Mel's view on this one gets my vote too. There's much more at stake than the local's complaint that "urban elitists" want to keep their "playground". Supporting and sustaining the genetic diversity contributed by the wild fish is a crucial part in the well-being of the ecosystem. If the local people refuse to understand the nature of the abuse they're claiming as a right, then it's the responsibility of those "outsiders" to prevent the abuses.
The implications of killing off the native stock through neglect are not as obvious as pouring battery acid into the stream but the effects are just as devastating. And the continued presence of "standard-model" hatchery stock is not an adequate substitute. In the 90's, Maryland shut down the fishery for stripers due to how sparse the struggling population in the Chesapeake was. There was massive uproar and whining over this move, similar to the quotes in this article. After three to five years the stripers rebounded, and the population returned to health. Even the complainers are out there happily fishing again. It's better to protect the fish. We need to be caretakers, and not just "takers". Mark --- Mel Hocken <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > In B.C. it has been illegal to kill wild steelhead for years. As far as I > know there is not a single stream in B.C. that you can use a barbed hook that > contains wild steelhead. If some people don't think these measures are > necessary take a look at the Thompson River in B.C. It used to have a huge > run of very large steelhead. The numbers have dwindled so badly the ministry > in charge of fish stocks contemplated closing the river to fishing for > steelhead completely. I heard there were less than 200 fish return this year. > If the fish are gone the tourist dollars they generate will be gone with them > along with the cultural and heritage ties people have to them. We must do > what ever is necessary to protect all species of wild life from extinction. > Extinction is forever! > Mel > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Eric the Flytyer > Subject: [VFB] Fish-killing ban on wild steelheads sparks culture war in > Washington state > > > http://www.enn.com/news/2004-03-18/s_14142.asp ===== Mark Klemick ! GoFishGo ! [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - More reliable, more storage, less spam http://mail.yahoo.com
