According to The Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association, commercial fishing lost one of its biggest allies when Democrat Jerry Garcia failed in his re-election bid for Congress.
As a member of the FKCF, and a lifelong participant in commercial fishing, I must strongly disagree with that assessment. Very few politicians are actually allies of commercial fishing, and most certainly not any liberal Democrats. In the real world, liberals are allies of radical environmental groups like the Environmental Defense Fund, which is working nationwide to restrict and even eliminate commercial fishing altogether.
The EDF is typical of the arrogant earth savers who want fish farmed right now even though the technology is not advanced enough to do it. They are like those who would eliminate fossil fuel use immediately, believing it would force the world into alternative fuels, despite the cost in money and human suffering.
Having worked with politicians on fishery issues for over 40 years, I can say for certain that what we get is lip service. Shrewd politicians understand that commercial fishing is on the wrong end of the sympathy scale, and while we privately hear all the right things from our leaders, patronization does little to slow down the bureaucratic tsunami that is devouring us.
To my fellow commercial fishing advocates I say, don’t put your faith in politicians. You can also add lawyers, and seemingly sympathetic bureaucrats, to the list of hope dashers. All of them will smoothly pick your pocket while they have you smiling. The only one you can really depend on to defend your industry and livelihood is yourself.
