HOW MANY IS TOO MANY...........

[Ultralite]

Out here in California they're putting in place MPAs with no fishing reserves and that includes a ban on catch and release activities. The environmentals argue that it's all about the habitat. The fishermen say it's a turf grab. I say it's a failure of fisheries management due largely in part to our Department of Fish & Game, but also due in part to commercial fishing and to certain segments of our sportfishing INDUSTRY.

Out here in California we have sportboats (Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessels) or what you would call head boats. People buy a ticket for the day with the expectation of putting as much meat on board as they can, within the limits of course. The crews are incentivized to encourage such hauls (within legal limits of course) as they make most of their money off fileting the fish. The boats encourage such hauls as that maximizes passenger loads for the next trip. It's all very short sighted. Then when the fisheries are reported in decline, the enviros come in with proposed MPAs and closures. The sportboat operators and industry have circled the boats in a fight to preserve the status quo of their business, saying it's about saving jobs. The problem is that their business model is outdated. We hear them complaining that the closures will put them out of business. I think they need to look at themselves because they put themselves out of business.

No business model lasts forever. Change is painful, but it's a lot more painful when someone else is dictating that change for you, as opposed to you yourself making that change. One need to look no further than to newspapers as an industry who's business model is painfully under attack. So it is with fishing. We must either take the lead and make the changes ourselves, or risk being under continued attack from well endowed enviro groups. We fisherman argue that we're conservationist and I believe that a good portion of us are, but there's a healthy portion of us who aren't. They are the ones who show no self control when the fish are aplenty. We see that in the photos in this thread with the decks filled with dorado, much of it certain to go to waste. Yes it's not as much of an issue with the prolific breeding dorado, but it is when you're talking about slow growing rockfish. Us hook and line anglers can deplete such resources and we need to really take the lead and show that we can change our ways, or risk someone else doing it for us.

The industry is not leading the way in this; they are in preservation mode. There is a model out there and they need to look no further than the freshwater bass tournament model. Early on, BASS ran tournaments with 10 fish kill limits. Local communities soon started protesting as their local fisheries were ruined for a long while after a tournament came to town. Ray Scott realized that they could not grow the sport if they encouraged such resource extraction. So way back in the '70s they shifted to an all release format. Fast forward and BASS tournaments have million dollar purses and national television coverage on ESPN. The tackle industry for bass fishing is huge. It took one visionary individual to push for that change. On the saltwater we think the resource is endless, but it's not. It will take more than one individual to effect change. Unfortunately, our own industry is not stepping up to lead this change.

[Captain Michael Buffington]

Out here in California they're putting in place MPAs with no fishing reserves and that includes a ban on catch and release activities. The environmentals argue that it's all about the habitat. The fishermen say it's a turf grab. I say it's a failure of fisheries management due largely in part to our Department of Fish & Game, but also due in part to commercial fishing and to certain segments of our sportfishing INDUSTRY.

Out here in California we have sportboats (Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessels) or what you would call head boats. People buy a ticket for the day with the expectation of putting as much meat on board as they can, within the limits of course. The crews are incentivized to encourage such hauls (within legal limits of course) as they make most of their money off fileting the fish. The boats encourage such hauls as that maximizes passenger loads for the next trip. It's all very short sighted. Then when the fisheries are reported in decline, the enviros come in with proposed MPAs and closures. The sportboat operators and industry have circled the boats in a fight to preserve the status quo of their business, saying it's about saving jobs. The problem is that their business model is outdated. We hear them complaining that the closures will put them out of business. I think they need to look at themselves because they put themselves out of business.

No business model lasts forever. Change is painful, but it's a lot more painful when someone else is dictating that change for you, as opposed to you yourself making that change. One need to look no further than to newspapers as an industry who's business model is painfully under attack. So it is with fishing. We must either take the lead and make the changes ourselves, or risk being under continued attack from well endowed enviro groups. We fisherman argue that we're conservationist and I believe that a good portion of us are, but there's a healthy portion of us who aren't. They are the ones who show no self control when the fish are aplenty. We see that in the photos in this thread with the decks filled with dorado, much of it certain to go to waste. Yes it's not as much of an issue with the prolific breeding dorado, but it is when you're talking about slow growing rockfish. Us hook and line anglers can deplete such resources and we need to really take the lead and show that we can change our ways, or risk someone else doing it for us.

