Now I read today that NOAA, in all its wisdom, wants to put loggerhead turtles on the endangered species list. Now, that may not seem to be bad - in fact, protecting an endangered animal species is what we need top do. But - is this turtle really endangered? I see at least one loggerhead on every trip I make. In fact, we often purposely look for one, because they are generally diving over live bottom, and that means fish are down there.
During the recent cold weather in Florida, hundreds of turtles were rescued and saved from death to be released back into the ocean when the water warmed. I just don't see the problem in my experience.
The report talks about Japanese nesting areas for the northern Pacific loggerhead. Ok - go after the Japanese. I wonder why we always seem to have to be the saviors of the world. It's just like the whaling industry in Japan and the blue fin tuna fishery in Japan. World stocks are depleted, but they seem to not care. So - to cure the problem, we let them fish and shut down our own fisheries.
So why is the loggerhead an issue? Well just watch. Top protect these turtles, commercial fishermen will be shut down in certain areas. Beach fronts that are nesting areas will be closed to public access. Boat traffic will be eliminated in areas where loggerheads roam - it just goes on and on. And, if you think I am making this up, just look at the manatee restrictions put in place in Florida over the past several years.
I am sure to get emails blasting me for this - PETA, et al, always watch what I write and then blast me. But - someone has to make some rational sense out of all of this.
You must realize that you have not heard from PETA and the other environmental groups for quite a while. I said years ago that they were well funded and they were taking their fight to lobbyists to quietly change fishing regulations. They have latched onto and gotten the ear of the government now and things will be changing fast over the next few years. IT IS TIME TO STOP THIS MADNESS!
If you fish - and by reading this either you do or you are one of the many tree-huggers that are trying to stop fishing altogether - you need to get hold of your congressman's and senators' ears and tell them - ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
Comments
Hi Ron!
I recently subscribed to your salt water fishing articles, because I’m moving to the coast of Georgia, and I want to take up fishing again.
I’m right there with you about the environmental stuff. You see, I’m a real environmentalist. I believe that we need to protect our environment because it’s God’s gift to us and a legacy we can pass down to our children.
PETA, and the current Philistines in power, however, are not interested in protecting the environment as a legacy. They’re interested in using environmentalism as a way to destroy capitalism.
I would be happy to contact my various legislators about fishing, but right now although fundamentally it’s the same thing, we have a more important fight to win–healthcare.
You think not being able to fish will be bad. How about not being able to choose your doctor, have an operation because your too old, or have your taxes go to federally funded abortions?
After we stop healthcare, I’ll be more than happy to work on the fishing issue.
Great article! Keep them coming.
We’ve already heard from the people using the recent “old fashioned” winter here in the northeast as the basis for claiming that global warming is a fraud. While you may see loggerheads in your fishing trips, what were there numbers years ago, and what numbers are required for them to sustain as a species, in Florida or anywhere else? You might do well to look a little further into the fisheries research to get more answers before letting your gut take over.
does this realy suprise you that the government want to control every aspect of our lives, the government wants to run the world we are the world police we hand out money to other countrys and dont give a second thought to the americans that are supplying it this has to stopthis government is ours lets run it lets go fishing
The next 3 years are going to make or break our country. Obama and his Progressives are PETA. His Czars are Marxists, Communists, Socialists and far left nuts. They are taking away all our freedoms right in front of our eyes. You have to wake up all your friends and neighbors. If they don’t believe you, have them watch Glenn Beck for a week. The left is calling Beck crazy because they attack the person and not the issue because that is what the left does. If everyone wakes up we have a chance to save what is left of our country. If we’re lucky Obama will go down as the worst president ever, if we’re not we may have a dictator on our hands.
