Politics Keeps Us Off the Water

What the heck is this?

It's a red snapper caught by the people who operate Apex Fishing Charters in Louisiana.

That thing behind the lady with the fish? An oil rig.

The feds --- the thoughtful nameless men and women who are protecting these beautiful fish by keeping us off the water 99 percent  of the year --- are also blowing up three of them a week. And killing 30,000 pounds of snapper every week.

Read The Politics of Red Snapper at The Online Fisherman to learn more.

Fishing Community Loses One of Its Best in Plane Crash

Jose Wejebe (right) helps build house in Dominican Republic.

Best known for his fishing program “Spanish Fly,” Jose Wejebe died Friday afternoon in a plane crash at an Everglades City airstrip.

He was a charming, affable guy --- as well as a great fisherman --- and he will be missed, as will his insights, knowledge, and generosity.

Read a news account of the tragedy here.

Also check out Garry Poyssick’s tribute to Wejebe at The Online Fisherman.

Poyssick says this:

“It was a true honor to know the guy. He was --- like a hero of mine named Captain David M. Rieumont --- deeply involved in the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Consider sending Make-A-Wish a few bucks tonight in memory of our fishing friend. Farewell, Jose. I'll see you on the water one of these days, my friend.”

Have Some Outdoor Media Been Compromised by Preservationist Agenda?

Are the outdoor media a friend to anglers? Maybe not so much anymore, according to an article at The Online Fisherman. It's entitled "The NY Times, Teddy Roosevelt, and a Big Wooden Fish Named Pew."

The article suggests that today’s fishing publications might be the aquatic equivalent of a Trojan horse ---- a wooden fish, in other words.

Here’s an excerpt:

“In the past few years, attentive hunters and anglers alike have noticed a pretty subtle shift within their favorite ‘hook & bullet’ magazines, with significantly less blood, fewer guts, and a general movement towards the preaching of ethical sporting (with heavy emphasis on ‘catch and release’ angling).

“Now personally, I would never criticize a policy of conservation, but the pressure which has been heaped on our angling public in recent years is more in line with the belief of preservation over conservation.

“Over-arching support for blanket marine reserves, privatization schemes like catch shares, and reduction in effort and harvest by recreational fishermen, which are openly promoted by groups like Environmental Defense Fund and Pew Environment Group, has led to angler anger and frustration at the docks. In the corporate boardroom however, it’s been a different story.

“About two years ago, pricey full-page color advertisements for Pew Environment Group began appearing regularly on the pages of Bonnier Corporation saltwater fishing magazines, including former competitors Salt Water Sportsman, Sport Fishing and Marlin.” 

Assault on Recreational Fishing Continues from Environmental Left

Check out this great article at The Online Fisherman.

I don’t know how recently it was written, but the important message still is current: Recreational fishing is under assault from those on the environmental left, through all kinds of schemes, strategies, organizations, and government agencies, including Catch Shares, marine protected areas, the National Ocean Council, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Pew Environmental Trust, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

As the manager of federal fisheries, NOAA is populated by big-government bureaucrats who want to limit participation and set up a system for selling fish, not saving them.

The article contains a couple of minor errors, not the fault of The Online Fisherman. The president of the American Sportfishing Association is Mike Nussman, not “Nussbaum.” And the website that concerned anglers should visit is Keep America Fishing, not Freedom to Fish.