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Re: Collecting fears.......

HERB,  You must have read my mind!  In phone discussions nad letters with
people in the past I've voiced the same things...Ray.
On Tue, 01 Sep 1998 13:08:36 -0500 Herb Harris <top_side at geocities_com>
writes:
>Exactly so Ray!
>
>	There has long been the double standard for fish that fish for 
>food and
>sport uses was somehow "legitimate", whereas fish for viewing and 
>study
>in an aquarium in the home was not. Somehow the fish used for 
>aquariums
>are suddenly "threatened" by any human intervention, whereas food and
>game fish are usually overlooked in these points of view. 
>Overstocking,
>whether by nature as it is, or nature acting through man, leads to
>needless waste of life in the form of the fish, though nature provides
>for the death not to go to waste in the form of food for others in the
>food chain.
>	Everyone has a take on this topic of course, but IMO this is 
>not really
>a full discussion unless the food and game fish are included too. If
>folks that really believe fish and other aquatic life should not be
>harvested for any reason mankind may have for them are serious, I'd 
>like
>to know how you intend to go about explaining this point of view to 
>all
>the peoples and counties of the world that DEPEND on the harvest of
>aquatic life to sustain at least part of the human population?
>	And, how do you intend to educate people on the need for 
>reasonableness
>in the use of the environment where it may impact fish? If folks don't
>care about something, they will not take time to change their own
>actions, or care when someone else does something that harms the
>environment of the fish. Inclusion in the lives of the fish on some
>level is certainly one way, and that is something that home aquarium
>hobbyist do very well. The tack that fish should not be taken from 
>their
>native habitat AT ALL will seriously lessen this opportunity to 
>provide
>an educational medium for people. One more way to isolate the fish 
>from
>those that might play a role in preserving their world.
>	Since most non food or game fish generate no monetary income 
>for
>people, why should people care if they are all killed? General
>principle? Not likely! Give them a way to be involved, like aquarium
>hobbyist do, and there is a much greater chance that people will 
>notice
>when degradation of the environment the fish live in occurs, and that
>gives the fish a fighting chance. If no one cares cause all the common
>people have been taken out of the loop on decisions that affect the
>fish, it will soon be up to the "experts" to protect the fish alone, 
>and
>guess what? When funding cuts hit the budgets for the programs that
>underpin the experts, the fish will have even fewer people to speak 
>for
>them. That is not a path that should be allowed IMO.
>	Also, if it ever got to the sorry state where none but the 
>experts were
>deciding the fate of the fish, it would need a major investment by
>society for a "police action" force to enforce the laws, cause you 
>just
>know that the "solution" will be tight control of the harvesting of
>fish, as is already in effect in some areas. An extreme example of 
>where
>this isolation of common people from the decisions affecting their
>environment can be found close at hand if relatively recent history is
>looked at, though taken from the context of the social environment
>rather than the so-called "natural" environment (though in my opinion
>they are not separate). Don't know who may remember the days before 
>the
>60's in USA, but the attitude of the police, and the criminal justice
>system in general for the most part was that they were the "experts" 
>and
>they would control anything that came their way. Great. Then came 
>social
>unrest for various reasons, the political and social environment
>changed, and the police in many cases were overwhelmed. Change in the
>way things are done in most American cities came eventually, and one 
>way
>the change manifested itself was in greater inclusion of common people
>in "policing" their neighborhoods, the Neighborhood Watch Programs. 
>The
>experts learned what common sense should have told them all along, 
>that
>they need people involved in their social environment to be effective 
>in
>maintaining order and protection of the populace, the supposed goal of
>the police.
>	Though of course the situation with the fish is different in 
>many ways,
>some of the same lessons should be applicable in the way common people
>are included in helping to maintain the environment in ways that 
>benefit
>aquatic inhabitants as well. Let's not wait till it gets to the point
>that the experts are failing to be effective in protecting the fish 
>and
>aquatic life before we get involved. Instead, lets seek to provide 
>ways
>for the common person to be involved in the part of their personal
>environment that will contribute to protecting the aquatic life. 
>Funding
>for public aquariums, land set asides, responsible laws pertaining to
>land and water use, and educational programs at schools are all good
>ways to get people involved. A little ten gallon tank with some wild
>caught native fish that don't cost a bundle and are easy to care for 
>is
>a very legitimate way to get folks of all ages to include aquatic life
>in their personal circle of concern as well.
>
>
>
>Herb
>
>
>Raymus l Wolff wrote:
>> 
>> Hey Everybody,
>>       I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with anyone,  this is my 
>outlook on
>> the situation.  Everybody has an opinion on what's right,  but like 
>most
>> things in life,  if you use things in moderation and wisely, then it 
>is
>>  alright.
>>      I've got to way in here, In other words homo sapiens (that's 
>us) are
>> not part of the environment or the ecosystem they live in.
>> ..   All  things alive and dead a reacted on in a certain 
>environment by
>> each other.
>> 
>>     I hope this makes some sense?  If not, I'm trying to say is all
>> creatures use things around them in there daily lives, but recently 
>we
>> started forgetting where we (humans) fit in,    unless maybe we were
>> planted here by aliens and really are an introduced species.
>> 
>>    Sorry everyone about going overboard,  but I know we can get 
>along
>> with and use our natural resources , now that is a fact.
>

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