The Coast Guard has launched ‘Operation Bubba Gump.' No, seriously

I used to make fun of Coasties, right up until I served with some on counter drug ops. They are bada## ! Then I watched them fly helos in Houston during Hurricane Harvey, threading through heavy winds, tornadoes, and flailing power lines. I have nothing but the utmost respect for the Coasties!

While the name of the operation makes you think it is a joke. Fisheries enforcement is tough, dirty, necessary work. And as we learned when TEDS (turtle exclusionary devices) were introduced, dangerous. We had shrimpers taking pot shots at us when we were enforcing the rule.

Catching square grouper or on-hiring a new crewman at sea are lucrative business.