For beginners, I am not a blogger….well, I was__ not a blogger that is until my good friend Doug Olander gave me the opportunity to weigh-in on Sport Fishing magazine’s blog page. Being somewhat of a media / communications dinosaur, I do not have cable television or internet in my house, I do not Tweet, and I have no LinkedIn account. I do have a Facebook account, but I set it up to archive my photos two years ago and have rarely used it since (I apologize to the 58 people who have requested to be friends. I still consider you friends, by the way). I also rarely text. The only reason I took up texting was to communicate with my teenage children, who have apparently evolved to the point where they no longer have vocal cords.
So why have I decided to start blogging? Well, in considering the generous offer from Doug, I came up with several reasons. First, in my position as President of the International Game Fish Association, I have the good fortune to travel around the world and meet some incredibly interesting people. Many of these individuals impart fascinating stories and wise advice that I can then pass on to readers of this blog who may find it useful and or entertaining. Additionally, much like my Facebook account does with my photos, this blog will allow me to record and archive these insights. The drawback to this is that my memory appears to be decreasing directly proportional to the amount of information I record in my computer and telephone, thus further not having to rely on the brain that was bestowed upon me by Mother Nature and that appears to be getting more forgetful by the day. Finally, I am eternally admonished by our staff here at IGFA for not getting the word out on the interesting and laudable happenings within our organization. What a better way to turn this around than a popular forum with a mandatory requirement for postings.
Prior to logging off of my first blog (I guess that’s what you call it), I would like to mention something that may be of interest to billfishermen, or anyone interested in gamefish conservation. According to Wikipedia the word “recess” is a general term for a period of time in which a group of people is temporarily dismissed from its duties. Ironically this is what our Nation’s leaders dub this “down time” in August when they are not in Washington DC……well, …..not performing their duties. However, there is hope. We just may have found one item that Republicans and Democrats, Tea Party members and the most liberal Left can get behind. It’s the Billfish Conservation Act of 2011. Click here to send a message to your Members of Congress today**** asking them to support this important piece of legislation. Not only will this help billfish populations, but it may just contribute to the only piece of legislation that gets passed by Congress this session. Wouldn’t we all like to be a part of that monumental happening?
