Howdy Stoney,
Thanks for the reply... or condemnation; not certain which would fit best.
You have accused me of being
sensationalistic and
spreading grossly unsubstantiated claims on this website. Okay, in my zest to spread the
'Anti net-pen Gospel' amongst my fellow
half-million or more BC sportfishermen, perhaps I have been a little crass and, on at least one-point, presumptuous. As I am not a frequent-flyer on this forum, I guess it was premature to suggest that there are in fact fishfarmers and other industry supporters lurking here as
they are elsewhere. For this impolite transgression and the use of language that offended yours and others sensitive ears,
I apologize.My intent is not to offend my fellow sportfishermen; only to wake them up.
Yet, if you listened carefully to my words perhaps you, too, could sense my frustration. Since I've taken a stand against the open net-pen industry, beginning with an essay in 1999, a BC Outdoors magazine article in 02' and more recently the formation of the Wild Salmon Alliance, I find it appalling that the overwhelming majority of the
half-million or more licensed 'sporties' in BC could care less about the known impacts of the net-pen industry upon our environment and wild fishes.
I am a carpenter and a sportfisherman and my motives/objectives have been made clear from the outset - GET THE NET-PENS OUT OF OUR WATER!
Still, I get flack from the industry and I get flack from the likes of you who claim to be sportfisherman. My posts on the (Edited by Mod) forum are being censored. Why, you ask? You tell me. Here's the (offensive) post that was offhandedly removed from the site by a moderator calling himself (Editted by Mod):
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Howdy,
Before I move on to the meat of this post, I am compelled to offer up an apology to my fellow sportfishermen on this forum. Regardless that I am a relatively new member here, it seems to me that the number of posts about and around the fishfarming debate have increased dramatically. Going back a few months when I first began jousting the subject with the likes of (Edited by Mod), it seemed he was the only fishfarmer lurking about the (Edited by Mod) forum; now there are several like him, hanging out there and on other forums - like a gang of pyromaniac's in a forest - spreading their 'nice-fishfarmer' rhetoric on a daily basis.
Personally, I find their presence here extremely offensive and I have withdrawn from debating with them in favor of a more productive expenditure of my time helping the Wild Salmon Alliance (WSA) move its agendas forward.
For those of you who are as offended as I am by - what I feel is - the increased industry presence here, and as well, feel that I had anything to do with it, I offer my sincere apologies to you all, here and now.
I will not forget that the WSA was born right here amongst my fellow sportfishermen and I can assure all of you that the WSA and I are doing all we can to make sure there are some wild-fish around for us as well as our children and grandchildren. This agenda includes, first and foremost, ridding our coastline of the open net-pen fishfarms.
It is with great pleasure and pride that I announce to you today that three of the WSA Committee members, Alexandra Morton, Dr. John Volpe, Craig Murray, together with others from the First Nations have just finished producing a new - two part - short film by Twyla Roscovich.
If any of you sportfishermen out there are still on the fence when it comes to this disgusting industry, I heartily encourage you to watch it. Twyla's awesome work is winning steadily increasing applause among the opposition to this industry, and certainly will leave the fishfarmers 'shakin-in-their-boots!'
Part one:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8Dt3sNpaX0E
Part two:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=KbHfX9SEcDI
Many good people like Twyla, Alex, John, and Don Staniford have been working hard for years to get the word out about this indefensibly destructive business.
I'm with John Volpe on this one. If we sit back on our laurel's and watch our government and the Norwegian's have their way with our Wild Salmon and coastal marine ecology, in ten years sportfishing as we know it here on our Coast - will be done!
Please spread the word and pass along these video links.
http://www.wildsalmonalliance.ca/
Standing for Wild Salmon,
Terry Anderson
Wild Salmon Alliance
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Offensive? I think maybe, if you're a fishfarmer.
When I asked him why he removed it, here was his reply (much less subtle and articulate than yours):
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yes , I axed your post!! It turned into crap by the second post and
deleted the whole thing!! I see you have posted twice now about
censorship on the (Edited by Mod) site! We don't have to take a vote here as
this is a private site! I have other things to do beside mod on here
all day!! If you have a problem with what we do, TRY EMAIL THE MODS
INSTEAD OF ON THE MAIN PAGE!! It will get you nowhere at all but to
manage to piss us off!!
The other thing is you want to use the (Edited by Mod) site to promote your
site but THERE IS NO MENTION OF THE (Edited by Mod) SITE ON YOUR WEB PAGE!!
Your other two post are beening axed too!
(Edited by Mod)
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I'm sick to death of folks who understand the problems with the industry yet won't lift a hand to do something about it.
You want me to stick to the facts?
Okay, you do the
fishfarm-math my friend, then tell me what I'm missing here:
Equation: Industry/product = Cost/benefit to BC
95% Foreign-owned industry + 90% product produced to feed America =
tons of pollution/escaped(reproducing)non-indigeonous fish/disease-parasite transfer, minimal job creation and economic benifit.
Actually I'm a
firm believer in democracy and free-speach. Perhaps the root of my anxiety - and my great frustration - lies in my perception of the industry: I see them and our collusive government as nothing less than
criminals - guilty of
environmental rape, while it seems you, and others who use the wild resource, see them as useful and deserving participants in a discussion.
In that vein, perhaps we should petition Corrections Canada to allow Clifford Olson the democratic-latitude to participate in on-line
Family Forum discussions.
Standing for Wild Salmon,
Terry Anderson
