Posted by Brad on July 03, 2001 at 13:29:40:
In Reply to: I am getting the impression.. posted by JohnB on July 03, 2001 at 10:52:16:
I agree wholeheartedly. The problem is that no one believes their little ol' limit is making a difference. Tens of thousands of limits add up. So do all of the biggest and best breeders that are often the target of spearfishermen.
Obviously commercial overfishing has done the greatest damage to OUR waters. Currently, the biggest threat to OUR shallow water environment is the live fish market. Rockfish are being decimated at ALL of the shallowwater areas in the entire Southern California bight. This has been going on for some years and the damage is very appearent at places like the Cortes and Nic.
What we need is to promote non-consumptive interaction with OUR waters. People need to value the experience of being on the sea rather than the game they get from it.