From Ron Brooks,
Your Guide to Saltwater Fishing.
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I know that most of you reading this are recreational anglers. But, I also get regular mail and questions or comments from commercial fishermen, so I know there is a mixture of fishermen out there reading this.

The debate, and in some cases downright fighting between sport anglers and commercial fishermen goes back as far as I can remember. In Key West, I was on several boats as a kid with my dad where the boat owner would pull a few crawfish traps to get “a few tails for supper.” I didn’t know any better then, and it was explained to me that the commercial fishermen sort of expected us to take a few, so it was obviously a good thing to do.

As I grew older and realized that anglers pulling traps were being shot at and sometime hit by the crawfish trap owners, I was appalled at how mean those commercial fishermen could be! I thought the deal was, we could take “a few tails for supper”!

That was fifty years ago, and today the still battle rages between the recreational angler and the commercial fishermen. Only, now the battle is not so much about pulling traps, as it is about the “fairness” of the laws. Each side in the debate feels like the other side has an unfair advantage.

Most commercial fishermen come from a long family history of fishing. Their fathers were commercial fishermen, and their fathers before them, and their fathers before them. They marry into other commercial fishing families who have the same pedigree of sorts. With these folks, it is not just work, it is a life, a life style and a heritage. It is what they do.

When laws are passed or regulations are set that affect their work, it directly affects their entire family. Emotions grow quickly when an entire family is involved. They grow even quicker when an entire heritage is involved.

On the recreational side, emotions can change, but for a very different reason. When regulations are set that seem to favor the commercial interests, an uproar can be heard from the sportsmen. Words like “unfair”, “biased”, or “paid-off” are heard in abundance. Over the years commercial interests have come together and organized themselves with powerful state and federal lobbies. Recreational anglers have done the same in organizations such as the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) with chapters in every coastal state and other watchdog groups.