SWORDS!... life on the line...

[Conner]

FAIL!

hmmm wow, where to begin. I fish, and I know I'm just talking me here (and recreational at that), but I regularly practice catch and release. Thats all there is to it, and there are very specific words to describe someone who takes a group of people based upon what they do, how they look etc, and projects a opinon on all of them. The least of these words would be uneducated and or ignorant, the others are not so nice. Look up Bass Federation and FLW and find out about FISHERMEN promoting catch and release before you pipe up.

Let see, maybe the fact that I've worked for the government and spent 4 months working ON ACTUAL BOATS WITH ACTUAL FISHERMEN, and know most of the regulations dealing with commercial fishing, I have somewhat of an idea what I'm talking about. You however, being just a recreational fisherman, are much less likely to have the intimate knowledge of the actual business than I am, unless you've studied very deeply into the subject. Don't jump to conclusions when you have nothing to base them on.

This was not meant as a criticism of recreational, or even tournament fisherman, because most practice catch and release, and even if we kept every single fish we ever caught, we would never approach the impact of a single commercial fishing operation.

Before you go calling people uneducated and ignorant you might want to understand the subject matter.

I also disagree with the comment but not for those reasons. I think many commercial fisherman understand the need for substainable fishing because they know if they catch them all they won't have anything to fish for.

Having been out on the boats, I know quite a few of the commercial fisherman DO understand the need for sustainable fishing, and support most all measures and laws enacted to that effect. However, the laws currently in place do very little to limit commercial fishing. Therefore, even though they may believe in sustainable fishing, they're going to catch as many as possible because if they don't, they get outcompeted by other fisherman who will go farther than they will, and that directly takes money out of their pockets. Until there are laws that require ALL commercial fisherman to practice sustainable methods, there will be very very few who will practice it voluntarily, because it will negatively influence their living and income.

I'm not trying to come off all high and mighty, because I'm not. But I know something about the subject because I've seen it from an angle that average people never see. I've spent weeks at a time with fishing boats, talking to captains and crew, and I know what they, the government, and the fisheries are like.