Posted by Dr. Gary on October 31, 2002 at 12:51:38:
This has been posted on several other boards. For the sake of ALL our rights, I hope everyone reads this and takes it to heart.
Next Tuesday will be one of the most important, if not THEE most important battles in our fight for our fishing rights. The differences couldn't be clearer. There are a lot of issues we take into account when voting our fishing may not be the most important one for you. In fact, fishing isn't even on the radar screen of most people going to the polls next Tuesday. In reality, it isn't a vote on an issue, it is a vote for or against an ideology, a vote for or against freedom. A lot of people don't care about the character of the officials we elect. To those of us who do, who we choose is a matter of trust. I have met and talked with Bill Simon, and know people who I trust that have known him for a long. He is a man of principle, character, and integrity. His support for our cause, unlike that of his opponent, is one of ideology, not dollars in his pocket. His ideology is the same as the rest of the conservatives in the legislature that voted against the MLPA. The one who gave it to us was the right hand man of Gray Davis. In considering who you will vote for next Tuesday, the issues couldn't be better defined. I hope that ALL of you who care about your rights and those of your children will vote to protect those rights. Below is a letter I sent to our local paper including a copy of a letter from Bill Simon.
California is faced with one of the clearest and most significant choices in the upcoming gubernatorial election. We have an incumbant Gray Davis, who in addition to mismanaging the energy crisis and giving us astronomical electricity bill, and leaving a budget defecit that will only get worse, is also responsible for the demise of ocean sportfishing in our state.
Governor Davis signed several pieces of legislation that allows for the setting up of no-take reserves along our coast and islands. The implimentation of these reserves is up to the Department of Fish and Game who will also be in charge of enforcement. Amid the ongoing hearings attended by large numbers of sportfishermen, Davis appointed to to the DFG board two comissioners who are tied to environmtalist movement seeking to eliminiate sportfishing in our state. Ignoring tradiditional fisheries management and using junk science, they recently voted to close 25% of the Channel Islands to extractive activities including sportfishing. There is another plan to be finalized in the next few years that will involve shutting down huge amounts of coastline to fishing. In short, Governor Davis has stabbed sportfishermen in the back and paid back the eco-marxists who funded his campaign.
In contrast, Bill Simon has promised to use good science and not philosophy or junk sciene in determining environmental policy and fisheries management. For those of us who enjoy the out of doors and want to continue to share it with our children and grandchildren, Gray Davis has got to go. Below is a letter from Bill Simon to sportfishermen.
There are close to two million recreational anglers in California, and if I'm fortunate enough to be elected your Governor, I commit to all of those anglers that I will make appointments of individuals to my administration who understand the importance of recreational fishing to the states' economy, and who understand the importance of sound fisheries management, using all the tools available to them. First and foremost, I will demand that any management decisions be based on good science, not on protectionist rhetoric.
My administration will make decisions that will balance the needs and the health of the fisheries and their habitats with the need for opportunity for recreation for the citizens of California. In addition, my administration will support legislation, such as 'Rigs to Reefs', that would have generated millions of dollars for good science, a bill that my opponent chose to veto. My appointments to the Resources Agency and the Department of Fish & Game will understand the need to use all the traditional fishery management tools, rather than focus on protection through the wide use of marine protected areas.
Rather than consistently reducing the opportunities of recreational anglers in California, members of my administration will focus on ways, through the use of sound science, to provide better data on the states' fishery resources. Armed with good science, managers will be able to allow harvests that are higher and yet in line with sound fishery management principles.
In closing, I do not consider recreational anglers an endangered species, but a treasure that the state must nurture and support! Join the Simon team and together we'll all work for a better future for sportfishing!
Sincerely,
Bill Simon, Candidate for Governor
Sincerely,
Dr. Gary B. Myers OD