Hello Ron. I have been involved with fighting for the publics fishery rights for over two decades. All of this started rolling in 1980 has progresively worsened through several administrations. I think it is rediculous to blame the current administration for this present saga. At first they took baby steps taking away the fishery from “We the People”. Presently in this last decade the government fishery management folks have caused boat companies, tackle shops, many small businesses and industries surrounding this domestic industry to go out of business because of there rediculous regulations they administered. They don’t go about it in a fashion where you no and can see the reward for the sacrifice the pubic makes. They don’t use sound structure of sense in there regulations and rules. It appears it’s merely just to take it away from the public. Since 1980 the American economy was slowly destroyed dismantling manufactoring and industry laying off workers to make huge sums of money for wall street at the expense of our nation. Natural resources have been hard hit to help counter the trade inbalance. The demand for sea food world wide is great the supplies are limited. Taking tons away from the public allows them to sustain the commercial industry that is out of control to catch as much as possible to export and feed the domestic corporations as well. It is amazing how the public can’t keep certain size fish but the commercial can then sell that fish to you is legal sorta nuts. The battles in the fishery change from region to region because of the different species but it’s the same nasty rip off of the American public.
These idiots in Washington DC haven’t got a clue to the problem . Sport fishing isn’t the problem . Commercial fishing is the problem by over harvest . Sport fishermen take a small limit once , twice a year at most home to the family . Stop commercial sale of these fish in this country by commercial fishermen off this country or other countries . Take the boats , Captain and crews caught fishing in American waters or leaving American waters with fish . Jail and fine them all . If the crew fishes in American waters to a ship they signed on to they or just as guilty as the captain . When the fish come back , put limits ans seasons on all commercial fishing . If other countries refuse to do so let it be their stupidity not ours . By the way 500 miles and a larger coast guard would be great help .
Government rules or very destructive without study .
Look at what happen to California . Regan open the doors on Anchovy fishing wide open . the bait major food in the food chain for fish off the coast and inshore fish there . Bait went up , bait got smaller hard to find and population of the fish and size has gone down . Now before someone goes political on me , I hate what the democrat and republican parties have done , and doing to this country . I support independent voting on the issues not by party .
Bruce,
Thank you for fighting for fisherman’s rights. However, if you don’t think it’s this administations fault that is getting bad so fast you are greatly out of touch with reality. True it has been getting worse for decades a little at a time but now instead of talking about fishing on a fishing chat we are talking about losing our rights. Please do one thing for me. Google Cass Sunstein, please look him up. He is Obama’s Regulatory Czar. He’s overseeing these crazy things that are going on. Please read about him or one of his books and then if you can still say it isn’t this administration please tell me why. The bigger government gets the more opressive it becomes and healthcare is just the 1st step.
It is time we took a hand in all of this and treat the oceans more like a farming proposition. If a farmer wants to harvest then that farmer has to plan to plant seed or breed then cull off what is not needed to maintain the crop for next year. With all this wonderful marine research going on, we know the process and we do it with some species- Striped bass, trout, salmon etc. We need to do the same with all the species we want to harvest. A small boost in survival at the fry stage would be a major boost at the adult and reproductive stage. Setting up farms to produce fry for release funded by a small surcharge on licenses could quickly rebuild sea bass, flounder, sea trout and other species. Let’s take the future of our sport in hand!
John,
I wholeheartedly agree with you! But halting fishing altogether is not the answer – particularly when the science behind the closings is “iffy” at best. I fully support hatcheries of all kinds and reasonable limits – but it takes enforcement on the other end, and that’s where we are sadly lacking. If we all took a hand and reported violators – commercial and recreational – we would be better off in the long run. It only takes a few bad eggs – again commercial OR recreational – to really put a hurt on the fish stocks. I reported earlier this year on the commercial boat in Louisiana that brought in over 3000 pounds of red snapper – all out of season. They got caught, but how many more get away with this kind of stuff?
I agree with the foolishness of the fishing ban and the poor science that produced this data- It smacks of the same caliber as the so called Global Warming data, much of which was fabricated or manipulated to meet a specific end. All I am saying is that we need to ensure our future stocks of fish and that we have done this for some species and should do this for all the species that we want to maintain and harvest.