Recent events indicate that it is time that anglers get involved in protecting their fishing rights.

Currently there is a huge push to put reserves into marine fishing waters. At the same time there is a big push to rebuild rivers into the natural waterways with pressure to tear down dams and bring an end to introduced fisheries such as largemouth bass and striped bass.

The Department of Fish and Game, now controlled by environmental interests, appear to be working in collaboration with some of the most objectionable commercial fishing interests to further their plans.

For example, in the marine nearshore the DFG has allowed a 1000% plus increase in the take of sheephead and wants as a solution the closure of vast areas of sheephead waters in order to protect the sheephead and allow this industrial rape of our resource to continue at a level 500% higher than the 40 year historic average prior to the run-up in take. In doing so they want to end all recreational fishing in these areas.

Only a few weeks ago, the DFG made an attempt to pass legislation that would change angler rights in freshwater areas to enable the same sort of management for freshwater.

What is happening here is a moral judgement being introduced into our state politics that can only be interpreted as saying that taking fish should not be fun. In this imagined new world where folks are expected to look but not touch nature and obtain their sustenance from plastic wrapped packages, there appears to be little or no room for recreational fishing.

The problem isn't that there are so many of them and so few of us, the problem is there are so many of them making a lot of noise and so few us making noise back. Make no mistake but our favorite pastime is under assault and the beachhead for this activity is on Oct 4 at the Fish and Game Commission meeting in San Diego on Mission Bay at Hubbs Seaworld Research Facility on Ingraham Avenue, starting at 9am.

Everybody that can attend should attend. For more info see the Saltwater board under the title Marine Closures.

Bob Osborn