Trout Bums on the Web

On September 24th, Senators Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Christopher Bond (R-MO), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), and George Voinovich (R-OH), introduced the National Fish Habitat Conservation Act of 2008, a comprehensive strategy to allocate conservation dollars for effective restoration of our national waterways.

Commentary from Senator Joe Lieberman:
“The National Fish Habitat Conservation Act, which I introduced today along with Senators Bond, Clinton, and Voinovich, will revolutionize how the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approaches fish habitat conservation.   With 40 percent of our fish populations in decline and half of our waters impaired, the current fragmented approach to fish habitat protection and preservation has clearly not worked.  This bill encourages collaborative regional conservation efforts that bring together federal government agencies, state and local governments, conservation groups, fishing industry groups, and businesses.  I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress to enact this critical legislation to help restore fishstocks across the country.”

For More information http://fishhabitat.org

Proposal 2-XA Video

Although this does not directly affect us here in the Sierra’s, I feel that as fishermen, we all feel the pain when something like this happens. Just imagine if your favorite fishery was taken away.

Life for the salt water fishermen who fishes off the coast of central California may change in the near future. The CA DFG, heavily influenced by several large environmental groups is considering a massive closure of off-shore fishing to boats, consumptive divers and people fishing from kayaks. Proposal 4, if passed, will have a tremendous impact on sport fishing in California.

Two groups of concerned fishermen have banded together to create an alternative proposal called Proposal 2-XA. At the forefront of 2-XA are the members of Coastside Fishing Club and the members of Keep America Fishing. These members propose that 2-XA offers the best balance between recreation and conservation. One member is quoted as saying:

As a group, we believe that conservation of our natural resources is key. As consumptive users, it is in our best interest to conserve resources. Of course, the scientists that sit in cubicles and Ivory towers truly want to study nature as if she has never been impacted by humans. Since we are on this planet, then that is impossible.

If proposal 4 is passed “as-is”, that could set a dangerous precedent in the state of CA. Who knows which watershed will be in the cross-hairs next.  With a strong precedent set, it will only become easier to take away your fishing privileges. Shutting down fishing in the name of conservation could become an epidemic. Is this a case of environmentalism gone wild?