You see, this is what I am talking about. People are operating on speculation and the fear that sportsfishers are not getting a fair shake. Notice that I said speculation here... the truth as to whether the sportfishers are getting a fair shake lies with the beholder does it not?

Of course tribal pots are required to have rot cord, just like sport fishing pots? Of course tribal pots are required to have escape rings. Do all sport crabbers and non-Indian crabbers and Indian crabbers follow the requirements? Of course not. We've already seen evidence of infractions throughout the fishery and on this site.

Some think that I am making a right or wrong argument here. I am not. Nor do I think I am 100% in the right in my beliefs. But what makes the more pointed views on this site right instead of wrong? Nothing. Speculation, personal opinion and the fear that someone is getting something that others are not. This leads to a frenzy of misguided deads (ala theft from a commercial pot, regardless of ownership).

Lets take for example this campaign strategy of the sport crabbers being allocated only 17% of the harvestable resource. You may have heard of the popular book, "How to Lie with Statistics" (or something like that). This is a perfect example. The sport fishery is NOT allocated 17% of the resource. It does not work this way so why describe it this way? Sure, it exagerates the sport fishers claims but it is a diversion. The allocation of the harvestable crab is 50/50. That is the official division. The Tribes make their decisions about their 50% and the State makes their decisions about their 50%. Within the State's 50% there is no "allocation" as I understand it, but some regional catch guidelelines depending upon the presence of non-Inidan commericla fisheries, etc. If you are upset about the way WDFW divides the State's 50% among the non-Inidna user groups then your argument is with WDFW, not the commercial fishery, not the Tribes, not anyone else. Those decisions are made within the WDFW policy group (many know who they are) and they have at least two advisory groups they use as sounding boards. How well does it work? Many of you have first hand knowledge... I can only speculate.

Grandpa does a great job of picking an example that highlights his personal views with the sub-region 8-2 crab fishery. However, if he wanted to make his point in an OBJECTIVE manner, he might have done a little investigating and also discovered what areas are open to us sporties first... with the commercials coming in afterwards. Does not exist, you say? It does exist, its just that nobody thought that example would suit their argument so it is not spoken of here.

I am the first to admit that I do not fall in with the crowd on this site. I do not share the popular opinion. But it seems that many in this crowd simply do not want to hear the other side. And we all know there is always another side, right? Why assume that I think I am right and you are wrong? I am not saying that at all. I am simply offering another view, from a different perspective.