quote:Originally posted by reelfast
FA, your take on this is very limited in scope. if, in fact, you are subsistence fishing and that is your stance, well more power to you. 'taking what you need' is a traditional way of fishing and i don't suspect anyone posting here is taking issue with your actions.
that is, however, not the native american fishery i see in action. i see bank to bank net sets 7 days/wk. i see the tide ebbing and fish high and dry, rotting, on the gravel bars. i see wild fish being sold commercially into more than willing markets. this is the native american fishery i deplore and rail against. it the chase for the dollar, not subsistence fishing, which is contributing to the decline of our fisheries.
and, of course, this applies with equal weight to the non-indian commercial fisheries as well. but even so, these folks are far more regulated than the native american fisheries. FA, best you look around at what is actually happening each and every day of the year.
treating all commercial fishing with equal sets of rules and regulations, no matter your lineage, is the one and only way to attack this part of the problem. your heritage may give you a 'right' to subsistence fish, it does not, IMHO, give you or any one else the right to pillage a declining resource.
as far as guides go, i have also seen the boat loads of fish being brought back. of course without blood on the deck, the guiding fleet worries that their customer base will evaporate. so kill, kill, kill till the sun goes down.
the commerical guides i use refuse to kill ANY wild fish, period. they will tell you that upfront and enforce the release of any wild fish that are brought in, their businesses thrive. people are becoming aware of the dangers with extraction industries and the fact that you can't simply keep extracting without paying the piper.
any commercial charter i would choose to use will be asked, up front, their policy on wild fishes. if they are not released, i won't book with them.
sport fishepersons also bear a large part of the load. just how many salmon/bottom fish/halibut can a person 'use' in a years time? its an interesting question for each of us to address and deal with. more often than not, i find myself thinking about whats in the freezer and whether to simply cut that fish i caught loose.
no one sector of the fishing community is immune from criticism or eventual restrictions. it really comes down to what are EACH of us doing or willing to give up on to insure the continued existence of fish stocks.
happy holidays to all of you.