Fish Out Of Water: The Quiet Assult On Fisherman’s Rights

 

It seems like it was just yesterday when a father and son could simply go out and fish for their own food. However, those days are becoming a thing of the past and with ever increasing legislation America’s sportsmen are in danger.

 

Legislation from both the state and federal are making fishing cost not worth the reward anymore. Fishermen in Louisiana say it is hardly worth spending the money to keep and maintain a boat, gas it up, then travel a few miles offshore only to be able to catch two red snapper. It would be one thing if the species were in such danger of eradication that it was necessary to limit private recreation. Though when the process by which these agencies come to their regulated number is closer examined, the need for the red tape doesn’t seem to stick.

 

According to local fisherman off Louisiana’s coast red snapper are in abundance around the numerous oil rigs in the Gulf.

Apparently when the regulators gather the data they are going far out into the Gulf where the red snapper are in little numbers. One speculation to why they would go out of their way to skew the numbers would be that oil rigs have become an amazing home for thriving red snapper populations. They just can’t give the fossil fuel industry a win.

 

They answer to this vast overreach of bureaucracy is to not sleep on your rights to fish, and to support the real science behind species population numbers whenever hearings are available. Do not let these regulators off the hook.