The PREJUDICE comments have to stop !

[AndyS]

Prejudice : noun

noun: prejudice; plural noun: prejudices

preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.

I click on the post about a guy who caught a big walleye and next thing I know I'm reading about how awful Chinese and Russian people are ! Really ?

I'm not going politically correct here either, this just has to stop, I have already had a few PM's pertaining to this subject. What next, you want to say Christians and Jews are wiping out all the fish also, where does it end ?

Best thing you can do is become a Fish and Game Volunteer, become a Watershed Watchdog, find out who your local Game Warden is. Reach out to Fish and Game, educate people on bag and size limits (why I keep extra Fish and Game Digests in the car) Yes, we are all Conservation Officers when we are on the water doing what we love most.
It's like the Little League parents that just sat around and bitched how they didn't like things. You don't like what you see, get off the side lines and get involved.

I was never prejudice. There was no room for prejudice in the military either. I was on a fast attack anti submarine destroyer. Part of my job was on the damage control team. I told the people around me, I don't care what color or religion you are, or if you were from Texas, if we take a torpedo to the side, trust me, I'm stuffing your dead body in the hole to stop the flooding.

[bigfishy]

Quote_ where does it end??

It does'nt....From the beginning of time, ppl have there own opinoins and as long as there is someone who is willing to listen, ppl will share those opinoins....While i don't agree with the statement in question , i can almost guarantee they are only refering to a personal experience....I think its gr8 that ppl have a place where they feel comfortable enough to share their prejudices, which come from personal experiences....Or maybe that place is just an illusion....comments are just that.....comments.....I guess the policing is nessissary to show the www that these prejudice opinoins are not the opinoins of njf....I totally get it but at the same time i find very little difference in the some members prejudices toward njf&g....If it were to end , than it would totally change what makes us semi-intelligent beings.....

If i have over stepped my boundries, pls forgive me.....or don't, thats your rite also;)

[lennysky]

It makes no difference where we came from as US is a country built on immigrants of all colors, ethnicities and religious denominations. Each one has pluses and minuses, especially depending who you ask but in the end it's all about the right or wrong. It is wrong to judge someone based on their race, etc. it is right to criticize all who do not follow rules and regulations. I'm from Ukraine 34 years ago and am Jewish. I would be the first one to walk up to someone who is polluting or keeping fish out of season or of wrong size. I'm not a large man, but I have never yet been challenged. Perhaps it's because I have some very large friends:). Regardless I support your opinion in this thread.

[zhitoman]

I am Russian speaking and I am more conservation conscious then some of the Americans born here. :p

[yumasdad]

totally with you BIGFISHY.

"preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience"


My prior writing regarding this matter is purely based on personal experience. As a child of immigrants-my Mom was born in GERMANY & came to this county with her family to avoid the oppression towards JEWISH people & were labeled sympathizers. As Catholics they did not like to direction of their homeland & came here to enjoy the freedoms & oppurtunities this great country offers. They did it the legal & the right way thru ELLIS ISLAND. They learned to speak the NATIONAL language & assimilated. Similar thing on my Dad's side-his father came from POLAND for the same reasons. I would be the last to racially discriminate, especially those groups.

From my own personal experiences I have encounters many ethnic groups committing various offenses such fishing without a license, not following creel /size limits, boats with gas motors over 10hp labeled as 10 hp crudely (not fooling anyone when you have a 25 hp motor with a 10 hp stencil on it), pontoon boats with big motors etc, no electric motors but by some miracle of physics were able to get up on plane & return to the launch after their beer party/love session was over- on a 10 HP max lake. I could go on but I am sure many of you have seen these & other offense as well.

When I have approached them they always seem to lose their ability to speak ENGLISH for some reason except as I am leaving it returns in the form of vulgarities.

A lot of these offenses are due to people take advantage reduced policing of the water by F&G & MARINE POLICE due to budget cuts.

It is up to us to pick up the slack & report the instances when we see an infraction.

If your are part of the solution you are part of the problem. Use them cell phones & cameras.

My apologies if I have offended anyone with my views...just calling it as I have seen it.

[Chrisper4694]

let's just call them law breaking bucket brigade...they can be any race, religion, etc. I've seen it in all makes and models, then the only people you'll be offending are criminals...

[liveitup1.75liter]

Im gunna leave this 1 alone.. it is the real world here n ppl need thicker skin if they catch feelings

[justin1982]

Since this is a fishing forum I'll be brief... As mentioned here, bucket brigade comes in all shapes and sizes. I've seen "white" or "Americans" do some messed up sh*t. That being said, in my experience, if something off color, in any situation, is going down, 9 times out of 10, the perpetrator immediately loses the ability to speak English. Not singling out a specific race but that's how it goes. I work in a kitchen and the ability to forget English is incredible. But I think the prudent thing to do is see something, say something. We are all in this together to keep our hobby/ pastime thriving. Hope you poachers are reading this.

