Massachusetts has a spin on this problem. Excepting the pumpkinseed, chain
pickerel, yellow perch, brook trout, and Atlantic salmon all the other
game fish are introduced! The rest of our native freshwater fish are
little non-game species. There would be no game fishing without the
"introducees". I wonder what affect all the introductions had on our lakes
and ponds and rivers. There are largemouth bass in every pond in the
Commonwealth!
We also need to remember that a large part of the budget of state wildlife
agencies comes from the sales of hunting and fishing permits and from tax
reembersements on the sale of hunting and fishing equipment
(Pittman/Robertson & Dingle/Johnson Acts respectively). In Mass, these
make up over 90% of the Division of Fish and Wildlife annual budget. They
get nothing from the tax payers! (Relay that to the PETA trash!)
So, in our imperfect world I guess we need to make compromises to pay for
the work to protect our resources. Hopefully we make the right ones...
Brian Bastarache
New England Chapter
Bristol County Natrual History Center/
Bristol County Ag. School- Natural Resources Dept.
bast_at_ici.net
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