Its just that having a publicly or perhaps a NANFA member available
database sounds like such a good idea. Obviously care would have to go
in to keep the few places where protected fish reside out of it, but-in-
least in my area, that leaves a lot of very cool and very prolific fish
and creeks and streams.
Granted, in my state, the NCDWQ already has such a database on their
site, so perhaps it is a mute subject for me. I guess that from my
ignorance, I wonder how different other states are in retaining their
habitat? or is there just a more protective attitude to be found in
other locations?
-derek parr
chapel hill, nc
cape fear river basin
dlmcneely-in-lunet.edu wrote:
> Well, can't cite specifically for fish. However, there is the famous
> story of the very famous naturalist resident on an Australian island
> who obtained seven specimens of a bird new to science from the gifts
> his cat brought to him -- a kind of collecting, I guess. The bird has
> never been found again, but the specimens allegedly reside in the
> British Museum of Natural History. True? Apocryphal?
>
> More to the present point: I absolutely agree, and I think that
> science does as well, that pollution and habitat degradation/loss are
> the main sources of endangerment. But consider a population that is
> barely holding on due to these matters, and is hit by collectors. Does
> it help? That may be the rub. Do we as conservationists have an
> obligation to apply the precautionary principle? That is the principle
> that says that until we know an action is harmless, we eschew that
> action. Only when data overwhelmingly say that there will be no harm
> done do we go ahead.
>
> So, for me, if a population is already stressed or has the likelihood
> of being stressed, I'd rather not risk harm by collecting.
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