Talk to your representatives about fish habitat!
I know that this suggestion may be a bit like “preaching to the choir” for a lot of folks here, but I still think that we could use a lot more anglers making their voices heard. Complaining here about poor water management (for example) won’t do us any good in terms of changing things for the better. Unfortunately, many of our elected officials are not hearing from us enough and have largely marginalized our concerns. We need to change that. I contact my elected officials regularly with written and verbal communication regarding issues pertaining to the health of our fisheries, and recently got a response that I thought I’d share. I thought to share this as I think it highlights a fairly pervasive attitude that is common among many of our representatives:
Thank you for contacting me about regulation of fisheries. I appreciate hearing from you.
I understand the importance of expanding our fisheries and preserving the ecosystems they support. The depletion of fish stocks has historically caused serious economic harm to California.
Domestic fishing is regulated by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. This law acknowledges the importance of preserving fisheries, the dangers posed by overfishing and the necessity to govern the industry while staying mindful of the needs of commercial fishermen. The Magnuson-Stevens act seeks to prevent overfishing, to allow overfished stocks to recover; and to conserve and manage fishery resources.
Low fish populations can cause serious economic harm as the result of Endangered Species Act lawsuits. I would like to see more fish hatcheries to address the problem of overfishing or depletion. We have to tools to stimulate fish population growth, and rather than restricting water flows to meet our agricultural needs, we should invest in more fish hatcheries.
This was from district 4 congressman Tom McClintock. The last paragraph kind of says it all as far as how his views on the value of our fisheries. Essentially: “we don’t need habitat or water, just add more hatcheries”. If this concerns you, let him know!
JB
"Lord help me to be the person my dog thinks I am"
- unknown
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