Mathews recently decided to do something about the attack the White House has launched against the Recreational Fishing Industry.
“I have been in love with fishing all my life and I have dedicated the last ten years to building up my tackle shop,” he said. “I want Superior Bait and Tackle to be here when these people are gone.”
The “people” Mathews is talking about is the White House-created Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force. Customers of Superior Bait and Tackle are lining up to fill out post cards addressed to members of the Louisiana congressional delegation that say in part:
Recreational fishing has been an important part of the good life in America
ever since our country was founded. The right to catch fish recreationally is an
important right for every American family. Unfortunately that right is being threatened
by misguided federal officials in the name of conservation of our natural
resources. They could not be more wrong. Recreational fishermen are the original
conservationists and they provide a million jobs and generate $125 billion
each year in support of a large and important industry in our country that serves
over 60 million fishermen.
I urge you to do everything you possibly can to protect my right to go fishing.
The task force has shown complete disregard and a total lack of understanding when it comes to Recreational Fishing, according to Mathews. “Our industry employs a million people serving over 60 million fresh and salt water anglers coast to coast. It is ridiculous to just sit back and allow a few uninformed folks in Washington D.C. to attack us at a time like this. They must be stopped.”
The primary concern of Recreational Fishermen is that the administration’s task force released a report in September that basically ignored extensive input from the sport fishing community. Worst of all, according to Mathews, the Recreational Fishing Industry’s concerns were lumped in with those of commercial fishermen.
“Obviously the commission members are people who have never been fishing in their lives,” said Mathews. “Their goal is to create no-fishing zones all across the country. The environmental groups were quoted in the report verbatim while key points submitted by our industry were completely ignored.”
According to Mathews 97 percent of the total fish harvested from U.S. waters is taken by commercial fishermen. Commercial fishing produces only $103 billion in annual revenue while the completely separate three percent share pulled in by
Recreational fishermen and women produces $125 billion each year.
“The anti-fishing/environmental groups were successful in California because they caught the Recreational Fishing Industry off guard,” said Mathews. “Our hope is to organize the locally owned and operated tackle shops and flood Washington D.C. with post cards this summer.”
Mathews explained he is also hoping to encourage wholesalers in the Recreational Fishing Industry to help him and his fellow retailers mail postcards to congressmen and senators that have been signed by our customers between March 15 and June 15. “We must mail millions of postcards to Washington all on the same day to maximize the impact,” he said.
Meanwhile, the second phase of the federal task force’s charge is to develop a framework for zoning that may permanently close vast areas of fishing waters nationwide. Locally Lake Cataouatche and the Davis Pond Project are among the targeted areas, according to Mathews. “Under the government plan these hot bass fishing areas will become Mandatory Protection Areas (MPAs). That means no fishing and no boats on these waters.”
Recreational fishermen are also very concerned about new federal limits on red snapper. The new limit being contemplated is one per person per day and a 30-day season which will make it very difficult for fishing guides to make a living. With the present daily limit of two snapper per person per day people catch their limit in 20 minutes and then they cannot get away from them the rest of the day, according to Mathews.
“We are definitely on the side of the fish. Nobody wants there to be more mature female snapper for brood stock in the Gulf of Mexico than we do, but there are sensible ways to achieve these goals without killing our Recreational Fishing Industry,” said Mathews. “Two years ago Congress and the Council agreed that the science they are relying on for data is wrong and they put a moratorium on new regulations. Now the council is ignoring the legislation.
“These significant changes in U.S. policy direction are the result of a 90-day fire drill process ordered by the White House,” said Mathews. “People who simply want to take their kids fishing deserve better from their government than that.”
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