Narrow-minded protectionism

We have an online blog where the local fishermen report their catch and share how they did and where (sort of). About a year ago, I saw a group of guys that had caught some nice sea bass and halibut - and they just would not divulge where, what, anything. I have a neighbor down the street that told me where these things normally bite and I finally ended up catching some nice fish. It's not like I'm that well known around here anyway - but rather than write my thoughts on the blog - I thought it safer to write it on my own blog. A lot of fisher-folks around here think if they keep the locations and catches from reaching the fishing public via the internet - they are helping out. Helping out by not sharing with other fishermen. Well, OK - so once the information goes public about a good seabass bite (for example), the masses of folks from all around the state will line our boat launch giving the launch guy lots of business, and making us locals wait longer in line. They may even line up at the friendly local restaurants making us locals wait longer in line there too. Maybe some of these 'foreigners' will stay in some of our local hotels. So these oh-my-god hordes of people from around the state flock to our area crowding us locals out. How HORRIBLE. All the local businesses get a nice boost from the additional traffic. Well, I'm not so sure that having the protectionist frame of mind is really doing all of us any favors in the long run - at least for this subject anyway. Our fishing season has been shortened - which affects all the businesses that that have anything to do with these fishermen/tourists. White Sea Bass are one thing - but on the other hand, there is Albacore. We have not had much of an Albacore season up in this neck of the woods - or anywhere else in Central/Southern California for a few years. I could write whole separate article on Albacore - but just to have this fit into this segment, I will relate an interesting side note. While the Seabass remain holy, the Albacore on the other hand, is open to anyone. Everyone shares GPS numbers, water temperature, water conditions, how fast they were trolling, what they were trolling - you name it, everyone seems to share it. Why? Well, for one thing, Albacore are seasonal and migratory. Yeah, but isn't the White Sea Bass too? Must be the proximity - Albacore do not come much closer than 25 to 30 miles from port. Making it inaccessible to most of the small boat community. That must be it. If the majority of fisherpeople with boats cannot get to them, then it must be OK. Doesn't do much for the economy however. Oh well. I have never been much for politics. But like it or not, it does seem to affect us all.