'Freedom to Fish' bill

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http://www.startribune.com/stories/531/1911158.html

 

Minnesota legislator introduces 'Freedom to Fish' bill Milbourn

Star Tribune

 

Published Mar 6, 2002

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Countering efforts by

environmental groups to ban fishing in some coastal

spots, Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., has introduced

the " Freedom to Fish Act, " which would make it more

difficult to establish no-fishing zones.

 

In his bill, Peterson, chairman of the Congressional

Sportsman's Caucus, calls access to fishing areas " the

single most important element of recreational

fishing. "

 

The bill would permit closing of a sport fishing area

only if recreational anglers are found to be the cause

of specific conservation problems and if no

alternative exists. The bill also would allow anglers

greater say in the regulatory process.

 

" We're concerned that fishing areas will be closed

down because it sounds like a good idea, even when we

didn't cause the problem, " said Forbes Darby, a

spokesman for the American Sportfishing Association,

which helped draft the bill.

 

Environmentalists say that fishing interests already

have a large say in the regulatory process and that

Peterson's bill would exclude other concerns.

 

" The bill starts from the premise that no area can be

closed to fishing because of some inalienable right to

fish, " said Jack Sobel, an angler and the director of

the ecosystem program at the Ocean Conservancy, an

environmental group in Washington, D.C. " I don't think

that right exists or should exist. There's also a

right to protect our natural heritage. "

 

Last year, the federal government established

no-fishing zones off the Florida Keys to help fish

populations. But Connie Barclay, a spokeswoman for the

National Marine Fisheries Service, said that overall,

few restrictions have been placed on sport fishing in

coastal waters in recent years.

 

Peterson's office estimates that nationwide there are

more than 1.2 million jobs related to recreational

fishing and that the industry pumps about $108 billion

annually into the U.S. economy.

 

Sens. John Breaux, D-La., and Kay Bailey Hutchison,

R-Texas, have introduced a similar bill in the Senate.

 

Minnesota debate

 

While environmental groups are pushing for bans in the

oceans, an animal rights group wants anglers out of

Minnesota's state parks.

 

Dan Shannon, a spokesman for People for the Ethical

Treatment of Animals' (PETA) campaign, said that fish

experience fear, and that impaling them on a hook is

tantamount to torture.

 

" Fishing is just hunting in water, " he said. " It's a

needless and cruel activity that doesn't have a place

in a civilized society. "

 

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources isn't

planning to consider PETA's proposal, said Dennis

Stauffer, a DNR spokesman. He said most anglers take

care to treat fish with respect.

 

" The Department of Natural Resources supports fishing

and does not believe that anglers or their activities

are harming Minnesota's state parks. We have no

intention of banning fishing in state parks, " Brad

Moore, assistant commissioner for operations, wrote in

a Jan. 18 letter to PETA.

 

Peter Sorenson, a fish neurobiologist at the

University of Minnesota, said that if a fish is hurt

it will try to escape, but that doesn't necessarily

mean it experiences fear.

 

" To fear something implies that you understand what

your normal emotional state is, and that you've got

some expectation of what the future might bring for

you. Sure, a fish can react with stress and even

alarm. But, fear? I don't see any evidence of that, "

he said.

 

Sorenson said fish lack the brain structures that

allow humans to experience emotions.

 

" The areas of the human brain that are associated with

all this emotional, higher-level awareness, that's

pretty much found in an area called the neo-cortex.

Fish do not have any neo-cortex, " he said. " They're

very different from us but, we should still treat them

with respect. "

 

-- Todd Milbourn is at tmilbourn .