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“If we had to have taken a vote at the Council meeting on this closure proposal, I think that it would’ve passed, in that the other states would’ve passed a closure off Florida,”
It's not the commercial fishing but rather the huge recreational fishing sectors in all the SA states that are the drivers and the squabblers over this.
And I am opening a can of worms here.......but......if individual and corporate economic good derived from the resource is what defines a "commercial" use of a resource, which is a correct definition from a economics perspective, then when it is all said and done, that $7.2 Billion represents a commercial use of the resource. It's a pure splitting of hairs when one says that the dollars derived from recreational fishing are not commercial dollars.
That said......and you'll not hear this......it is acceptable in a free democratic society to decide that one section of a people, one economic segment be allocated the use of a resource. That's a political decision we are free to make. And to decide that only those who can go catch their fish have the right to those fish, with all those unable or unwilling to do so but who have heretofore relied on "commercial fishermen" to do it for them.....that is a political choice that can be made.
If we decide as a free society that only those with the means to fish have a right to the fish we all own a portion of......so be it.
But let us at least be honest about what we are doing.
As to the question of commercial sale of legally harvested wild animals. Fur trapping continues in the US and there are plenty of Hunters For the Hungry examples out there, though no cash changes hands.
And I would note that the greatest correlation between the hunting and fishing areas is that the monetization of the hunting resource is more complete. Whether it be leases, or guides or canned hunts of one sort or another, and the mounting and the selling of all manner of gear.......the dollars are being made on the resource.
If it is decided that the monetization of our marine resources is to be along those same lines, as it already is for great portions of it ( bonefish, tarpon, sailfish......etc.......), then so be it.
But.....as we are highlighting differences.......crabs.......shrimp.....oysters......squid......sardines.........make those recreational only also?
And......as in a way we've slipped over into the verboten area of politics......is it really a good idea to have the totality of the food resources in the hands of corporate giants?
The regulated commercial fisheries we have for a great number of species adds not only jobs and economic value, but also diversifies our food production and supports many small businesses. Many of those small businesses serving also some portion of the recreational fishing industry.
Do we really want to kill them all?
The saddest part of it all is that here we are, squabbling over how we slice up the pie, and all the while those who do not really give the rear end of a rotten rat about the issue, and in truth, again using the instance at hand, view those of us who would make sure the resource is there for the next generation as impediments to their desires.
While we busily savage each other they happily fill another wetland, set another discharge pipe, build another bulkhead.......and.....one day we have nothing to squabble over.
It's a simple fact of life that once a man has called you names, disparaged your character, questioned your integrity, and discounted your long accumulated knowledge, or he has do so to you, it is very hard to come to agreements and middle ground.
It's why our politicians persist in painting the other side as some evil incarnate.......because it keeps the voters from straying.
Now I've drifted over into politics, but the decision to be made is a political one, one needing a lot of understanding and a bit of compromise all around.
You'll change more minds, and harden no hearts, if you'll note how osprey11 argues......even when he is wrong......which is a lot
This thing with Snapper defies all common sense. They are saying that an overpopulated species needs to be protected because recreational fishermen are killing too many via "Bycatch"?!?! Are you kidding me? This is brazenly corrupt.
No one in the state wants to talk to you when their pockets are being lined. I'm not interested in a middle ground. At this point, the money needs to be followed and people need to go to prison. That's what I'm interested in.
Your fish are being stolen.
As for electric reels in the SG complex? Is anyone really using electric reels inside the ledge? I don't read the potential closure as affecting sword or tile fishermen. Am I missing something?
Recreational fishing is already under enough pressure with the licensing and closures. I would be pretty pissed if they closed all bottom fishing around here. How would they police it? I caught a cobia. How do they know it wasn't while bottom fishing? Enforcement seems a little tricky there.
You only hear about the bad stories in the news. As mentioned before, everyone wants to save the resource and still be able to take some of it. Best if both sides find common ground.
“Everyone behaves badly--given the chance.”
― Ernest Hemingway
As for the decision being made about snapper. It’s terrible science. We knew folks that were taking the “scientists” out for counts. They wanted to be everywhere the snapper weren’t or where the snapper nurseries were.
when I can catch a 20+ lb snapper on a flat line in 90’ then there’s a problem.
That idiot @ #JohnRutherford said when we elected him he’d help deal with it and hasn't done a GD thing. POS like every other politician!
DESTROYING FISHERMEN AND THEIR COMMUNITIES SINCE 1976
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bswiv: You just summed it up. Let the naysayers go out and work for a day under the same conditions as commercials. As I stated earlier in this post - at the rate we are going - the only choice for fresh fish or seafood will be 1) previously frozen/poo fed (foreign-raised) Tilapia 2) foreign-raised/previously frozen "fresh fish" at Publix, or 3) "questionably sourced" (aka East Palatka or East Gainesvlle) roadside seafood sellers. Go Gata's.....