The industry is not leading the way in this; they are in preservation mode. There is a model out there and they need to look no further than the freshwater bass tournament model. Early on, BASS ran tournaments with 10 fish kill limits. Local communities soon started protesting as their local fisheries were ruined for a long while after a tournament came to town. Ray Scott realized that they could not grow the sport if they encouraged such resource extraction. So way back in the '70s they shifted to an all release format. Fast forward and BASS tournaments have million dollar purses and national television coverage on ESPN. The tackle industry for bass fishing is huge. It took one visionary individual to push for that change. On the saltwater we think the resource is endless, but it's not. It will take more than one individual to effect change. Unfortunately, our own industry is not stepping up to lead this change.

The major difference is the major difference. Ray Scott was not competing against the Japanese. Largemoth bass catch and release mortality is extremely low. Largemouth bass are managed on a state to state basis, not a head all the way up your ass nmfs way. Ray Scott was peddling a fish most every american has on their doorstep. Those are some big differences...

I'm going to catch my legal limit of tasty fish of lots of different species and I or a close friend or family member will eat every single steak(they are too big to fillet). I enjoy catching and eating fish...I also enjoy hunting. Close your eyes come october if seeing alot of legal does killed by legal sticks and string ignites the sleeping tree hugger in any of you

I think we should go by the limits that make sense(10 mahi per angler is sustainable)and fight the ones that don't(2 red snapper per...give me a f#@king break)

If you want to ***** about something...make it something worthwhile that might actually make a difference

Guess what?

Next Monday we are going to crush a limit of red snapper and then a limit of TURKEY SNAPPER They are TEN PER PERSON......That means if all goes to plan we will return with a LEGAL LIMIT of SEVENTY TWO SNAPPERS

I know it...I'm goin' to greenpeace hell

Mike

[Macka17]

Hi.

Don't know about you lot. But over here in Australia.We have access to a few fish too.

Generally. we practice catch and release with ALL the big breeders. No matter what they are.
There are limits on Most types of fish. Same as you.
But. Thankfully. A lot of us don't stick to them.

Charter boats I've been on have one Ice box. When it's full. Back to harbour.
Then you all share what's in it. Apart from individually tagged fish.

Samson\AJ's etc. Are ALL catch and release. Even some of the Marlin and Tuna\Sails.

and the gov't has a lot of "Green Zones" NO Fishing at all. moves them around every 5 yrs or so, to give those parts of reef a rest.

Confiscation of boat and gear is possible for multi offenders.

We all get a feed. Have some in freezers.

That Kill Kill Kill Mentality. went out with the cave men.

Put them back. So somebody else can have the pleasure. We fish, Mainly for Fun\Sport. call it what you will.
But if everybody kills everything on their hook. You WILL end up with no fish..

NONE of my hooks on any lure or rig. Has a barb on it. I grind them all off. As do a lot of others.

Think about it.. Forget just yourself...
You want your Grandkids. and their Grandkids to have a fish.???

Regards
Macka17

[Captain Michael Buffington]

Hi.

Don't know about you lot. But over here in Australia.We have access to a few fish too.

Generally. we practice catch and release with ALL the big breeders. No matter what they are.
There are limits on Most types of fish. Same as you.
But. Thankfully. A lot of us don't stick to them.

Charter boats I've been on have one Ice box. When it's full. Back to harbour.
Then you all share what's in it. Apart from individually tagged fish.

Samson\AJ's etc. Are ALL catch and release. Even some of the Marlin and Tuna\Sails.

and the gov't has a lot of "Green Zones" NO Fishing at all. moves them around every 5 yrs or so, to give those parts of reef a rest.

Confiscation of boat and gear is possible for multi offenders.

We all get a feed. Have some in freezers.

That Kill Kill Kill Mentality. went out with the cave men.

Put them back. So somebody else can have the pleasure. We fish, Mainly for Fun\Sport. call it what you will.
But if everybody kills everything on their hook. You WILL end up with no fish..

NONE of my hooks on any lure or rig. Has a barb on it. I grind them all off. As do a lot of others.

Think about it.. Forget just yourself...
You want your Grandkids. and their Grandkids to have a fish.???

Regards
Macka17

But you guys got your guns taken away from you correct? Your barbless hooks will be next...

