"I work two and sometimes three jobs to stay afloat" ** Zulu...
Here's my 2sense about it -
I don't see anything wrong with applying for a comm license and using it however you need to. Unfortunately that opens the door to
however you'd
like to, as well.
I read the article and I have to say...you were quite bias. I don't really think the guy who fishes to fill his gas tank is severely impacting the "quota". More to the point however, if the state issues him a license in which he pays for, he inherits the rights that go along with it.
"It doesn't sit well with me that say a stockbroker, say, or a plumber or the editor of a weekly fishing magazine, for that matter, is working against the quota full-time fisherman are living with".
...I'm not sure if your write-up is geared toward protecting the resource or protecting the profession of a commercial fisherman. My interpretation of your article leads me to believe that the scale tips toward the protection of the profession. In that regard, I strongly disagree. If I am a professional painter struggling for work, can I be upset that an editor of a weekly fishing magazine moonlights as a painter at night? He is, in a sense, impacting my profession, is he not? Is cutting your own grass...infringing upon a landscaper's profession? Am I reaching? To you maybe, but to me...if were talking about professions and making money or taking someone else's money (even by affecting quota limitations) it's all the same.
Going back to my first quoted sentence, are those 2 or 3 other jobs that you sometimes have to work in the same industry? I'll guess no. Most people struggle through life and have to do whatever it takes to get that edge. If that edge means that the primary commercial fisherman needs to moonlight when quotas have been met, than so be it. One way or the other, the laws are still in place to protect the resources. If that edge means lessening my costs to go fishing by buying a comm. license, then so be it. I know guys that LOVE fishing, but gas prices last year, kept them home more often than not. If they could curb those costs by doing something they love to do and get a little coin for it...why not?
For the record: I am not bashing your article. I enjoy a good debate and look forward to every issue of
The Fisherman. Keep up the GREAT work.
...I hope I didn't pissOFF the Bombas...
