Ted Williams
Ted Williams detests baseball, but is as obsessed with fish and fishing as was the “real” (or, as he much prefers, “late”) Ted Williams. “I know outdoor writers burn themselves out fast with bile and cheap booze,” he says, “but it’s somewhat discouraging when my readers meet me in person and still think I’m the frozen ballplayer.” The surviving Ted writes rare books. He also writes articles for low-paying national publications. His subject matter is exclusively fish and wildlife. He is a former information officer for the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.
Author Articles
Forever Chemicals in Fish: Don't Panic About Eating Freshwater Fish.
On January 17, 2023 the Environmental Working Group (EWG) circulated a release announcing its study of PFAS in freshwater fish from “across the United States.” EWG is a non-profit whose stated mission is “to use the power of public information to protect public health and the environment.” PFAS (polyfluoroalkyl substances) consist of at least...
Midas Mutants: A Case Study in How We Think Nature Needs Improvements
There are parallels between fish management and ungulate management. For example, the “beloose” project, is a cooperative venture between Maine and Canadian game managers resulting from hunter complaints about the dull coloration and diminishing size of moose in eastern North America. It involves lab fertilization of moose eggs with semen from Belgian...
Restoring Native Trout: We Haven't Taken it Far Enough
I’m a regular contributor to Hatch Magazine, one of my favorite outlets. And Chris Hunt—author of the recent Hatch piece “Have we taken our love for native trout too far?”—is one of my favorite outdoor writers. So it pains me to offer the following rebuttal or, perhaps more accurately, complaint about Hunt’s recent Hatch piece: “Have we taken...
Glyphosate Hysteria: Threat to Aquatic Ecosystems or Concocted Controversy
The fiction concocted by lawyers that the herbicide glyphosate (active ingredient in Roundup) is a carcinogenic, DDT-like scourge has created a funding bonanza for fringe activist outfits. Among these are the Environmental Working Group, EcoWatch, Greenpeace, Center for Biological Diversity, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, and, as of November 2023, the...
Killing Fish to Save Frogs
Shortly after World War II, California fish managers had a brainstorm: They loaded juvenile trout into airplanes and saturation-bombed naturally fishless lakes in the High Sierra Mountains of California. Some of the fish hit rocks and ice, but most hit water. Gorging on zooplankton, insects and two kinds of mountain yellow-legged frogs, the alien invaders...
