Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim
Hopefully, TWRA is allowed to continue to effectively manage the states fisheries resources for the long term benefit of all Tennesseans and not for the short term benefit of a few.
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Unfortunately, this is part of the problem.
The commercial fishermen have pushed the Wildlife Resources Commission and TWRA to expand the paddlefish fishery for years. It has never passed, largely because of the concerns about overfishing and abuse that I mentioned above.
So now, the commercial fishermen have gone to the General Assembly and gotten a bill passed to override TWRA. They have no science, no biology, and no real policy justification to back them up - but commercial fishermen have an unified, organized lobby and sportsmen don't, so they got a bill passed. It's very unfortunate that our legislators operate this way. We have a Wildlife Resources Agency with biologists and officers who work very hard to protect the resources, and every so often some elected rep in the General Assembly decides, "well I don't like you guys, so I'm going to pass a bill and override what you say."
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