Monday, September 25, 2006

Fishermen vs. fish for Klamath salmon

Fishermen cheer talk of bigger catches!

Great news, fish populations are going up somewhere, right? Well, not exactly. It's just a story of managers bowing to pressure and allowing more Klamath salmon to be caught, even though too few fish are returning to spawn.

The Klamath salmon debacle goes on and on. Managers will undo fish protections, because fishermen "need" more fish. Never mind that the science doesn't show more fish are coming.

Excuse me, but isn't this a wee bit hypocritical?

Fishermen were among the loudest complainers when this thinking was applied to irrigation water. Farmers "needed" more water, so managers gave it to them. Never mind that there wasn't more water to give them.

Why is it ok for fishermen to bust fishing limits (and get managers to look the other way), but it's not ok for irrigators to bust irrigation limits (and get managers to look the other way)?

It's litmus test time on Klamath salmon. And the response of fishermen will make it harder to argue against other things that kill fish. Once again, the fish are the losers.

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