the Tailout May 2020 tailout_may2020finalx | Page 30

And then there’s us. This is the
part that really hurts me to say. We,
our own alphabet soup of groups,
clubs and associations (in no particu-
lar order and the list is not complete:
CCA, PSA, WFC, PSFF, NMTA,
NSIA, ASPCA, HS, TU, WSC, NFS,
SSC, STCW, the list goes on and on),
are also to blame. I have yet to find
one of them who didn’t believe, to
their core, they know the answer to
a certainty. “If you would just listen
to me and do (fill in the blank), it
would fix everything.” If I’ve heard
that once, I have heard it a hundred,
maybe a thousand times. And, we do
not play well with others. If some-
one disagrees, then they become
the opposition, part of the problem,
and we quit talking to them. What’s
worse, we then go talk to our elected
and appointed officials, telling them
how it is. The response of a legisla-
tor? “Come back and talk to us when
you figure out what it is you (recre-
ational fishing community) want.”
Commercial fishermen and the tribes
have figured out how to speak with
one voice, and it works. All they have
to do with us is wind us up on any
issue—pick one, any of them—and
watch us get spun up, point fingers
at each other, and walk around
bumping into each other, stepping
on each other’s toes. We marginalize
ourselves and we blunt our messages.
In the words of Walt Kelly, “We have
met the enemy and he is us.”
I must put myself on the list. I
got involved. I went straight into
advocacy and governmental affairs.
I participated. I showed up for
commission meetings, I met with
department officials, I testified at
committee hearings, I participated in
advisor groups and I still do. I read,
I met with people, I asked questions,
and I set myself the task of educat-
ing myself. I worked across lines,
I reached out to tribal members, I
reached out and met with members
of other groups and I met with my
elected federal and state representa-
tives. When it became clear that we
were being beaten out by others with
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THE TAILOUT
more political significance than we
had, I started a PAC to raise money
we could use to make political con-
tributions. I have personally met with
candidates for the legislature and for
Governor from both parties. I have
met with attorneys from the Attorney
General’s office in Washington and
learned about ESA, US v. WA, US v.
OR, North of Falcon, PFMC. I have
met with NOAA’s administration. I
have attended hundreds, maybe thou-
sands of hours of meetings. I have
done the deep dive, and I still do. Yet,
what have I accomplished? What do
I have to show for it? I can point to a
long list of what I tried, and failed, to
do, but I can’t point to a long list—
hell, even a short list—of what I have
gotten accomplished.
We, as fishermen, live in a world
of measurements. Size matters,
numbers matter, we understand about
patterns, weather, water height and
color. We are used to immediate
feedback. Did this lure work, does
this bait or does that bait work better,
what time of day works? Immediate
gratification is what got us started,
and much of why we go fishing.
Advocacy isn’t about immediate
gratification. Advocacy, in a word,
sucks! In the world of fish advocacy
and dealing with the alphabet soup
of agencies and departments, there is
often zero cause and effect. You push
for this outcome and another (seem-
ingly) unrelated result happens. The