So We the People are too stupid to be allowed to keep wild birds or fishes as pets. I guess I'm just one of those people who are out of touch. On the lunatic fringe. In the meantime, dams are being built. Gambusia are being distributed.
Aside from that, and getting back to earth, I still would like to know the facts in this particular case if there are any. I am inclined to lend creedence to the theory that this is an ill-considered attempt to prevent bait bucket introductions. Is that a problem in Tennessee? Or on the left coast, for that matter??
Not necessarily keep as pets, but to be left to manage populations on our own for recreational and commercial exploitation, yes. Care to go back to the waterfowl hunting practices of the first half of the 20th century, because I know I love seeing a thousand ducks shot in an afternoon. Or even those for black bass? Yellowstone cutthroat trout, sturgeon, alligator gar, freshwater mussels, Atlantic cod, etc., etc., etc.
Yes bait bucket introductions are a problem world wide. It's well publicized too. European native crayfish are all critically endangered because of North American species, Pacific species are imperiled because of Ohio and Mississippi basin species. Approximately half of Maryland's Etheostoma richness are definately or highly likely introduced via bait buckets. Just browse the NAS server sometime for species introduced by bait buckets. You'd be blown away how many Fundulids have been introduced outside their range. With harful pathogens, zebra mussels, didymo, new zeeland mud snails, eurasian water milfoil and the other myriad of things that tend to come with bait and water transfers from recreational users there are great reasons to restrict the collection and transfer of bait when you are potentially staring at ecosystem shifts, collapses, and faunal loss. Why isn't the likelihood that this is just a reaction to bait issues, which are being addressed similarly in other states for the past few yars, being giving the creedance it deserves? There doesn't have to be a collector related issue here and it seems to be something that is being actively searched for. The only reason I can see is the that there is an inherent selfishness (to quote Todd Crail "inner gollum")to keeping native fish for personal enjoyment that people are reacting too. Well guess what, it isn't just about you/us/me/NANFA, management decisions have to take into account multiple stakeholders and resource benefits.
"is it right" and "principles" are rather subjective too. Irate started the entire topic by stating his principles are based in his ultra conservatism. So what is right to him isn't necessarily what is right to the next person. Doing the "right thing" is also just as highly and personally subjective.