Ever heard a fellow fisherman drop the immortal line, “imagine what the fishing would have been like here 200 years ago?” Well now thanks to a radical policy backflip by the Rudd Labor Government, possibly indirectly generated by yesterday’s story “Rec fishing in crisis – thanks for nothing, Kev” on the Fishing World website, the equal of time travel fishing might be just a few short years away.
Fresh from another go-round of talks with fellow world leaders at the G20 summit, Rudd was heard to exclaim to the gathered, “what the world needs to put a brighter outlook on its current economic state is to look after the fish populations of the world, and its billions of recreational fishermen!”
Jaws were said to drop around the conference hall at Rudd’s seemingly ridiculous statement, but as the Australian Prime Minister went in depth with his radical fiscal plan he ultimately received a standing ovation from the gathered heads of state.
Amongst Rudd’s speech which has been touted by political analysts as one that will go down in history as “possibly changing the course of the world” was his notable heartfelt statement, “While the US and Australia, to name two world nations, have pledged vast amounts of money to stimulate a world economy in crisis, the real answer lies…underwater…with our fish to be exact.”
“In Australia alone nearly a quarter of the population enjoy the pastime of recreational fishing and to do so inject millions of dollars into our country’s economy by way of travel, fuel, boats, fishing tackle, fishing guides, new vehicles, bait, photographic equipment…the list is seemingly endless. And for a world in dire need of hope I feel that looking after our world’s fish and therefore its many fishermen is the way out of what is currently a very dark hole.”
While Rudd himself confessed to not being “much of a fisherman” himself, he knew many friends and acquantances who were, adding “that while it took me a while to realise the enormity of the impact recreational fishing has on the world’s economy, now I know it’s not too late to reverse the damage…”
World leaders are now expected to schedule talks next month aimed at reducing commercial fishing, with the initial target to ban longlining worldwide by the end of 2010. US President Barack Obama was qouted as saying after Rudd’s groundbreaking speech, “if these sort of meetings bring about this sort of positive outcome every time, I for one cannot wait for April 1, 2010”.
By Nat Rellytru
