January 31, 2005
1/31 - A Film About the "not monsterously polarized" Issue of Marine Reserves in Oregon ...
There's a new half hour film about marine reserves in Oregon titled, "Oregon Ocean: Common Ground." A review of the film says:
The issue is one of the most controversial in the Northwest yet, unlike the region's timber wars, it is not a monstrously polarized one.
Not "monstrously polarized"? Gee, that's nice. The writer must be talking about a different fishing community than the six fishermen's website I've spent time on in the past month.
Marine Reserves: An issue that's "not monstrously polarized"?
Posted by Randy Olson at January 31, 2005 10:52 AMMPA’s won’t go away. In the Feb. issue of “Florida Sportsman” the editorial writer once again calls for a law that allows Rec. anglers to fish anywhere they want. Because, as is often stated, Rec. anglers practice catch and release and therefore do no harm to the stock. Published data show an average mortality between 10 and 15 percent.
The real issue with MPA’s seems to be the loss of a favorite “catching” spot. And if catching wasn’t the criteria then one has to ask, how could anyone be opposed to the setting aside of approximately four thousandths of a percent of the coastal waters of Florida (less than 200 square miles of the approximate 45,000 square miles) for MPA’s?
The real issue is that MPAs are put in place based on scientific evidence which is non-existent or fabricated.
People behind MPAs specifically target areas reachable by recreational fishermen. These areas may be small, but they are important in terms of accessibility to average fishermen, i.e. not commercial fisherman or people with large expensive boats.
Posted by: Wayne Locke at February 16, 2005 06:37 PM