1 FISH, 2 FISH, REEF FISH, FEW FISH

Following up on our red snapper legal victory, NOLA Times-Picayune Outdoors Editor, Bob Marshall, raised some really good points about fisheries management in yesterday's column.

I especially appreciate this:

..I asked myself the obvious question -- How could the feds have approved a plan that violated federal law in the first place? -- I got this depressing answer: because the system used to develop these plans almost guarantees such failures.

Federal plans are developed by various fisheries management councils whose membership is heavily weighted by representatives of groups that make a living off the species being regulated. In theory this is a good idea, because logic would hold that those who depend on the fish have the most to lose by allowing them to be depleted. Yet history shows that when fishermen have to choose between fish and profits, fish almost always lose.

As the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council meet this week in Destin Florida (pdf), they would do well to remember this. It would probably make sense for Gulf Governors to consider the lessons of history when making their appointments to the Council.

Aaron Viles is the GRN's Campaign Director