It’s the tertiary phase of plundering a communal resource, tensions around the globe are escalating mightily around fishing and fishermen.

North and South Korea got into a shoving match at Panmunjom, the Russians have just confiscated Japanese trawlers, and even Croatia is about to lay claim to parts of the Adriatic. Little wonder that boorish angling behavior is on the rise domestically.

We’ve all been victimized, and we’ve read tales of uncaring oafs disturbing someone’s in-stream reverie in most of the major periodicals. Perhaps it’s not as personal as once thought – maybe it’s a growing trend.

Competition for fishing resources is on the increase, even though anglers are on the decline.  “Quality” fishing is available in an ever shrinking area, and despite fewer anglers, fresh and saltwater fisheries are losing ground. Similar issues beset commercial fishermen, with the developing countries protesting their fishing grounds are being ravaged by the fleets from developed countries.

Fishing etiquette assumes neither fellow is starving, while that isn’t likely anytime soon, you may want to pause before ripping an interloper a new one. It’s probable that as the pristine areas shrink, we’ll be forced into ever closer contact.

I’m not saying I like it, I’d rather not go down in history as “..the guy that yelled at Jesus..”

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