Going to ramble a bit for this lighter, Friday blog post. Let me start with a meme I stole from the interwebs:
I have a hunch you can relate.
For many of us, this quote sums it up:
A Fisherman’s Blood
Fishing is my heart, my blood, my brain. It doesn’t make me who I am, It is who I am. I couldn’t stop it or turn it off if I wanted to.
When I see water, I see myself on it.
Not an hour goes by that it doesn’t pass through my mind. It gives me a place to go where everything else disappears.
To me, it’s medicine. It’s what keeps me normal.
Take it away and I would no longer be the same.
Unless you have what I have, what I’m saying won’t make sense to you. But those who have the same blood as I will see themselves in these words.
I have seen that quote in several places. Never has it had an author listed, so –” author unknown”.
Here is where I want to ramble a bit. . . .
I, like many of you, love the quote. It is in our blood.
I am a paid professional fisheries biologist working for the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission. This is a job that I dreamed about a long time ago, clear back when I was in junior high. Why? Because fish and fishing are in my blood.
Now, I literally get paid to share that with people. Believe me, during several years of college never did I think this is what I would be doing. When you get a couple of degrees to become a fisheries biologist you do it because you want to work with fish. But, one of the first things you learn is that a “fishery” is comprised of more than just the fish. It also includes people. To be stewards of Nebraska’s fisheries you also have to work with aquatic habitat and people in addition to fish.
Communication is vital. Since my college days, I have always been writing, speaking and working with the media. But, who knew back then that we would have these modern digital forms of communication? The world we now live in is in many ways beyond our imaginations.
The interwebs, social media, blogs, podcasts, etc. are a tremendous resource for communicating about our fisheries resources and their stewardship. We, I, have and will continue to use them!
Besides spreading information and education, a huge goal in the communicating is to develop a community–a Nebraska fishing community. That is why I share silly, sometimes stupid, Friday blog posts like this. Because it is who I am, and it is something I share with others who are the same way, and still others who I hope are becoming infused with fish and fishing blood.
Why is that important?
This is why:
Fishing. . . It makes us participants in nature instead of spectators, a crucial distinction because participants tend to become passionate and protective and spectators tend to become indifferent.
–Jerry Dennis, The River Home
That is why, because our fish and our fisheries need it. Fish, that is what it is all about!
Hope it is for you this weekend!
The post Do You Fish? appeared first on Nebraskaland Magazine.
