He really got me.
The letter writer in Sunday morning’s West Hawaii paper (2/12) told me I was all wrong about the tropical fish. I guess writing about fish really opened up a can of worms.
He wrote that this ill-informed buffoon Dennis Gregory had made up this fish story about tropical fish being stolen from the ocean.
He put me down so bad that it almost ruined the Super Bowl, but after watching the game I was alright.
There seemed to be a disagreement with our facts about fish collecting. Facts are like eyeglasses, you can pick and choose them until they fit your own view.
They can also be like eye shades and blind you to the truth.
In my column I said that 1,000,000 tropical fish, especially yellow tang, were stolen in Hawaii every year between 1999 and 2010, and that everything was just terrible. He wrote that 1,000,000 yellow tang were born every year and everything was fine and dandy.
If a million yellow tangs are hatched every year, why can’t we see them?
Maybe because they are not there.
But he had the “hard facts” on the matter, which meant that I only had the soft, and flaky facts.
Who do you believe, him or me? I promise I don’t make this stuff up. I actually research my articles. In this case I cited the article, Commercial Catching of Aquarium Fish Halted by the Hawaii Supreme Court by Honolulu Civil Beat.
Please look it up and read that “millions of fish, especially yellow tang, have been caught over the years. The catch ranged from 412,587 to 1.02 million tropical fish a year from 1999 to 2010.” Those Civil Beat reporters know their facts.
I also read an article titled, The Dark Side of Hawaii Aquarium Fishing and checked out about five more websites telling about the fish poaching problem. I had to get my soft, flaky facts together before I wrote.
Really though, I love it when people react to my stories, it makes my morning.
Good or bad, keep writing those letters. The bad ones hurt but I have a tough skin.
It’s what the Freedom of the Press is all about, the good old First Amendment. Reporters and columnists like feedback. It’s what makes this a great country. In some countries if you give feedback they throw you in jail or worse.
So keep those cards and letters coming in. I’m here writing all week. And be sure to keep an out for those yellow tangs.
Dennis Gregory writes a bi-monthly column for West Hawaii Today and welcomes your comments at makewavess@yahoo.com
