Oscarum monstruoso;4900050; said:
I wish fishermen would just stop with all the nonsense about how good and beneficial their hobby is. Like they are out there casting for some noble cause when its pretty obvious they do it for the fun of it. The idea of scientific research depending on these yahoos killing some of the most magnificent creatures on earth is asinine.
not sure who all your comment is aimed at, but most of what you said is asinine.
- fisheries (including fishing, both private and commercial) drives much of fish ecology and obviously fisheries science. without that support, we'd still be in the dark ages of considering all gars trash fish and killing them all for no reason. it's slow going, but their rep has improved, and much of that driving force connects with fisheries. when we are out for our research trips we make it a point to talk to the fishermen, explain what we are doing, and explain the benefits of said fish. surprisingly, many of them are quite receptive to the idea of gar conservation and their importance to local ecosystems.
- a lot of the research going toward promotion of alligator gar conservation is done by fish and wildlife, fish hatcheries, and other fisheries related programs...much of which is driven by fishing, etc.
- scientific research doesn't DEPEND on people killing these fish, but when it happens, it can benefit from using the fish, data, etc. you'd be surprised how much gar research comes out of bow-fishing tournaments...it's at least making use of the fish.
the big gator is dead, do most of us wish it were still alive? yes. but it's not worth whining/crying about nor is it beneficial to make stupid comments about fishermen/fisheries/etc. for the record, i don't consider myself a fisherman, but much of our research (directly or indirectly) is driven/funded by it.--
--solomon