South
Louisiana’s coastal fishermen had been
netting redfish for the markets and restaurants
in New Orleans for well over a century when
some of the nation’s wealthiest sportsmen
began to regard this publicly owned resource
as their own. As they pressured the state’s
government to deny traditional fishermen and
seafood consumers access to wild-caught red
drum, the covetous sportsmen cynically portrayed
the rural netters as “greedy,”
and themselves as “conservationists.”
Frustrated with
the media’s coverage of this challenging
issue, commercial fisherman Robert Fritchey
wrote WETLAND RIDERS to help save his own
industry. With his personal profiles of several
colorful old-timers, Mr. Fritchey introduces
the reader to our family fishermen. And, supported
by data provided by unbiased fishery scientists
and economists, he affirms that the long-term
welfare of the redfish and other wetland-dependent
finfish lies in continuing to share these
publicly owned resources with the public.
WETLAND RIDERS
is an uncompromising book that exposes the
origin and early successes of a movement that
threatens America’s seafood industry.
Originally written as an educational tool
to help get the Louisiana red drum back into
markets and restaurants, the book gained national
attention during the mid-1990s as recreational
fishing interests in nearly a dozen states
campaigned to grab millions of pounds of publicly
owned seafood species from the public.
Of obvious interest
to commercial fishermen, WETLAND RIDERS is
also a unique resource for readers with an
interest in the culture, environment and economy
of our coasts, the seafood industry, consumer
advocacy, political and environmental journalism,
and rural conservation.
WETLAND RIDERS
is generously illustrated with photographs
and line drawings. For a chapter-by-chapter
synopsis of this groundbreaking book, with
brief excerpts, see below.
WETLAND
RIDERS, 401 pp., ISBN 0-9636215-0-5. WETLAND RIDERS is available at Amazon.com
and other booksellers. The book may also be
ordered directly from New Moon Press for $14.95
plus $3.00 S&H. (Checks and money orders
only.) Quantity discounts are available for educational purposes. Click here
to fill out the contact form and inquire about
ordering.