Mike

[Captain Fred Archer]

I have been reluctant to get into this discussion. The polite discussion side is good, IMO. The insults and war and so on are things that I am uncomfortable with and usually avoid at all costs. But it kind of looks like things have toned down a lot on the war side and good discussions, points, and opinions are predominant, along with some good-natured ribbing, of course, which is fine with me. I enjoy it, in fact.

Roddy's post and several others about what is going on in different parts of the world inspired me to jump in. I think Roddy (believe it or not, Roddy actually "meets" my shark when she steals a potential tournament winning blue one from him), Captain Lenny Belcaro and a few others will agree that, while it is a wild, wild ride with a female mako shark from before she is actually born, until the end of the book, my novel "Grim Ripper" has an underlying message in it. It concerns the long view of the issue at hand concerning what we are discussing here - the state and dramatic deterioration of our fish stocks of all kinds the world over and the truly frightening fact that the world population is going to double in less than forty years and the impact that huge increase in hungry mankind is going to place on all oceanic resources, which, unless there is some sort of dramatic change, will result in what Ripper swims thru and flees, the place called, "The Sea of Tears".

I hope that everyone, including non-fishermen, reads Grim Ripper and comes away from that book both exhausted from Ripper's travels and adventures, but more importantly with a new and yes, frightening perspective on what is happening in our seas, who is doing it, and what the consequences are. I haven't posted this, but as Capt Lenny knows, there is a very good chance that Grim Ripper is going to become a major, digital (because it takes place almost 100% underwater as you accompany her throughout her life) motion picture by a major studio. They are interested because they believe that it will be a true blockbuster. That would mean that many people would live her story swimming alongside her and I will not allow, nor do the studio execs want the subliminal message to be lost.

My excitement over this doesn't have anything to do with money, which of course could and should be considerable. The odds are great that I won't be around when and if it comes and besides, truth be told, great sums of money are not important to me. All that I would do with it would be to try to enable me to continue to follow my heart and do what I love in life, roam my beloved seas and partake of their bounty for a little longer.

The major beneficiaries will be the Labs, believe it or not. The short version of this is that I owe a great debt of gratitude to one of their clan, my beloved and incredible Shadow Girl, who now sits at God's knee and who I truly believe watches over me to this day. I never would have completed Grim Ripper without her healing touch and the great love that buoyed me up and enabled me to keep writing for the years that it took to write this very large (over three hundred pages with only a bit of original art and no pictures in it) novel of the seas.

And so, 25% of the sales of Grim Ripper are dedicated and given to Lab Rescue in order to help save as many of her kind as possible. She never asked for anything other than my love from me, but I know that she would have wanted this and I further believe that she somehow told me that. This money will continue to go to help her clan after I am gone. It is a done deal and in the will and my business partners are cognizant of this and have fully agreed to keep it in place after I have rejoined Shadow girl.

And yes, that 25% thing applies to any and all profits from the movie if it goes down. Capt Lenny, who is heavily involved in the negotiations with the movie people, can confirm that this, indeed, is the way that it will be. So I hope that it does happen because it is a great adventure in and of itself, its not-so-subliminal message about our oceans and the animals that live in them's futures is brought home powerfully, but maybe most of all, my Shadow Girl will dancing and prancing for joy up at Rainbow Bridge because her Ripper, and she is as much our shark's mother as I was her father, will be saving huge numbers of doomed Labs. Those will be glory days and I pray that it happens.

Sorry for getting off on what probably looks like a tangent. If you read the book or are one of the ones who has, I'm certain that you have seen, or will see the power of the message as far as the oceans and the fish are concerned.

My initial objective in this post was not to take sides, but rather, to point something out that I have seen with my own two eyes as far as those "indestructible" dolphin populations are concerned. There was a time, and it wasn't very long ago, that what we called "dorado" were easily as abundant, and for a bunch of the year down in Cabo as what some are experiencing now in the southeast. And we, like many there, believed to our cores that nothing could ever affect those vast quantities of fast breeding and growing fish.

I actually shook my head and chuckled when I read of C's adventures and frustrations over endless numbers of "green hornets" annihilating bait after bait on him. Jeezum, as an aside, has anyone figured out how much bunches of dolphin cost them in ballyhoo expense alone versus using some of the great artificials that those same dolphins would hammer, but that you don't throw away, that don't get destroyed and tossed and replaced, one after the other, but that you put back in the water and keep catching fish with?! Man, it's a pile of coinage if you stop and do the math!

