Paddling backwards in conservation efforts?

[Saltheart]

An interesting subject came up on another thread that I think is worth some discussion.

As we (and other sites) post about conservation and then post about promising results of past conservation efforts , like increase pogies and bass last year etc , are we rec ruiting more fishermanon the take side?

Talk about how banning pogie boats results in more pogies and how people hammered fish under and with them , do we drag in new pogie boats and hundreds of new fisherman who come for easy pickings with no regard for the sport or conservation efforts?

It seems like out of 100 people who read on a site , a handful talk about and try to work on the conservation side while 90 plus just swoop in for the kill. Overall , have internet fishing sites helped or hurt the striper and forage fish conservation efforts?

There was a time when you had to work to find fish. You either found them yourself or exchanged info face to face with others who had put in time and gave out info only to people they knew who also worked at it. Other than from a few loose lipped tackle shop owners , new fisherman or seldom fisherman would never hear about an area being hot , how and when to fish it , where the bait was or wasn't , etc. Now for example , every armchair fisherman from florida to NovaScotia can simply go online for 5 minutes and zero right in on where the fishing is good and where and when to head out for their infrequent and previously unproductive fishing trip. Right now , if you go to a fishing site , only and idiot would not know what's going on at the ditch. As the huge number of casual fisherman decide whether to go and where to go , they can just pop into a site and skim the cream off the top telling them when to go where and how to cash in.

Some will argue that information technology has increased the ranks of fisherman and therefore increased our clout with lawmakers and policy groups. I wonder how many of the hordes of fisherman who swooped down on the bay last year for easy take of big fish they heard about on the internet , attended a conservation or fisheries management meeting in the off season. Maybe none? How many even got past the where and when and how threads to read the threads about trying not to gut hook fish or fill their bellies with hardware by breakoffs do to light gear or even simply think about catch and release?

Just a bunch of provocative questions on whetehr the easy rapid spread of information is good or bad for the fisheries. I would have to say that on weighing the good with the bad , the fisheries are suffering do to the internet.

Other thoughts and opinions??

How could the internet be used more valuably on the conservation side to counter or overcome the negative side?