{"id":36395,"date":"2022-07-07T10:33:06","date_gmt":"2022-07-07T14:33:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=36395"},"modified":"2022-10-19T09:18:41","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T13:18:41","slug":"maryland-sport-fishing-achievement-awards-presented-for-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2022\/07\/07\/maryland-sport-fishing-achievement-awards-presented-for-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland Sport Fishing Achievement Awards Presented for 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

Third Annual Awards from Sport Fisheries Advisory Commission<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\"Photo

Captain Bruno M. Vasta (third from left) and family of the late James W. \u201cJim\u201d Gracie attend the Maryland Sport Fisheries Achievement Awards presentation in Annapolis. Maryland DNR photo<\/p><\/div>\n

The <\/span>Maryland Sport Fisheries Advisory Commission<\/span><\/a> and Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) are proud to announce Captain Bruno M. Vasta and the late James W. \u201cJim\u201d Gracie each as recipients of Maryland Sport Fisheries Achievement Awards for 2022.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Phot

Captain Bruno Vasta<\/p><\/div>\n

The <\/span>Maryland Sport Fisheries Achievement Award<\/span><\/a> was established by the commission to honor individuals who have provided sustained efforts in habitat management, conservation, education, research, or other meaningful contributions that benefit recreational fishing in Maryland.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Vasta, an accomplished federal civil servant, has served in various capacities with the Maryland Saltwater Sportfishing Association, including as its statewide president and Southern Maryland Chapter president. He also represented Maryland as a governor-appointed member of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout Vasta\u2019s diverse professional and volunteer positions, he has advocated for tougher laws to protect native fish species and bolster Chesapeake Bay restoration. Vasta led the charge for creating an artificial reef off Solomon\u2019s Island and developed lasting partnerships with local governments to establish fishing and aquatic education curriculum.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter decades of working for the fish and recreational fishermen, Captain Bruno is known and respected for all that he has done for fishing in the Chesapeake Bay,\u201d said Dr. Jerry Gaff, past president of Southern Maryland of the Maryland Saltwater Sportfishing Association. \u201cLike star entertainers who need only to use their first name \u2013 Cher, Madonna, and Prince \u2013 \u2018Captain Bruno\u2019 is a superstar name known all around the Chesapeake Bay.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Photo

Jim Gracie<\/p><\/div>\n

The commission also recognized Baltimore native Jim Gracie for his lifelong support of trout fishing and championing water quality and restoration. Gracie, a chemist by trade, used his expertise with both federal and state agencies to advocate for stream restoration and he was considered an expert on the Clean Water Act. <\/span><\/p>\n

Jim was a founding member of Maryland\u2019s chapter of Trout Unlimited and also served two terms as president of the national organization\u2019s board. Aside from Gracie\u2019s environmental policy work, he also pioneered Baltimore\u2019s City Catch program teaching Baltimore youth about fishing and aquatic education. Lastly, Jim was one of the longest serving members of the governor-appointed commission and had served as its chair. Gracie passed away in 2020.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJim never rested on his accomplishments,\u201d Commission member Jason \u201cJP\u201d Andrick said. \u201c\u2018Grit\u2019 is a good word to describe him.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gracie and Vasta will be honored in a presentation later in the year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The commission will begin <\/span>accepting nominations<\/span><\/a> Dec. 1, 2022 for the 2023 award, with a deadline of Jan. 31, 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Third Annual Awards from Sport Fisheries Advisory Commission The Maryland Sport Fisheries Advisory Commission and Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) are proud to announce Captain Bruno M. Vasta and the late James W. \u201cJim\u201d Gracie each as recipients of Maryland Sport Fisheries Achievement Awards for 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957,11],"tags":[5044,5256,5128],"class_list":["post-36395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","category-fisheries","tag-fishing","tag-maryland-sport-fisheries-achievement-award","tag-sport-fisheries-advisory-commission"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36395"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36395\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37353,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36395\/revisions\/37353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}