Anyhoo, as I read C's words and then the ones of those who have been catching piles of dorado up north, I remembered the old days in Cabo. God, those dorados were pia's! If you trolled armed lures, you simply could not get away from them, and although we caught most of ours on lures, not ballyhoo, we always had a pair of 'hoo on the long 'riggers that kept getting crushed and then tossed when "those damned dorados" jumped them.

It was then and there and mainly because of those hordes of dorado that we switched over to bait and switch fishing. We got rid of the armed lures and baits altogether and cured "the dorado flu" that had constantly plagued us. And not only that, but bait and switch fishing allowed us to catch only the very biggest bulls and not have to deal with or have dinks or even what most would consider good sized gaffers getting hooked up on our lures or baits.

And of course, the dorados were all over the place during blue and black marlin time and likewise were prime and popular fodder for the big girls. But oh, Lordy, did those damned dorados raise hell with our marlin lures, including the really big ones that I liked to troll. Sure, cranking them in on a 130 bent and two speed reel was no challenge whatsoever, but having to do it over and over again, with some of the bulls getting up to and even over sixty and seventy pounds got to be a huge pain and cut way into our productive marlin trolling time. The aforementioned bait and switch cured that, in spite of the huge numbers of fish.

To their credit, the Mexican authorities had limits on the number of dorado and most other gamefish right from the get-go. Most gringos were like us and abided by those limits, which were two dorado per person, but we thought that it was nuts to have a limit like that on fish like dorado. We were wrong.

The majority of the local guys - and they were the vast majority of the over two hundred boat charter flee - caught and killed every dorado that their parties caught and those were often mind boggling numbers. Again, none of us really cared about that because we considered those fish bullet proof as far as fishing them down was concerned and our clients, who were almost all tourists who couldn't take a pile of fish home anyway, couldn't even use say eight dorado that usually averaged at least thirty pounds each and many times much heavier anyway. Add in the tunas and often wahoos that went along with the dorados and we actually wound up releasing a lot of these meat fish simply because we could not sell them and about all that our customers were interested in was a bag or two of fillets to take back to their hotels or restaurants to have a couple of meals prepared. Other than some fish for my crew's families, it just made no sense to kill our limits most of the time.

Then came the longliners. And I knew what was going to happen. I told my crew and Mexican friends, fishermen all, that they were going to destroy everything, including the dorado. The had no knowledge of the devastating effectiveness of longlines. And of course, "nothing could hurt the dorado population because "estan mismo de cucharchas" ("they are the same as cockroaches.") And they were wrong.

The typical Mexican longline is a double edged sword; conventional deep lines are run off the floats for swordfish, sharks, and tunas. More floats than usual are employed and they are festooned with short leaders and circle hooks all around the floats. Dorado world wide are attracted to floaters like magnets and so huge numbers of them when they came in on those floats with all of those hooks.

Long story short, the Baja dorado population took an incredible and drastic nose dive. It has gotten so bad that some dorado tournaments and even marlin and tuna tournaments with dorado divisions wind up with zero of them caught, whereas in years past, many hundreds of them were taken.

And it gets progressively worse every year. I stay in touch with many old friends down south and regularly see their catch reports. If I didn't know better, I would say that it was not even the same place that I used to fish nearly every day and where myself and others often had to beat the damned dorado away with a stick. It is a terrible shame what has happened down there.

And proof positive that dorado or dolphin or mahi-mahi, or whatever you want to call them are not an inexhaustable resource...just as no other sea creature is. And this is going to get worse as that world population continues to surge.

I for one believe that we should do our parts in trying to alter the course that we are on and if that means self-imposed or other types of limits, I believe that they are very worthy of considering.

And I also believe that it is long past time for sportfishermen, including charter captains, to unite and finally put the boots to destructive and uncontrolled and wrongly regulated commercial fishing operations, once and for all. But I do not believe that we ever will.

And get this...I further believe that sport fishermen should be able to acquire licenses or permits to sell their catches under realistic and generous, well controlled limits.

