For all of the millennials reading this, odds are that you don’t know where the above quote comes from. As a teenager in the early 1990s, this quote from Rodney King is quite familiar to me. While the original intent was to calm the tensions of Los Angeles rioters in 1992, its place in pop culture has reached far beyond its original meaning, making its way here today as you’ll see. In general I do my best to avoid talking with people on extremely-polarizing subjects, tops on that list is politics. I mean, when is the last time you heard of a life-long republican changing party alignment after a single conversation with a democrat, or vice-versa? What’s worse is that in today’s age of social media most people feel that their point of view is not only right, but anyone with an opposing viewpoint is not just wrong but quite unintelligent to say the least. These debates often devolve into fights and name calling with no one coming out the better. Is there any question as to why I avoid them like the plague?
Fisheries-related conversations can often go the same way. For better or worse, I can’t simply ignore these subjects no matter how much I despise them at times. While I am not going to jump in head-long and start firing off insults like I might have done some 15 years ago, I pick and choose where I make my point and where I am willing to listen to opposing points of view, as well as where I simply walk away and let someone else fight the good fight.
In my loose circle of friends I have hardline conservationists as well as meat-hunters, boat enthusiasts as well as shore purists, fly fishermen and chunkers. I even know a few guys who feel themselves to be above the law showing little regard for rules and regulations when it comes to fishing, but I can assure you that I do not in any way, shape or form participate or relate to such actions. The upside to this variety of associates and friends is that I am privy to a lot of different points of view on a lot of subjects.
I recently read the recap of a Marine Resources Advisory Council (MRAC) meeting in New York. Several hot-button topics were addressed at this meeting including the Block Island Transit Zone, impending striped bass harvest reduction measures, scup, Mid Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (MAFMC) seats and more. From what I gather these meetings can get quite heated at times with very vocal and passionate individuals on both sides of the issues in attendance. Several years ago a video from one of these meetings was circulating on social media and it looked more like a protest rally than a fisheries meeting—but then again, is anything ever done in a calm manner in New York?
Perhaps I have just been lucky, or maybe I’m ignorant to its going on around me, but I have not experienced this very often in my home state of Connecticut. There was one meeting not too long ago where blackfish regulations were the subject of a public hearing, and a, let’s call him “vocal,” party boat captain from out of state made an appearance. I had heard about his antics before in his local meetings, but this was my first time witnessing it firsthand. He showed up with posters, graphs, photographs and more, and at times I’d call his comments teetering on being downright racist. To say that he got the crowd riled up is an understatement and a bit of chaos ensued. Eventually he was reeled-in and order was restored.
On the one hand this man’s passion (misdirected as it may be at times) was commendable. He was willing to take time out of his life to take a ferry ride across Long Island Sound to attend a neighboring state’s public comment hearing on a fishery in which we both share. He also made a few very valid points which could have had a positive impact on the meeting, but the way in which he delivered them actually hurt his cause in the end, even in the eyes of his fellow for-hire captains in attendance on this night.
Often the ability to step back and see or at least be able to calmly discus and truly listen to another’s point of view is necessary to work towards a greater common good. After all we are all working off the same finite pool of resources when it comes to striped bass, fluke, black sea bass and so-on. These are all shared resources, with no single person or group having any more right than the next to pursue it professionally or recreationally. Perhaps once we collectively start looking at fisheries in this manner we will be able to manage in its best interest. Until then, keep those boxing gloves handy; with changes coming to striped bass regulations in 2020, and public hearings expected to begin in August, you’re going to need them!
