trealtree
Well-Known Member
I know this was discussed on another thread, but I wanted to start a fresh one.
I have copied my comment letter to the TWRA, to encourage others to comment on this. I know some may not agree with what I wrote, but it is my opinion.
[color:#FF0000]Twra,
I am an avid outdoorsman in the state of Tennessee and I buy a sportsman's license yearly, even though I typically don't need all the permits that it comes with. I do this with the understanding that TWRA will use my hard earned money combined with all the other sportsmen in the state to increase sustainability, opportunities and protect our Wildlife Resources.
With the above in mind, I believe that the paddlefish study is an obvious ploy to spend taxpayers money to help open areas that will only benefit a select "FEW" commercial fishermen with high up Govt. connections and ignore the huge Majority of sport fishermen.
Instead of cater to the few commercial fishermen that pay in a small amount to TWRA and earn thousands of dollars from a Public resource. Why not cater to the majority public sportsman and make them more aware of the paddlefish by selling paddlefish archery/snagging permits with an optional permit at an additional cost to sell the Roe from 1 or 2 harvested paddlefish. In time, the increased revenue from the permits should outweigh the license fees from commercial licenses sold. In my opinion, this would help ensure the future of the paddlefish.
Obviously this idea may or may not be feasible to TWRA, but my point is to make the paddlefish more lucrative/accessible and inform sportsmen of all the fun you can have catching them without a gill net.
Other states have very popular paddlefish permit programs that aid in research and scientific data collection. North Dakota has a Non-profit program where anglers donate the Roe in return for fish cleaning. http://www.northstarcaviar.com/aboutnsc.asp
Best Regards,[/color]
I have copied my comment letter to the TWRA, to encourage others to comment on this. I know some may not agree with what I wrote, but it is my opinion.
[color:#FF0000]Twra,
I am an avid outdoorsman in the state of Tennessee and I buy a sportsman's license yearly, even though I typically don't need all the permits that it comes with. I do this with the understanding that TWRA will use my hard earned money combined with all the other sportsmen in the state to increase sustainability, opportunities and protect our Wildlife Resources.
With the above in mind, I believe that the paddlefish study is an obvious ploy to spend taxpayers money to help open areas that will only benefit a select "FEW" commercial fishermen with high up Govt. connections and ignore the huge Majority of sport fishermen.
Instead of cater to the few commercial fishermen that pay in a small amount to TWRA and earn thousands of dollars from a Public resource. Why not cater to the majority public sportsman and make them more aware of the paddlefish by selling paddlefish archery/snagging permits with an optional permit at an additional cost to sell the Roe from 1 or 2 harvested paddlefish. In time, the increased revenue from the permits should outweigh the license fees from commercial licenses sold. In my opinion, this would help ensure the future of the paddlefish.
Obviously this idea may or may not be feasible to TWRA, but my point is to make the paddlefish more lucrative/accessible and inform sportsmen of all the fun you can have catching them without a gill net.
Other states have very popular paddlefish permit programs that aid in research and scientific data collection. North Dakota has a Non-profit program where anglers donate the Roe in return for fish cleaning. http://www.northstarcaviar.com/aboutnsc.asp
Best Regards,[/color]