I will wrap up this terrible long post with a quote from my "Bigeye Troller's Bible" book...(I apologize for the big print...I don't know how to reduce it here)

GOOD COMMERCIAL FISHING

THERE IS ONE SIDE OF COMMERCIAL FISHING THAT I NOT ONLY BELIEVE IN, BUT THAT I WISH WERE FAR MORE COMMON ACROSS-THE-BOARD. THAT FORM OF FISHING FOR MONEY IS WHAT I DID IN MY YOUTH - PIN HOOKING, OR WHAT MOST WOULD CALL COMMERCIAL ROD AND REEL FISHING. WHAT WOULD SOME OF THE ADVANTAGES BE IF IT WERE TO REPLACE INDUSTRIALIZED FISHING?

OUR FISHERIES WOULD NEVER BE THREATENED BY IT BECAUSE IT SIMPLY IS NOT EFFICIENT ENOUGH TO DO REAL DAMAGE TO FISH OR BAIT RESOURCES. THE DRASTICALLY REDUCED CATCH COMPARED TO INDUSTRIALIZED FISHING WOULD INCREASE THE RETURN TO THE ROD AND REEL ANGLER DRAMATICALLY, MAKING IT MORE VIABLE FOR MANY MORE FISHERMEN TO WORK AT LEAST PART TIME AT THAN ARE EMPLOYED BY ALL OF THE INDUSTRIAL FLEETS COMBINED. IN TODAY’S FINANCIAL CIRCUMSTANCES THAT IS MORE IMPORTANT THEN EVER BEFORE.

A LOT MORE VALUE TO SOCIETY

IT WOULD DO A FAR GREATER AMOUNT OF FINANCIAL GOOD FOR OUR SOCIETY BECAUSE A VASTLY GREATER NUMBER OF INDIVIDUAL FISHERMEN WOULD BE PARTICIPATING AND PUMPING THE PROFITS BACK INTO SOCIETY IN THE FORM OF PURCHASES AND TAXES THAN THE PROFITS PRODUCED BY THE HANDFUL OF SUPER WEALTHY CORPORATIONS, COUNTRIES AND INDIVIDUALS WHO OWN THE HUGE, INDUSTRIAL FLEETS. FAR GREATER MONEY WOULD BE PUMPED BACK INTO OUR ECONOMY BY AMERICAN PIN HOOKERS THAN INDUSTRIAL FISHING EVER HAS OR COULD EVER OFFER SOCIETY IN GENERAL – ESPECIALLY OURS. AND, HEY, THERE ISN’T A SINGLE TUNA CANNERY LEFT IN THE UNITED STATES! THE VAST, VAST MAJORITY OF THE MONEY GENERATED BY THOSE FISH IS GOBBLED UP BY PEOPLE WHO HATE US!

BETTER CONTROL OF RESOURCE LAWS

THAT LACK OF CONCENTRATED WEALTH WOULD BE FAR MORE CONTROLLABLE THAN INDUSTRIAL FISHING AS FAR AS PROTECTING FISHERIES IS CONCERNED BECAUSE OF THE HUGE DIFFERENCES IN THE INDIVIDUALLY SEPARATED MONETARY SCALE BETWEEN THE LARGE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS FISHING OUT OF LOCAL PORTS VERSUS THE HUGE, OFFSHORE NATION FISHERY DOMINATORS AND THEIR PARTNERS, THE CROOKED GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS LOOKING FOR POLITICAL OR FINANCIAL PAYOFFS, OR BOTH.

BETTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

IT WOULD BE MUCH KINDER TO THE ATMOSPHERE AND OVERALL ENVIRONMENT THAN THE SMOKE AND POLLUTION BELCHING, GIANT CATCHING AND PROCESSING SHIPS AND ANCIENT, POLLUTING HULKS OF MUCH OF THE INDUSTRIAL FLEETS. AGAIN, THIS WOULD BE BECAUSE OF THE EFFECTS OF GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS AND THEIR FAR MORE SUCCESSFUL ENFORCEMENT ON BOTH THE FAR GREATER NUMBER OF INDIVIDUAL PARTICIPANTS AND THE GREATER NUMBER OF ENGINE TYPES, ETC. FOR EXAMPLE, ROD AND REEL COMMERCIAL LICENSES COULD BE LIMITED TO THOSE RUNNING THE MOST EFFICIENT, CLEANEST ENGINE AND MOTOR TYPES. (WE ARE HEADED IN THAT DIRECTION ANYWAY, WHILE THE FOREIGN FLEETS SURELY AREN'T.)

BETTER FOR STRESSED FISHERIES

GIANT TUNAS, FOR INSTANCE. AND BIGEYE, SHARKS AND SWORDFISH TOO. ROD AND REEL COMMERCIAL FISHERMEN HAVE LITTLE EFFECT ON THE STEADILY DETERIORATING STATE OF THESE GRAND FISH AND THE DAMNED GOVERNMENT GROUPS THAT CONTROL THOSE PRECIOUS AND DEEPLY TROUBLED RESOURCES AND THAT GRANTS THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE ANNUAL CATCH TO A HANDFUL OF COMMERCIAL NETTERS. TURN THIS INTO A 100% ROD AND REEL COMMERCIAL FISHERY WITH TIGHT CONTROLS AND LIMITED-BUT-GENEROUS CATCHES PER ANGLER OR BOAT AND THE DEVASTATION COULD BE STOPPED THROUGH REGULATIONS AND PERMITTING AND A FAR BETTER MONITORING SYSTEM THAN THE FLAWED ONES APPLIED TO THE COMMERCIALS. AND ALL OF THE OTHER BENEFITS BEING LISTED HERE WOULD HAPPEN TOO.

TURNING THE TABLES ON OUR “TRADING PARTNERS”

IF WE DID WHAT I AM SUGGESTING HERE IT WOULD NOT ONLY HELP MANY AMERICAN FISHERMEN DIRECTLY, THE FLOW OF A GREAT DEAL OF FISH MONEY WOULD BE REVERSED AND THE JAPANESE AND CHINESE SUSHI LOVERS WOULD BE SENDING BIG BUCKS TO US, INSTEAD OF THE OTHER WAY AROUND. THAT REPRESENTS A BIG PILE OF TRADE BALANCE MONEY THAT WOULD HELP OUT OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND OUR OVERALL ECONOMY THAT IS IN SHAMBLES. OF COURSE, IT WOULD ALSO ALLOW US TO TAKE SHARK FIN SOUP OFF OF ASIAN MENUS AND GIVE THE SHARK POPULATIONS A CHANCE TO REBUILD. ALL GOOD, IF YOU ASK ME.

BETTER FOR AMERICANS, TOO – AND WE NEED THAT

IT WOULD ALLOW AMERICAN FISHERMEN AN INCOME EARNING ALTERNATIVE OR ADD-ON IN A WORLD AND ESPECIALLY IN A COUNTRY WHERE SUCH ALTERNATIVES HAVE BECOME FEW AND FAR BETWEEN AND WHERE FOREIGN NATIONS WITH NO INTEREST OR CARE ABOUT THIS COUNTRY’S RESOURCES ARE RULING US AND RAPING THOSE VERY SAME RESOURCES.

THERE IS MUCH MORE, BUT THAT SHOULD SUFFICE FOR OPENERS AND IT IS TIME TO CONSIDER THE MAJOR NEGATIVE THAT THIS WOULD CAUSE BESIDES THE OBVIOUS ONES TO THE OWNERS AND NATIONS THAT OWN THE RAPACIOUS AND IRRESPONSIBLE INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRIAL FLEETS AND GET ON WITH IT. LET’S SEE WHAT THE BLEEDING HEARTS HAVE TO SAY AND I HAVE TO SAY BACK...

“FEEDING THE WORLD”? SCREW THE WORLD!

A MUCH BALLYHOO’D ISSUE IS THE SUPPOSED RIGHT TO FISH AS FOOD BY SOCIETY IN GENERAL AND THE NEED TO KEEP ITS PRICES “DOWN” AND TO PROVIDE THE WORLD FOOD.

TO WHICH I SAY “BALONEY!”

FIRST AND FORMOST, MANKIND IN GENERAL HAS NO HISTORIC CLAIM ON FISH RESOURCES. TO CLAIM OTHERWISE IS TOTAL MALARKY. HISTORICALLY, THE PEOPLE WHO HAD ACCESS TO FISH AS FOOD EITHER LIVED WHERE THEY COULD CATCH IT THEMSELVES, OR LIVED NEAR ENOUGH TO THOSE WHO DID TO BE ABLE TO BUY IT. THIS WAS THE WAY IT WAS BEFORE THE MODERN METHODS OF FREEZING, CANNING AND REFRIGERATED STORAGE WERE AVAILABLE. AND THAT WAS ONLY VERY RECENTLY AS FAR AS HUMAN HISTORY IS CONCERNED. THERE IS NO HISTORIC OR GOD-GIVEN OR ANY OTHER RIGHT TO FISH RESOURCES BY ANYONE ELSE. TO SUGGEST OTHERWISE IS BUNK.

