Sunday, October 15, 2006
In memory of Gerry Studds
Representative Gerry Studds, D-MA, 1972-1996, died the other day. I was living in his district in 1983 when the news broke of his affair with a congressional page a decade previous. He came home and spoke forthrightly with his constituents about the incident. He came out. I went to one of those "town meetings," and was impressed with his candor and humanity. When I shook his hand, he looked into my eyes. We elected him again; he became the first publicly gay elected federal official in the U.S.
Some years later I attended another "town meeting" where Studds said that the rising tide of vicious right partisanship made Congress, "no fun anymore." And shortly after that, he declined to run again.
Studds authored the Striped Bass Conservation Act of 1984 with Warren Magnuson at a time when stripers were becoming scarce. Research had shown that stripers did not reach optimal fertility until they were much larger than 16 inches, which was the legal limit for keeping them at that time. Studds' legislation increased the minimum size of a legal "keeper" to 36 inches, and for a time nobody caught any keepers; "F&^%$ government regulation" was a common curse among fishermen. Then as striped bass became plentiful again, the limit was reduced to 32 inches, then 28. Today, catching a trophy-sized striper is relatively easy. Studds legislation has made striped bass fishing in the northeast US one of the best sport fisheries in the world. It is a triumph of wise government regulation, countering the right's trope that markets are always superior to regulation.
David Gadsby, John Christian and I caught these last week. The biggest (on the right) was 38 inches, 28 pounds. All but one that night were keepers. Thanks, Gerry!
Some years later I attended another "town meeting" where Studds said that the rising tide of vicious right partisanship made Congress, "no fun anymore." And shortly after that, he declined to run again.
Studds authored the Striped Bass Conservation Act of 1984 with Warren Magnuson at a time when stripers were becoming scarce. Research had shown that stripers did not reach optimal fertility until they were much larger than 16 inches, which was the legal limit for keeping them at that time. Studds' legislation increased the minimum size of a legal "keeper" to 36 inches, and for a time nobody caught any keepers; "F&^%$ government regulation" was a common curse among fishermen. Then as striped bass became plentiful again, the limit was reduced to 32 inches, then 28. Today, catching a trophy-sized striper is relatively easy. Studds legislation has made striped bass fishing in the northeast US one of the best sport fisheries in the world. It is a triumph of wise government regulation, countering the right's trope that markets are always superior to regulation.
David Gadsby, John Christian and I caught these last week. The biggest (on the right) was 38 inches, 28 pounds. All but one that night were keepers. Thanks, Gerry!
Technorati Tags: Environment, Fish, Politics, Sustainability, WoodsHole
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