This is about protecting fishing forFROM all of us, especially the sportsmen.

Keep on posting all the links you want, when access to your favorite water is restricted you can go back and read all of them to comfort you.

ESPN claims Obama is about to ban fishing

In what may be the worst example of outdoor sports reporting in the history of America, ESPN has claimed that President Barack Obama is on the verge of banning recreational fishing.

ESPNOutdoors.com writer Robert Montgomery posted an article today claiming that the administration's decision to end the public comment phase of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force means that Obama is likely preparing to issue an executive order outlawing recreational fishing in America.

As a sportsman who covers fisheries management and politics I do think there are many issues surrounding the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force and its eventual recommendations that all fishermen should be aware of and concerned about.

But to go from concern to suggesting that President Obama is about to ban fishing in America is the most absurd and irresponsible thing I have ever seen a major news outlet publish. There is not even a remote possibility that a standing president of the United States will outlaw fishing in America.

And yet, Robert Montgomery presents his case that it is about to happen as if it is the most likely thing in the world.

ESPN should have to provide some answer for why they allowed this irresponsible article to be published under their logo.

Let me try to walk you through what is happening, and where this crazy ESPN story came from, so that you can see how a legitimate news source could so irrationally let something like this go public.

The Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force was created to study things like fishing and how it is regulated, and how we as fishermen we are managing our interaction with the environment.

To a sportsman like me, this is certainly a cause for attention and concern, as some fringe environmental groups have expressed foolish and extreme ideas about fishing which responsible anglers and sportsmen would certainly like to counter.

Most environmental groups, however, have legitimate concerns which recreational fishing groups can understand and work with to keep fishing open throughout America and still be wise stewards of the resource.

However, the conflicts between commercial fishing groups and environmental groups throughout the country have been much more rancorous, and it is certainly not all the environmentalists' fault.

In state after state for decades commercial fishermen have made poor choices and overharvested species of fish. Meanwhile both recreational anglers and environmentalists have fought to stop fish or other wildlife from being threatened or endangered due to unwise fishing practices.

Instead of attempting to find a compromise, commercial fishing groups have fought these efforts every step of the way. Because of that, the feud between the environmental groups and the commercial fishing groups has become harsh and bitter, filled with ugly, unethical politics on both sides.

What does this have to do with recreational fishermen? Right now, not a lot. In fact, recreational fishermen in many states have long been complaining themselves that commercial fishermen are not following proper and responsible species management procedures.

In fact, recreational anglers have often had to organize efforts like the Florida inshore gill net ban in 1994 to stop commercial fishing abuse, and in doing so environmental groups (far from being the green wackos they are portrayed as) have proven valuable allies to recreational fishermen.

Yes, some extreme groups are not liked by recreational anglers because their agenda really is extreme and, frankly, about as un-American you can get for a responsible southern sportsman like me. PETA is the biggest and best-funded example. I have no love for PETA or its allies. I do, however, appreciate many of the other more mainstream and sensible environmental organizations and support their efforts.

Most environmental groups have demonstrated the understanding that we must retain our nation's outdoors sports tradition while still protecting our natural resources. That is why the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force was created.

Am I going to agree with everything that this task force does? Probably not. Issues like access to fishery grounds and over-regulation of species without sound scientific data are legitimate concerns. However, in no way shape or form is the task force President Obama created about to ban recreational fishing. That is silly. ESPN should be ashamed.

No, it is the commercial fishermen who have much to fear. Many commercial fishermen are fine and responsible individuals, but as a group in state after state they have allowed short-term mismanagement of fish stocks in exchange for short-term profits.

I have been writing about these issues in North and South Carolina for over 15 years and I can tell you without hesitation the worst enemy of commercial fishermen has been commercial fishermen. I have been pleading with them for years to explore compromise on these issues, and they will not.

Now, they are in trouble and commercial groups know in a direct fight against environmentalists they will lose. So they are clinging to an amazingly brazen life line: they have decided to scare recreational fishermen in an effort to get recs like me to fight the environmentalists with them.

It is such a hypocritical stance I can't even begin to express it in words. It goes back to years and years of backroom good old boy politics that kept sensible fishing laws out of many places in the US (my home state of North Carolina is a great example, but there are plenty more).

Now, after attacking recreation fishermen for years and fighting them tooth and nail against any efforts to have responsible fisheries management in this country, commercial fishermen are trying to make us their best friends because they are so scared of the environmentalists.

Well, I'm scared too. I'm scared responsible recreational fishermen are going to get lumped together with irresponsible commercial fishermen. That is exactly what folks like Robert Montgomery want to see happen.

Recreation anglers give commercial fishermen more credibility and respect, because in almost every state responsible recreational fishermen have worked hard at things like reasonable size and creel limits on fish and keeping harmful interaction with wildlife to a minimum. Recs have done exactly what the commercial industry as a whole has not done: be responsible.

But if you lump all fishermen together and recs take on the sins of commercial fishermen then we are in trouble indeed. No, it will not be Obama banning fishing but it will be tougher regulations on anglers, I can assure you.

Many anglers may not understand and may do the same thing ESPN writer Robert Montgomery is doing: blame environmental groups and President Obama for the problem. And the commercial fishing industry will happily encourage them to do so. As recreational fishermen, we need to avoid that at all cost.

I have been fighting with commercial fishermen for years over their lack of responsibility and self-management. To think that I will now be blamed for their actions infuriates me.

But I am not mad at environmental groups or President Obama, I am angry at the people who caused the problems in the first place and now hang like an albatross around a simple recreational fisherman's neck.

No, Obama is not about to ban recreational fishing. We are about to see, however, commercial fishermen answer for past decades of abuse of our natural resources.

I, for one, do not want to see all commercial fisherman lose their businesses. I think they are a valuable and important part of our nation. But I can tell you this (from long experience): the leaders of the commercial fishing lobby are irresponsible and poor stewards of the environment. And they are now playing desperation politics, trying to get responsible recreational anglers to take the bait.

That makes all fishermen look bad, including folks like me who have actually been calling for commercial fishing reform for years.

President Obama may not be about to ban fishing but there are more difficult times for fishermen ahead. Before we start pointing fingers at environmentalists and believing wild conspiracies we need to look at fisheries management history and put the blame for this all where it really belongs.
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Sometimes it's just fun to sit back and watch the circus.....