Opening Cast – November 2023

The Opening Cast

by Richard Simms

There has been a massive amount of buzz lately regarding the impact of forward-facing sonar, also known as live-imaging sonar (LIS). B.A.S.S. officials announced recently that, while they will continue allowing the use of LIS during the coming season, they are creating a committee to monitor the use of LIS in tournaments. The data, along with catch rates, tournament weights and angler feedback will help guide them on future decisions regarding the use of LIS in B.A.S.S. tournaments.

Some people seem to have already decided that LIS could be a death-knell to fisheries populations. They remind me a little of Chicken Little when he screams, “The sky is falling.”

And maybe it is. I don’t know. But personally, I don’t believe it is.

The National Professional Anglers Association (NPAA), recently published an editorial statement saying, “Fisheries Managers Need to Keep a Watchful Eye on Forward-Facing Sonar.”

Fisheries managers do need to do that, absolutely. But I’m not sure they need to be told to do that. Their full-time job is just that, to keep a watchful eye on our fisheries populations – whether the threat be from pollution, environmental changes or fishing pressure, including the technology fishermen use. I have known a lot of fisheries biologists and none I have ever known need to be told to do their job. They took their jobs because the care about the resource and the people who use it.

However, one very well-known national television personality and fishing industry innovator quoted in the NPPA statement, seems to disagree. He said, “It’s been my experience that state agencies and fisheries managers usually don’t move until fisheries collapse. We need to get out in front of this before it becomes a genuine problem. There is no time to waste.”

The NPPA is not calling for a ban on LIS. They know the “genie is already out of the bottle.”

Patrick Neu, NPAA President said, “At NPAA, we believe the time to act is now. Open seasons for harvest, possession limits and length regulations all need to be analyzed for the species that are proving most vulnerable to this new technology, and we need to adjust those parameters accordingly.”

At least two state agencies have looked specifically at the potential impact from LIS. We’ve reported on those here in CrappieNOW. In both cases those studies reported that they saw no significant impact necessitating additional regulation based on LIS.

Admittedly, however, the technology was still new and every year the market penetration of LIS grows. So sure, such studies by fisheries managers should not be a “one and done” scenario. They should continue.

In my humble opinion, however, we are a LONG way from, “The sky is falling!”

Richard Simms, Editor

“The outdoors is not a place, it’s a state of mind.”