Anti-Fishing Advocates Launch Another Assault in California

Here comes another yet another assault on fisheries in California, where preservationists already are using the Marine Life Protection Act to close coastal waters to recreational fishing.

This time it’s Assembly Bill 1299, intended to further restrict harvest of California’s pelagic forage species, most notably sardines and squid.

An opinion piece in The Daily Triplicate points that that the legislation wouldn’t protect such species because they range far beyond California state waters, which extend only three miles from shore.

It also points out that “the majority of California’s fishing community --- municipalities, harbor districts, recreational and commercial fishing groups, seafood companies and knowledgeable fishery scientists --- oppose AB 1299, seeing it as a disingenuous attempt to curtail sustainable fisheries unnecessarily.”

And it says, “The National Marine Fisheries Service voiced concern about the bill’s redundancy and overlap with federal management, pointing out that it could actually impede ecosystem-based management.”

Such revelations should come as no surprise. These are zealots on a mission and that mission is to stop as many people from fishing --- both recreationally and commercially --- as possible and to turn the public resources of the ocean into a privately owned and big-government managed commodity.

With the Environmental Defense Fund at the forefront, these are ideologically driven people with deep pockets, thanks to funding from the Walton Family Foundation, Pew, and others.

They’re not going to stop unless we stop them.

Prime Salmon Fisheries Restored in Alaska

An important salmon river and one of its tributaries in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest have been restored to their near-original condition. They were degraded for decades for clear-cutting that caused erosion and blocked fish passage.

“The Harris River and Fubar Creek restoration is a model for the type of work we need to see more of on the Tongass National Forest. Projects such as these create local jobs, involve residents in collaborative resource management, and improve fish habitat for anglers, commercial fishermen and subsistence folks alike,” said Tim Bristol, director of Trout Unlimited, Alaska Program.  See the full story here. 

The Tongass produces approximately 70 percent of all salmon harvested from national forests, roughly 28 percent of Alaska’s overall salmon catch and about 30 percent of the salmon caught on the West Coast of the United States.

Pearl River Fishery Decimated by Paper Mill Discharge

A catastrophic fish kill occurred earlier this month along the Pearl River in Louisiana. A discharge of “black liquor” from the Bogalusa Paperboard Mill during a plant malfunction is believed to be the cause.

NOLA.com reports that the paper mill has been put on notice that it is liable for the kill, with fines and penalties likely to follow.

"The water's black, black as paint, dead fish floating everywhere, it's unreal," someone who lives near the river told WWL TV.

"I run three nets this morning, took 'em up, they had at least 200-250 pounds of dead fish per net, no live ones at all," said Freddy Lawrence, a longtime Washington Parish fisherman.

The Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper, meanwhile, said this:

The natural resource damages from this incident are huge. We were over 30 miles as the crow flies from the outfall of the paper mill and we were seeing utter devastation to the aquatic organisms.

The magnitude of the incident and the sensitive area in which it occurred calls for a rigorous investigation into the kinds and amounts of toxic materials released, the species and numbers of organisms killed and all potential impacts that this event will have on the ecosystem and the animal and human communities that exist there.

Check out the LMR’s photo coverage of the disaster here.

Why We Fish: It's Magic

We know why we fish.

It connects us to nature. It relaxes us. It allows us to spend quality time with friends and family.

Sometimes, it’s an adventure, a competitive challenge, or a way to put food on the table.

When children are with us, it also can be about chasing frogs, poking crawdads, watching meteor showers, and toasting marshmallows.

Yes, we know why we fish. But we also take it for granted, and tend to forget about the magic.

Every year, my friend Gene Gilliland, members of the North Oklahoma City Bassmasters, and a host of other volunteers take children from Camp Cavett fishing. These are kids with life-threatening and/or chronic illnesses.

The mother of one of those children once told Gene and other volunteers that, after camp the previous year, all her son talked about was fishing and riding in the bass boats.

 “She went on and on about how he talked about catching sand bass and perch and going fast in the boat,” Gene says. “He talked and talked about it.....right up to the day he died from cancer. 

“The story grabbed at our hearts.  But the mother assured us that what we had done that day at the lake made a difference in those kids' lives.  That's what keeps us coming back, year after year.”

That’s also why we fish.

(For more Why We Fish entries, click on the WWF tag below this post. Also, Camp Cavett always needs more volunteers. Remember that in 2012.)

Park Service Wants No-Fishing Zone in Biscayne Bay

If you fish Florida’s Biscayne Bay, it’s time for you to become an activist.

Why? How about a proposal by the National Park Service to create a 16-square-mile no-fishing zone within the park? Five alternatives have been created for management, but the alternative preferred by NPS contains the no-fishing area.

Read the full story here at the Miami Herald, and make note of the public meetings scheduled for September.

I can’t speak authoritatively about the bay and how it should be managed.  But I can say that the NPS appears to be no friend to fishermen, as evidenced by its unjustified closure of extensive areas of the seashore to off-road vehicle access at Cape Hatteras, world famous for its surf fishing.

And I can say that creation of a no-fishing zone in Biscayne Bay would be one more important victory for the big-government preservationists in this administration and their allies in environmental groups. All are on a full-court press to blanket our coastal waters and oceans in “marine protected areas,” which is just another way of saying “no recreational fishing allowed.”

I also would question the wisdom of reducing access and thereby intensifying pressure on another portion of the resource. And I would ask what is being done to deal with the real threats to the resource --- polluted runoff and commercial shrimping, which scrapes the bottom and destroys habitat.