and are recklessly inefficient. The five billion hatchery fish released every year haven’t stopped the decline of salmon. They’ve made the problem worse.
Our actions against the pollution factories known as open net-pen salmon farms persists because they are a disaster for migrating wild fish, infecting them with lice and disease while producing a product that’s drugged, diseased and dyed pink.
Advocating for access remains a priority because it ensures river protection and aids the democratization of our sport. It teams with our efforts to facilitate inclusion because we believe in equity, justice and community. We’re dedicated to creating paths for all to join us on the water.
If we’ve learned anything after more than four decades building fly fishing equipment, it’s that the gear we produce, the sport we love and our fly fishing community are all deeply connected. Protecting those connections makes our work matter.
Learn more at: https://www.patagonia.com/fly-fishing/
