One Angler’s Voyage:
“After spending over 50 years on and around the water, I have realized that without strong fisheries laws and effective conservation measures, the future of salt water fishing, and America’s living marine resources, is dim. Yet conservation is given short shrift by national angling organizations and the angling press. I hope that this blog will incite, inform and inspire salt water fishermen to reclaim their traditional role as the leading advocates for the conservation of America’s fisheries.” Charles Witek
Thursday, February 6, 2014 / MAGNUSON REAUTHORIZATION: THE “END OF DAYS” FOR MARINE CONSERVATION?
By Charles Witek
[dropcap]O[/dropcap]ne of the advantages of having an undergrad degree in English is that, after reading a lot of great literature, you notice when life imitates art.
For the past few years, as I watched the debate on Magnuson Act reauthorization begin to take shape, I kept being reminded of William Butler Yeats’s poem, “The Second Coming.” And I kept thinking that the political process shouldn’t resemble an apocalyptic vision . . .
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
If you are an angler concerned with the future of America’s fisheries, perhaps someone who is pleased with the Magnuson-inspired recovery of summer flounder, scup and black sea bass stocks, you probably appreciate the need for strong federal fisheries laws. But the largest recreational fishing organizations disagree. Working with their partners in the fishing and boatbuilding industries, they are determined to weaken the conservation provisions of the Magnuson Act. They are even trying to take away federal managers’ authority over some species, and grant such authority to the states. They take no heed of your concerns.
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
In 1996, when the Sustainable Fisheries Act was signed into law, and again in 2006, when the Magnuson Act was last reauthorized, representatives of the recreational fishing community worked with Congress to enact laws needed to rebuild and conserve fish populations. Despite strong industry opposition and continual, rabid attacks from the anglers’ rights crowd, they stood strong, and helped to forge legislation that was good for fish and fishermen alike.
To read complete blog – click here ONE ANGLER’S VOYAGE