SECOND, AND PART AND PARCEL TO NUMBER ONE, SOCIETY HAS NO OBLIGATION WHATSOEVER TO SUPPLY LOW COST FISH TO THE MASSES, WHICH IS MERELY AN EXCUSE FOR THE BIGGEST, MOST EFFICIENT AND THE CHEAPEST, LOWEST QUALITY INDUSTRIAL FISHING OPERATIONS TO DOMINATE THE GATHERING OF THOSE RESOURCES AND THE MAKING OF HUGE PROFITS WHILE THEY MERRILY DESTROY OUR OCEANS WITH ZERO CONCERN FOR THE CONSEQUENCES TO ALL OF MANKIND.

ADDING TO, NOT MINIMIZING THE WORLD
POPULATION CRISIS THAT AFFECTS US ALL

AND FINALLY, IF SUPPLYING FISH FOOD TO THE BURGEONING AND UNCONTROLLED HUMAN BREEDERS IN THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES THAT ARE CHOKING THE ENTIRE WORLD’S NATURAL RESOURCES BY BREEDING LIKE RATS AND COCKROACHES IS SOME KIND OF OVERPOWERING MORAL OR PRACTICAL OBLIGATION BY THOSE RESPONSIBLE ENOUGH TO CONTROL THEIR OWN NATIONAL BIRTH RATES AND SUCH, THE END CAUSED BY ATTEMPTING TO FEED THOSE IRRESPONSIBLE, IGNORANT MASSES WILL SIMPLY DRAW THE WORLD’S END CLOSER AND WILL AFFECT ALL OF MANKIND. THAT MEANS YOU, YOUR CHILDREN AND MINE. I DRAW THE LINE THERE! AND I SAY, “SCREW THE MASSES!”

LIKE IT OR NOT, THAT’S WHERE I STAND

THOSE ARE BUT A FEW OF THE REASONS WHY I AM PROUD OF MY PAST AS A ROD AND REEL COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN AND WHY I CHAMPION THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AS MANY OF THEM AS CAN BE LURED INTO THIS RESPONSIBLE AND HIGHLY CONTROLLABLE, INDIVIDUALLY AND SOCIETALLY ENRICHING JOB AS POSSIBLE.

AS FOR THOSE USELESS DREGS OF MANKIND...

WHAT ABOUT THOSE UNCONTROLLED, BURGEONING MASSES OF UNEDUCATED, RESOURCE-GOBBLING, HYPER BREEDING, USELESS DREGS OF WORLD SOCIETY, SOME OF WHOM ONLY EXIST TO BE TERRORISTS WHO SLAUGHTER OUR MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN HEINOUS ACTS OF COWARDICE? TO HELL WITH THE MASSES, PERIOD. IF THEY AREN’T BROUGHT UNDER CONTROL, THEY ARE GOING TO WIND UP STRESSING OUR WONDERFUL PLANET TO THE EXTENT THAT IT CAN NO LONGER SUSTAIN ANY OF US AND MISTER, I HAVE NO MERCY ON THEM AND WHAT THEY WANT OR NEED TO EAT TO ALLOW OR HELP THEM TO DO THAT!

AND THOSE TERRORISTS WHO HAVE NO REGARD FOR THEIR OWN LIVES OR ANYONE ELSE’S? TO HELL WITH STARVING THOSE BASTARDS...I SAY, PUT A BOUNTY ON EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEIR HEADS AND THE HEADS OF THOSE WHO FINANCE THEM AND LET THOSE STARVING MASSES HUNT THEM DOWN, LOP OFF THEIR HEADS, AND TURN THEM IN FOR A BIG REWARD THAT WILL FEED THEM AND THEIR FAMILIES FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES. HOW’S THAT FOR A SOLUTION?

END OF STATEMENT AND MY POSITION ON COMMERCIAL FISHING AND MY PARTICIPATION IN IT. IF ANYONE DOESN’T LIKE IT, I SAY “TOUGH SHIT!”

And the end of this terribly long post. Thanks for hanging in with me, if you did.

[Ace1st]

FRED......
Its always a pleasure for you to chime in with your thoughts.