I say it we can accomplish our goals by working with some ENGO's then let's do it. Who hasn't been hypocritical sometime in their life?
If we can work together with some ENGO's and benefit from it, I say let's do it. If we can't benefit from it, then obviously don't do it. Time to stop fighting amongst ourselves and picking fights with others if we don't need to. We need all the help we can get right now. The more sectors, groups and public we have on our side the better. We will loose big time if we just remain a small, isolated user group, that can't get its act together and just comes across as a predominately bunch of redneck, white guys, who just stick to themselves and like to kill fish. This has been the situation for the most part up to now and it has failed us big time and will continue to do so. Time for a new approach. A more proactive approach that attracts more people and groups to our important cause. Time to see the bigger picture.
We need to show and educate the general public and then be better able to influence politicians that the public fishery has many benefits and has broad support across BC and Canada. If working with some ENGO's help us do this, then let's do it. If it doesn't work out, then move on to another tactic - but lets not be judgmental and miss out on a potential beneficial relationship. Don't know if it works until we try. Let's show the public we are willing to work with whoever wants to bring back healthy and abundant wild salmon populations! That is one way to increase support for the public fishery.
Lastly and more to the point of this post - if we want this petition to hit big numbers of signatures and have the impact we all want it to have then it sure as hell has to get more people to sign then a small percentage of concerned public fishers we usually get to act that actually get off their rears to do something about the crisis we are in. We need to make the numbers and our support go from a few thousand to tens of thousands or more. My 2 bits.
