I was talking to a friend the other day, a 40 year fisherman, and we were shooting the breeze about the issues of the moment, catching up. Many of the issues are being discussed in wheelhouses, on the dock, in the bars, and hopefully being discussed doing gear work, which for many can be a social event all its own, depending on the crew. I asked, do you think fishermen are equal. You know like as in “all men are created equal”.

Dory men had a saying back in the day, “Share and share alike”, which to me sounds kinda like a proclamation of equality amongst the men. Certainly everyone knows their place in the hierarchy of the crew, meaning the skipper is the law, and respect amongst these fishermen is earned and paid to one another. For that one guy, the one we used to call the bad seed back in my old days, redemption is always but a gesture, or a good deed away.

I review articles looking for information that I hope are found interesting and informative. Obviously, all don’t make the cut, but I do see a lot of things that should be seen, and we do post them.

What I have noticed, leading up to the Magnuson Stevens Reauthorization is a huge number of letters to editors, editorials, press releases from the Chefs, the environmental groups, from some commercial fishermen, tweets from political parties and their positions on the HR-200, commonly referred to by many of these opinionates as “The Empty Oceans Act”.

For some reason, things start to drift apart as far as Fishermen being equal and that Dory man stuff, of days gone by.

When it comes to making a few tweaks to a law that is supposedly perfect according to these special interest groups that know damn well that it’s not working out for all fishermen, things start get contentious. HR-200 is divisive.

It shouldn’t be. There is no “one size fits all” in fishery management, and what works in Alaska, doesn’t work in other fisheries.

The benefits to East coast fisherme

 

Fishermen are always fighting something, and the battle is on to retain fishing grounds soon to be lost to ocean industrialization from offshore wind farms, ocean aquaculture that will be occupying space, and did I mention the wave motion machine test area off the coast of Oregon? They too will be occupying space that will be lost to fishermen, and in a perfect world, independent fishermen and special interest fishermen would unite and support each other to oppose this through one of those media blitzes with an informational campaign.

Thatsnot unreasonable, as I see comments made by special interest fishermen and independent fishermen in forum discussions that both oppose the hostile take over of industrial sprawl in the ocean. That is encouraging.

What is discouraging is this push by U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) to develop the aquaculture industry to its full potential, all the while ignoring, or at the very least being totally ignorant about what is actually happening in the fin fish aquaculture industry in Canada, and other parts of the world that is seeing a drive of sanity to get these feedlots into industrial parks, or in land based facilities with closed loop waste disposal, segregating medicated feeds and parasite treatment from wild fish.

AQUAA Act (Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture) This is a bi partisan supported bill. The Aquaculture industry is contacting your representatives to gain support, and looking at the names, you can count on them to not be in your corner. US politicians, the NOAA, and its push by the Commerce Department are a prime example of typical ocean issues with these people and their special interest lobbyists continue to operate behind the curve. I don’t see that changing, unless it is forced to change. For one of those groups, the election booth is a step towards change. Remember who do support you, and those that don’t. Perhaps they are unaware a Canadian fish farmer that is being chased from the waters of Washington State while the industry is on a slippery slope in British Columbia. Same in Atlantic Canada, where there are calls from many to remove them because of a long list of issues, including the affect on wild salmon, and bottom dwelling creatures. The evolution of this industry is upon them, and the future is not in the ocean. The future is land based with waste treatment.