Powered<p>Encouraging to see passionate support for native non-game fish - curious if anglers in general would be willing to spend a little more on fishing licenses, and support non-profit conservation organizations in order to help protect all native non-game species via:</p>
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<p>- A native non-game fish stamp for conservation efforts (voluntary)</p>
<p>- Increased fees for all hunting/fishing licences for conservation of native non-game fishes (mandatory)</p>
<p>- fees used to produce short educational videos (<5 min re wanton waste/importance of native non-game fish) produced in multiple languages as required viewing for all online license purchases (mandatory)</p>
<p>- fees used to subsidize increased buffer zones in rural agricultural watersheds</p>
<p>- organizing a freshwater version of 4Ocean to support native non-game aquatic wildlife in general (voluntary)</p>
<p>Are these ideas realistically attainable, or just wishful thinking?</p>
That's the kind of stuff we've been working toward for decades. It's slow and hard work. The best way to make change is to influence the next generation.
I think people need to care BEFORE you ask them to pay more. For the 2019 fiscal year the DNR reported $100,384 in proceeds from the voluntary walleye stamp. That is for the state fish! I would be surprised if a non-game fish stamp could raise 1/20th of that amount.
I would be thrilled if the DNR could make two simple and low cost changes:
1. Show roughfish in the ID section of the regulation book. Particularly the ones anglers are most likely to encounter.
2. Place reasonable, species specific, limits on roughfish.
That would be the fastest way to raise awareness in the general public. Seriously, most people's first response to catching a buffalo or carpsucker is, "It must be an invasive species because my Pappy never told me this fish exists." First we have to combat ignorance, then hostility and then people might start actively appreciating them.
I doubt 'anglers in general' would support any one of these; you would have to force some of them on them (raise prices and specifically apply the funding that way) and just not tell people what it's for/about. Nobody wants to spend time becoming better educated - especially when dealing with deep-seated biases like the anti-roughfish mentality.
You'd get a small amount of revenue from a voluntary stamp from anglers like us, but we're in the extreme minority. Based on Tyler's comment, I'd be surprised if you got $1-5K/yr from it.
Great post, Tyler! I missed your comments somehow. Education is key.
We've been trying to educate as many people as we can up here and it is working. I keep Cayden's scrapbook at our bar and lots of people love looking thru it since we're in a huge fishing area (OtterTail county). I've also gotten alot of people to atleast STOP shooting buffalo and gar. Most just didn't know buffs are native and helpful to the lakes/rivers they lump everything not a walleye into the carp family. We've been able to turn several bowfishers into fisherman once they find out how hard it is to get some of these fish to take a hook, everyone wants a challenge. Learning but oh so slowly.
I kind of wish state agencies would quit using the term roughfish. I understand its the name of this site, but the meaning of the word and lifestyle here I feel is much different than what most people interpret it as when they see it in a rulebook.
I grew up being told roughfish and carp and bottom feeders were all bad. All lumped together. I was told that if a Bowfin was caught in the vacation lake we went to growing up, you had to leave it on shore because they were "bad". So until I was a teenager and started learning about all these other cool fish anything other than a "game" fish was just a trashy "rough" fish. I don't know, that has always stuck with me as a state sponsorsed negative conotation that no one can get past.
I could think of many ways to address or categorize fish that might allow for a better dialogue from the rules.
Game fish (Walleye, Northern etc)
Native non-game fish (Buffalo, Shorthead Redhorse, Bowfin etc), heck maybe even call them Native Sport Fish.
Invasive species (Could vary from lake to lake/ecosystem to ecosystem)
Agree with everyone on education.