And Jeffrey Weeks TOTALLY disagrees with Robert Montgomery's opinion piece which the above link leads to.


http://www.examiner.com/x-37128-Char...hing-Ban-Story

ESPN and the Obama Fishing Ban Story
March 10, 12:07 PMCharlotte Fishing ExaminerJeffrey Weeks


Jeffrey Weeks is a fishing columnist from North Carolina.

ESPN claims Obama is about to ban fishing

I haven’t gotten much sleep since I called out ESPN reporter Robert Montgomery for his misleading and manipulative article which claimed that the Obama administration's decision to end the public comment phase of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force meant that President Obama is possibly preparing to issue an executive order that bans recreational fishing in America.

Everyone seems to want to know the background on this, and that’s okay with me. I am happy to be in this fight. It has been coming for a long time.

If you go back and look at our two articles you will clearly see that Mr. Montgomery and I both care passionately about fishing. We view these things in two very different ways, however. He seems to believe that a vast government conspiracy of left-wing environmental groups in cooperation with the Obama Administration is trying to shut down fishing in America as we know it.

I, on the other hand, believe strongly that fishing is in trouble in this country mainly due to the actions (or inactions) of powerful and short-sighted commercial fishing industry lobbyists who have sold out our sport over the years and have had nothing but disdain for average recreational fishermen like me.

It is difficult for the common angler, who in many cases is just caught up in trying to survive in these harsh economic times and is lucky to get to go fishing on the weekends, to clearly understand what they are hearing with the cannons blasting from all sides. Everybody involved in fishing knows they should be mad at somebody, they just aren't sure who that is.

Let me give you every disclaimer I can. In regards to politics I myself am a Democrat raised in North Carolina who voted for President Obama but who has been deeply disappointed in his administration thus far, and right now politically I’d consider myself more independent than anything else.

I happened to follow the campaign closely and got a chance to personally meet both Barack Obama and John McCain. I liked both men, and as someone who grew up next to Ft. Bragg and has been around the families of military vets all my life I deeply admire McCain and would not have been upset had he won election. Given the choice today, I honestly can’t tell you which way I’d vote.

I want you to know that so you understand I am no liberal nut job. I have fished and written about fishing and the outdoors my entire life. It is the thing I am most passionate about. I love fishing, I love to keep fish and cook them, and I think fishermen are some of the best people to look to as responsible stewards of our environment.

I have fished for decades with people in North and South Carolina who are plain, common folks that love the nature, love their kids, and care about the future. They come in all different shapes and colors, all different races and politics. I often tell people everything in the world would work out if we all could get together and just go fishing. It’s no joke. I truly believe that.

I am 40 years old and for the last 20 years of my life I have been involved as a sportsman, a teacher, and a writer in fisheries management and fisheries politics in the Carolinas. I have served on government committees dealing with these issues and I have spoken my mind about them. My record on this is clear.

During that time I have been witness to a struggle that I absolutely feel qualified to speak out about when people like ESPN’s Robert Montgomery imply that all of us fishermen should be frightened out of our skins because big, bad President Obama and the leftist environmental wackos are coming to get us.

It is not as simple as that. If I could tell the Obama Administration and the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force one thing it would be this: do NOT lump commercial and recreational fishermen in this country together as one group and judge us for what we have or have not done.

These issues are complex, and they involve a lot of dirty local politics that has occurred over the years by short-sighted and greedy folks who have not properly managed our natural resources the way they should be managed.

I would plead with Obama and his task force not to start blanket restrictions on fishermen without recognizing that some of us have long been fighting to do the right thing and protect the resource for our children and our future.

Environmentalists and fishermen should be working together to do this. But one thing has stopped us every step of the way: the inability and unwillingness of the commercial fishing industry to accept and embrace common sense regulations that protect our nation’s fisheries.

I do not hate commercial fishermen, I do not disdain them, and I do not want them legislated or ruled out of existence. I want what I have always wanted: for fishermen to get to get together and do what is best for the resource and for our children.

But I will be the last one standing on the ship as it sinks if you tell me that to save ourselves we have to jump off and forget what has happened in fisheries management for the last thirty years. No, sir.

I was there at that fight. Recreational anglers have been seeking compromise and common sense on these issues for a long time, and while individual commercial fishermen may have wanted the same thing, as a group the commercial fishing industry has stood in the way of protecting our natural resources.

Now I am expected by people like ESPN’s Robert Montgomery to lock step and blame Obama and the environmentalists if the feds go too far in regulating fishing.

I will not. Instead I will continue to try and make people understand that concerned recreational anglers have been fighting to end over-fishing and resource depletion for years, and the commercial fishing industry has had nothing but disdain for us.

I have always said these problems were coming and now that they are here I will do my part to make sure the public understands that the bulk of anglers care deeply about fish and the future. Our good name is being tarnished by self-interested and greedy interests that sold us out for their short-term profit long ago.

This is not a left wing or right wing issue. It is not about Obama. This is an issue that should be of concern to any American who appreciates the outdoors and the joy of fishing as a sport.

We should not start screaming and yelling at environmentalists and begin carrying signs that blame them for what is happening in fisheries management.

What we should do is stand up as anglers and let President Obama, his task force, and all people concerned about the environment know what we already know: as recreational anglers some of us have been fighting this battle all along.