Anglers On Attack

Fishing politics

Fishing-tackle and boat manufacturers have declared war on commercial fishing.

The two groups aim to eliminate commercial gill-netting and to win gamefish status for such species as striped bass so the fish could not be sold, just as wild ducks and other game animals may not be sold.

“There is a need for the (sport) fishing industry to get involved,” said Greg Metcalf, national sales manager for Smoker Baits Company. “It’s obvious what good management can do for the fisheries … (and) banning nets within three miles will help.”

“Going to war suggests urgency and willingness to devote serious energy and resources to win,” said Jeff Napier of the National Marine Manufacturers Association.

Commercial netters “took more than could be sustained, and they absolutely ran that resource into the ground,” he said.

Sport fishers are spreading word that that gill nets are indiscriminate killers of fish and mammals:

In Florida last year, sport-fishing interests won a constitutional amendment that bans gill nets.

In Western Washington, a group of salmon anglers has launched Initiative 640, which would ban some types of commercial fishing by all but tribal netters.

Napier and others have proposed increasing fishing licenses fees and using revenue to buy out commercial fishing boats, develop aquaculture and train commercial fishermen to do other jobs.

, DataTimes