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Re: NANFA-- collecting fears



Moontanman@ aol,  M   ichael?   More good, positive Ideas on this
discussion.  Like Herb's, yours and my statements,  It all breaks down to
we need incentive (viewing fish in aquaria) to promote us to protect
habitats so these fish will still be there when Our descendants want to
enjoy them.  The aquarium hobby can teach us (although I realize this is
a "fake" environment) just what the particular fish we enjoy are all
about and what they do in their lives.  Although the aquarium is
artificial,  it is a window to lakes and streams.  Most peoples
environment consists of  a shelter and such,  put that human in say a
wilderness area and they still will eat sleep and find shelter, just like
fish will adapt to the life out of their real habitat.  I sport fish and
hunt.  I see what money does to insure that these activities are
protected.  These types of "hobbies" are under fire too, but money talks.
  One thing I suggest ( this probably won't work due to whatever) is a
"collecting license".  Game management officials can list endangered and
protected fish and have maybe even some sort of seasons for collecting. 
This way we can maybe meet in the middle.  I usually see things are over
regulated in these cases,  but legitimizing  this activity is what has to
be done in some sort of way.   I think most people use common sense in
the field, ie. not littering, taking a preset limit or reasonable ( here
is a place of conflict) amount of fish.  I have yet to here of non-game 
fisher persons (PC)  doing some of the bad things that I've seen fellow
Hunters and Fisher persons do.  This handful of bad people influence what
is thought about an entire "group".  But, us fish collectors have to pay
for habitat destruction caused by non collectors like those mentioned
above, or dumping of waste.  There are many sportsmen clubs that are
trying to protect habitat, AND, get along with landowners, whether they
are private or  industry/farm type.  Speaking of farms, local cranberry
marsh owners have greatly improved many wet lands, as they are needed to
support their crop.  Don't quote me but in a D.N.R. pamphlet I read, I
believe the figures to be 10 acres of wet land to one acre of cranberry
bog.  I grew up in this area and have seen the diversity and healthy
wildlife populations, plus the incredible number of interesting  plant
life.  Just a model of what can be done when it's a win -win situation. 
Sorry I'm so long.  
On Tue, 1 Sep 1998 14:51:41 EDT Moontanman at aol_com writes:
>This conversation sounds a little like which came first the chicken or 
>the
>egg.  Humans are part of the ecology, we try to think of ourselves as 
>being
>above it or somehow apart from it.  But in the end we are just another 
>animal
>(my apologies to those whose religion denies this analogy) Humans 
>interact
>with the environment in all the same way as other animals.  Sometimes 
>this
>leads (because of our huge numbers and technology) to extreme 
>environmental
>damage.  We are not the only animals that do this, the first example 
>that pops
>to mind is elephants in the dry season, they destroy hundreds of 
>square miles
>of habitat due to the lack of food.  This has been made worse by 
>humans to be
>sure, but it would still happen without our help.  Collecting fish is 
>much
>like predatory behavior, the fish we catch are removed from the water 
>they
>lived in.  Admittedly it they were the eaten by a fish the recycling 
>of
>nutrients would be more direct but it still occurs as we dump sewage 
>(treated
>or untreated) back into the water.  We affect the environment, it 
>affects us,
>we are part of the environment as surely as any animal.  The real 
>problem
>humans create is the pollution we add to the environment in amounts 
>too large
>for the ecosystem to handle, or as chemicals the ecosystem cannot 
>breakdown.
>Catching fish is just as natural for us as it is for any other animal, 
>we are
>the only ones I know of smart enough to not remove fish that are in 
>danger of
>becoming extinct.  I think the positives of showing people what lives 
>below
>the shiny surface of the water far out weighs any impact we might have 
>on fish
>numbers.  I am also a big fan of captive breeding of desirable but 
>rare fish
>for aquarium use, this is a very unnatural, but I think positive, 
>thing to do.
>
>                                                                       
>      M
>ichael
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