Fishing Industry Under Attack

A private environmental company seeks to abolish fishing at a popular Del Norte County spot.  It seems like ever day we hear about more rights and liberties being trumped in the name of "the environment".  Before we save the fish, frogs, ore other creatures of God, we must save mankind.  Man must eat and fishing is a simple and timeless way in which to do that.  In fact, man has been fishing for thousands of years!  As the Chinese proverb goes, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

Before you get your bait and tackle ready for the weekend, go to savecalfishing.org to learn how you can protect California fishing!

WHERE DID ALL THE FISH GO? (Part 2)

Across the U.S. each summer Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts take to lakes and streams to earn fishing related belt loops, pins, and merit badges. With the California Department of Fish and Game's new regulations on fisheries, a new problem emerges.  Scouts will no longer be able to earn the fishing awards, much less experience the solacement of fishing.

To make matters worse, PETA is calling on the Boy Scouts of America to retire its "Fishing" and "Fish and Wildlife Management" merit badges.  In a 2001 letter from PETA's Dawn Carr addressed to the Boy Scouts of America president Milton Ward, Carr says:

Fishing is no longer considered a benign activity. It is hunting in the water, and the idea of a scout armed with a gun or rod, setting out to actively attack animals who were minding their own business, is not in keeping with the image of scouting, now or in the past. Society is reevaluating its relationship with animals. We now realize that fish are sentient beings...

Clearly the fishery regulations being imposed by the Department of Fish & Game further PETA's agenda by infringing on what many consider to be a God-given right to fish.

The Mission of the Department of Fish and Game is to manage California's diverse fish, wildlife, and plant resources, and the habitats upon which they depend, for their ecological values and for their use and enjoyment by the public.

The Department has several programs that benefit the underprivileged and inner city youth that will be destroyed by the new regulations like the Urban Fishing Program. 

The Urban Fishing Program, which was started in 1993, serves Californians living in the Sacramento, San Francisco and Los Angeles metropolitan areas. The program's Fishing in the City Clinics gives city dwellers an opportunity to learn how to fish, and to fish close to home.

Ponds are stocked with trout in winter and catfish the rest of the year. Anglers 16 years of age and older need to have a fishing license except on Free Fishing Day.

By the Department's own admission, they cannot stock their own managed waters (http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fish/Hatcheries/FishPlanting/Evaluation.asp):

DFG recently responded to a legal action challenging its hatchery and stocking operations, and completed an Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) that considers species and habitats affected by hatchery-raised rainbow trout. One of the conditions of the EIR/EIS is that each water planted throughout California must go through a Pre-Stocking Evaluation Protocol. This evaluation requires DFG to consider each sensitive or listed species in each water relative to the stocking of trout. DFG fisheries staff have made the evaluations a top priority, but until the review is completed and approved by our administration, rainbow trout or channel catfish cannot be stocked.

With the new regulations, these city ponds and lakes will not be stocked; there will be nothing to catch and no need for a fishing license.  The result?  Children and adults will not benefit from the learned experience of fishing and the sensitivity that such experiences can bring.  In the end the only winner is PETA and their members' self-serving guilty-ridden conscience.  Perhaps with the decline in fishing we will see an increase in hunting.  One can only speculate.

WHERE DID ALL THE FISH GO?

A friend handed me an alarming flyer over the weekend.

After reading that I wondered if it was a real problem or just some angst from a few concerned sportsmen.  After a little homework and a few phone calls it looks like it is real - just like the paper says, "THIS IS NO JOKE!!"

I am sorting through a pile of documents trying to understand the situation better, but this flyer seems to say it best.  As of June 30, 2010, the Department of Fish & Game has reported more than 1.6 million fishing licenses issued with a revenue of $42.7 million.  That number will grow but likely not double before December 31.  With 1.6 million rods in California waters, how much "revenue" will California loose and how many jobs will move out of state? 

The Vendor Client relationship - in real world situations

$13,000,000 Credit Card Bill

Is it responsible city governance to invest 20 years of planning on the renovation of an athletic field and then breakout the tax payer's credit card (issue tax bonds) to pay for it all? 

The OC Register is reporting that today the City of Fullerton is "unveiling" the new and improved Lion's Field after a $13 million upgrade and rehab, complete with that nifty artificial turf that has been showing up in shopping centers and yards around town.  The turf will be the new playing surface for kids in Pop Warner football and Bobby Sox.  I'm not a big fan of artificial turf but I can appreciate some of its advantages like maintenance cost savings and water conservation.

I'm also not a big fan of tax bonds for athletic fields but I can appreciate a bond's usefulness under certain circumstances.  In my opinion, this athletic field, which is used by a select few, should not be paid for with the taxpayer's credit card, the bill for which our children will be burdened with.  I love working with kids, hence my continued involvement and support of Boy Scouts, which is privately funded; however, this facility is paid for with tax revenue which means that's another $13 million for something other than our infrastructural needs including public education and public safety.

I would rather see tax bonds issued to help recover from emergent and disastrous events, such as a major earthquake or tsunami.  Janet Morrissey wrote a good article for Time/CNN on the muni bond debacle which paints our City's current path towards filing Chapter 9.

"Since last July, 207 municipal issuers defaulted on bonds valued at $6 billion, and that number is expected to escalate..."

Our elected leaders should exercise better judgment when it comes to the indebtedness of our children.  I find it ironic that the same children on the Lion's Field this season will be the ones saddled with paying the debt of their youth sports, unless of course the kids get smart and move from Fullerton.