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We Need Laws Based On Common Sense

One of the early lessons I learned about the law was that it should be based upon common sense. We are supposed to be living in a republic which I understand to be a limited form of government and if this is so in this day and age, I now wonder where common sense has gone.

For instance, if I fished and hunted to sustain my family and allowed my catches to be unattended to a point where the meat is unusable, the law says that I would be cited for wanton waste. I have no problem with that or with anyone who would commit such an irresponsible act against man and nature. If, however, the law takes exception to the rule and encourages itself to commit the act, then we are dealing with a very serious situation indeed.
A case in point regards the halibut fishery and a regulation the International Pacific Halibut Commission imposed upon people of whom they, in reality, should be serving. I am a small operator and since 1984 have been involved in the halibut fishery. Several years ago I set out six skates during one of the spring 48 hour openings. After setting my gear a storm came and drove us smaller boats into port. It was two days before the weather was calm enough to tend to the gear.

About two hours before the closure I encountered a state fish and game officer at the harbor. I informed him about my situation and that I didn’t think I’d be able to pull my long lines before the closure. It would take nearly an hour to get to the gear and I would probably only be able to pull two or three skates. “What is the regulation on such a situation?” I asked.

His answer was like this: “You may go out and pull your gear until twelve noon when the season for this period is closed. At this point you may bring your catch in for delivery to the processor. Then you can go back out and retrieve the rest of your gear, but you must release all the halibut whether they are dead or alive.”

I was half done with my second skate when twelve noon came. I had about twelve hundred pounds of halibut, all very much alive, which I gutted, cleaned and delivered to the processor.
The next day I pulled the rest of my gear whereupon I released another twelve hundred pounds of near dead halibut, yet in excellent condition. Doing this didn’t make sense to me.
A few days later I called the Fish and Game Department and expressed my concern. “Isn’t this wanton waste? I asked.

I was told that it wasn’t because that was what the International Pacific Halibut Commission had sanctioned. Because of that it is not considered wanton waste? I could not believe what I was hearing!

It just didn’t make sense! Here a regulation had been made supposedly for the purpose of protecting the resource and I had thrown back into the deep over a thousand pound of halibut that I knew would never be able to revive themselves. Yet under other circumstances, if I were caught doing the very same thing, I would be tried and convicted for wanton waste.
During the course of our conversation the question of a regulation made where halibut fishermen would be able to keep what had been caught during the period of the opening season, if for some reason, such as a storm, prevented the picking up of the gear until after the closure. This made sense to me because the halibut had been caught during the opening period and had remained on the hooks until a time, reasonable of course, when they would be hailed in. I felt this would be a better option namely because the halibut had been caught during the opening and, because of an act of God, had been unable to haul the gear during the normal business hours. It only made sense to realize that the fisherman should be held faultless and no one should be allowed to hold him accountable until a reasonable time had transpired.

To throw away thousands of pounds of halibut is truly wanton waste in its purest sense. It does not enhance the program nor does it protect the resource, which is the purpose of boards and commissions. Isn’t it?

It was the opinion of the fish and game official that such a latitude would not be in the best interest of the resource because there would be a few fishermen who would abuse the opportunity. But if enforcement was strictly adhered to then, in time, it shouldn’t be much of a problem. His thought was a few who would abuse it would make it bad for others.
Again, I wondered where common sense was. A majority of fishermen are honest and want to see justice rendered here, but why must it be at the expense of those who legitimately make their living off this resource? We want to enhance the supply because this is the way we will be making our living for many years to come. We certainly don’t want to be responsible for depleting the reserves. It is sad that only a few make it difficult for others and the honest must pay the penalties of the dishonest.

The way I understand it is that government was instituted among men for the purpose of protecting our lives, our liberties and our properties and to afford us the opportunity to pursue happiness. I also understand that to pursue happiness means that we can enjoy the ownership of property and to use that property in whatever way we wish, so long as we don’t interfere with the right of others to do the same. Or it means that we can engage ourselves in any occupation we feel qualified to perform so long as we don’t interfere with the right of others to do the same. To put it in a nutshell it means that we can do anything with our lives so long as we don’t interfere with the right of others to pursue and achieve happiness. It would have made me very happy if I were to benefit from the resources of the sea and to sell the other half of my catch.

Laws, ordinances, regulations and rules are supposed to be based on common sense. The Constitution of the United States guarantees us certain fundamental rights and one of those rights is to be able to provide a decent living for ourselves and our families..
It is true that we elect representatives to do for us what we can’t do for ourselves, but do some of these appointive offices, boards and commissions really lose sight of the real purpose of their being?

Is it too late to suggest we go back to the fundamentals? Laws and regulations should make sense. Our laws and regulations ought to be designed to allow every opportunity for the individual to succeed within the bounds of the law.

But again, aren’t there too many laws these days? When we get overburdened with laws we find it very difficult to make a move not knowing whether we are breaking the law or not. Doesn’t this violate the idea that we live in a republican form of government? The very simple fact is that government should protect us. We, who are the watch dogs of our legislatures and people who represent us on boards and commissions should not be allowed to do anything that we, as individuals, would be thrown in jail for. I realize that the halibut commission is an international entity, but there are people from the United States who are serving on the commission. They should be champions of that concept. Our government, our boards, our commissions should set the example legislating correct principles.

They should be up there on the pedestal.

They should be there for us to admire and respect and be proud of.

That, I believe is a simple fact that certainly makes sense to me.

But really, where has common sense gone to these days?

Note: This article was in the Juneau Empire, the newpaper for the capital city of Alaska, in 1992 when there were 48 hour openings of commercial halibut fishing. Today there is a new system in place where a fisher person had what is called Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) whereby he could fish from early spring to fall at anytime until he met his quota.

Kadashan

Posted by kadashan on 2008-12-27 18:11:20 | Rating: