As the owner of a website that provides fishing information to local anglers, I am always aware that we also have a responsibility to let people know what a valuable resource we have here in the Lowcountry. Many of the folks that read our newsletter and frequent our site are seasoned veterans of the sport and readily share their techniques and tips with the many beginners that also frequent the site. Hopefully, the site is helping people who are new to the sport learn about fishing and helping the more experienced anglers pick up a tip or two as well. I also see many of the veterans are sharing the fact that we DO have an impact on our fisheries and sharing thoughts on conservation with others. While I am not a big fan of the environmental extremist that are pushing their views on the fishing industry, I do believe we have all have an impact and that impact can be a negative or positive one.
I grew up fishing in the Lowcountry and in those days the mentality of the majority of anglers, including myself, was keep everything you catch. We assumed the supply of fish was endless and even if we kept all that our cooler would hold the, it would not really affect the fish because there were so many. As the number of anglers grew, the number of fish, especially inshore species, began to taper off. Locating and catching fish in any type quantities became tougher. Luckily, the Department of Natural Resources and the CCA began to work to educate us about fish stocks and we began to find out many different things about our fisheries. We learned that those huge Red Drum (Spottail Bass) we used to keep and make stew out of, were actually sexually mature fish and the future of that fishery. We learned this type of information about many different species and plans such as slot and size limits were put in place. Slowly, but surely, the mentality of the average angler began to change and we began to take better care of our resources.
Today, most anglers are concerned about their impact on our fisheries and try to