Moves Against Use of Gill Nets Is Overreaction

As a commercial fisherman, commercial gill net fisherman to be exact, this letter is long overdue.

You see, I have been a fisherman for 19 years and have watched my industry go from moderately lucrative to practically non-existent, all the while never speaking out for fear it would make matters even worse.

The time has come for that to change. It is very disturbing to see the manipulative tactics used by Assemblywoman Doris Allen and the yachting and sportfishing associations to gain public support for an anti-gill net proposition.

Specifically, I am referring to a petition and poster being circulated in front of stores, marine fuel docks, door to door, etc. On the poster is a picture of a sea lion with what is claimed to be a piece of a gill net around its neck. After close examination by myself and other fishermen, it appears to actually be a piece of net from a trawler.

The whole issue over fishing with gill nets is an emotional overreaction by the public, brought on by misinformed environmental groups and Assemblywoman Allen.

The reason Allen is taking the issue before the voters is that she failed on two separate occasions to get the gill net ban through the state Assembly because studies done by both the federal and state governments indicate that there is not a significant negative impact on marine mammals by commercial fishermen fishing within three miles.

I will also point out that all gill netting in the state is done by permit only, with no new permits being issued. Also, there are numerous restrictions, such as mesh size, length of net and breakaway, which all serve to minimize the amount of unwanted catch.

In the previous paragraph, I used the words minimize the amount of unwanted catch. The public has to understand that there have to be acceptable losses when we are talking about animals. If a deer crossing a road is hit by a car, do we close the road? No, but if it happens often at the same spot, the speed limit is lowered or some other means of protection is sought. Thus, the rules and restrictions for gill netters mentioned above.

There are numerous other issues, such as the number of fish caught by sport fishermen exceeding commercial fishermen and the price of fish skyrocketing with limited availability.

STEVEN C. BURKLUND

Huntington Beach