Wake Up Fisherman: You're About to Lose More Rights

There's a battle going on, and most recreational fisherman have no idea it exists until their rights get taken away. Louisiana Gulf Coast anglers raised eyebrows when the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Gulf Council imposed the strictest Red Snapper regulations in history on our plentiful resource. While many got upset about it, what they didn't realize was that more federal government restrictions were still to come.

Is the battle really about "how many fish there are in the sea?" That's what environmental groups like Pew (http://www.pewtrusts.org/our_work_category.aspx?id=126) would like the public to think, and that's the rational NMFS uses to impose strict regulations. Unfortunately, no, the battle is not about actual fish numbers. If it were, the agencies would be less inclined to make such broad judgments based on terribly flawed data.

I'm not going to get into all of the details and arguments that show why the data they use is biased and flawed, but the most striking example is that Red Snapper in Louisiana were never counted around the LA oil platforms - their primary habitat.

This is a battle of political interests with billion dollar environmentalist groups like Pew pushing their agenda using biased studies that back those agendas up. Go to their website. Sign up for their newsletters, and you will see the type of propaganda that they send out on a regular basis. The picture they portray is a grim one that predicts the extinction of all our favorite fish - doom and gloom in short order.

If you were an "average US citizen," reading their literature, not knowing that Louisiana has one of the most plentiful fish populations in the world, you would think that we were in dire straits based on the rhetoric these guys promote.

It's not just a Gulf of Mexico fight though - the South Atlantic and West Coasts are facing similar closures, with the West Coast being hit the hardest (http://www.wonews.com/t-UpdateReport_lebowitz_111609.aspx) - "no fishing zones" are being signed into law right now. Think it can't happen to us? Think again. This is a battle of epic proportions at the federal level. It doesn't matter if the State of Louisiana opposes the Feds or not because we only control the first 3 miles off our coast. Who fishes Amberjack and Red Snapper within 3 miles off our coast? No one, and now we can't fish them further out either.

When I first became a member of the NRA, I was amazed at the constant attacks on the second amendment and the amount of litigation that was necessary to preserve our right to bear arms. To me, given the way this country was founded, I couldn't believe there were that many people fighting on a regular basis to take away our right to bear arms.

Now I see the same thing happening to our fishing rights and it makes me sick. The worst part is, it's not about the fish at all, it's about money and politics. Pew (yes, it stinks) has a lot of money. NMFS, don't tread on me.

Write your congressman and any elected official you know. Tell them that you are opposed to ANY additional NMFS law restricting your rights to take fish recreationally. Ask them if they are going to support recreational fishing rights because the decision could affect your vote in the next election.