With the many reports of ocean fish stocks at impossibly low levels, and research suggesting that 90% of the big fish are gone, will the attempts at restoring these fisheries also hold for fresh water?

There are far less anglers, their numbers also are declining, but the inland fisheries are still suffering, even with catch and release management.

President Bush appears to be following the lead of Australia and Iceland in signing the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act which likely will pave the way for LAPP drawings. LAPP is Limited Access Privilege Program which entitles a community, individual fisherman, or association, a predetermined share of each year’s harvest. No share means you cannot fish.

If we assume that this practice may be applied to non-commercial freshwater fisheries that become unsustainable, then it will be akin to a lottery, just like hunters have had to do for years.

Granted this is idle musings, but super-popular destinations, like Yellowstone, could have a combination of natural and man made pressures that might result in a depleted watershed, as is happening this year with their weather. Planting may not be an option if a unique species or strain is affected, and the National Park Service may even get a boost in revenue as a result.

Like the man said, these are the good old days.