[bassnblues]

The anonymity of the internet brings out the worst in people.

[Esox Luciano]

I believe this particular thread was intended for our consideration, not poachers'. However, all who read this should very well take notice.
Karma is great!! Or totally sucks!! MAKE SURE you're on the right side when the come around, comes back around. If you don't have the sand to say something directly to someone, don't hide behind this great forum, or any of the corny ones, to start getting slik!! Whether poaching, polluting, or simply posting like we are now, if you cross that line...you will get dealt with.
Keep yourself safe guys...strange things happen down by the water.

[shrimpman steve]

Andy

Thank you for your service!!!

[buzzbaiter]

Most opinions come from experience and fact, not intuition, bias, theory or hypothesis. Bucket brigades - in MY experiences - tend to be mostly non-english speaking groups who ignore the laws and take whatever they want. Its not my job to report them, its the states job. I'm not going to confront 10 strangers and ask to see their licenses. The police, WCO's and park rangers need to handle this. They need to get out of their cars and walk their butts around once in awhile. Its not hard to cheat if you know your chances of being caught are slim. I can count on one hand the amount of times I've had my licensed checked in the last 30 YEARS. Maybe its because I'm pale white and look like i speak english. :p

[Walleyed]

I'm an avid stream, lake and salt fisherman. I, on average, have had my license checked twice a year for the past 20 years I've lived in NJ.

Having seen poachers of all color, creed and national origin, I have to be honest and say that the vast majority of these have been english speaking, caucasian, native-born United State citizens.

This ranges from the guy who keeps a couple extra trout to the folks keeping out of season or undersize fish.

How many times have we heard on this board, someone complaining about the regs, following with the statement, "I'll make my own rules!".

I fully agree with Andy, the bigotry and racism needs to stop. Profiling should have no place on this board.

Jim Vanator (Not anonymous)

[Eskimo]

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I don't think anybody is intending to be prejudice. They are just stereotyping certain groups of people based on things they have witnessed on the water.

I think the issue here is one of culture. Culture is a collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another. Culture is the product of experience and inherited values.

Most Americans approach fishing from the cultural perspective of being the inheritors of an ecological abundance created by the hard work and sacrifice of the outdoorsmen and wildlife mangers that came before us. Americans fishing today also experienced the tail-end of an unprecedented period of economic prosperity.

This adds up to a fishing culture that values conservation over consumption.
We can fish for sport and return those fish to the water to grow bigger and reproduce. We want to pass on this abundance of game fish to out children and grandchildren. We know we can always release everything we catch today and still eat well tonight.

On the other hand, people immigrating from areas of poverty and failed ideologies approach fishing from a perspective of scarcity. They have experienced empty, over-fished waters that will likely always remain that way. They have no heritage of gamefish conservation. They've only experienced "no holds barred" fishing and keeping.

This adds up to a migrant culture that values consumption and places little value on gamefish laws and voluntary catch-and-release.

What is interesting is this issue is occurring in every Western nation that values gamefish conservation that is experiencing a lot of immigration. I found this article about an English pond boss that got into trouble because he wanted to ban Eastern Europeans from his pay lake:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2306769/No-Eastern-Europeans-sign-placed-carp-fishing-lake-angry-landowner-claims-stolen-fish.html



http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/04/10/article-0-193700C6000005DC-502_634x455.jpg
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/66953000/jpg/_66953941_66953940.jpg



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[ReelErIn]

Andy well said like ya said I put in 20 years as a Vol. with NJF&W now 1 1/2 yrs. with Florida F&W. only to help pay back and get the good word out there.
No need for NONSENSE on any post!!!!!! The one thing I liked NJFISH not much of that here like so many other sites.
You should see some of the CRAP I read down here.

[Ken Lyons]

1 855-ogt tips. Call it in.

[baetis]

I view poaching/illegal activity differently when it comes to fresh and saltwater.

I've seen many a freshwater pond/small lake fished out and ruined. Because of that I tend to view freshwater violations much more harshly than salt. It takes a lot less effort to create permanent harm.

IMHO, saltwater regulations are often based on politics and monkeys that fly out of the rumps of politicians and not actual fisheries science. It doesn't bother me to see someone keeping a "short" fluke when I know there is a commercial fisherman in the same water that is allowed to keep an even shorter fish and sell it or discard hundreds of fish as by product. One guy is a thief and the other isn't. It doesn't make much sense to me.