We welcome your opinions and letters – with name and address. We will edit when necessary. Include your name, address and phone number for verification. Mail them to Bay Weekly, 1629 Forest Drive, Annapolis, MD 21403 •E-mail them to [email protected]. or submit your letters on-line by clicking here.

The Real Reason We Don’t Know Diddly about the Precautionary Principle

Dear Bay Weekly:

What you may not know is that our own USA has spent countless hours at innumerable United Nations conferences over the past few decades killing, whenever possible, all references to the Precautionary Principle [Steve Carr’s Where We Live, Jan. 14]. Somehow, early on, the Soviets and their buddies picked up on our resistance and found it a very popular way to beat us up in public.

Rather than figure out what they were up to, our thickheaded State Department concluded that it must be some sort of Commie concept and hardened even more our opposition to its use. This has resulted in us looking like fools to just about everyone; the Europeans are especially bent out of shape over how pathetic we end up looking every time someone throws out the bait. I don’t know if the current administration has changed our tune, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the lunkheads at State are still treating this very reasonable concept as anathema to the free enterprise system.

–Bill Matuszeski, Washington, D.C.

Matuszeski is former head of the EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Program.

Say No to Another Fishing Tax

Dear Bay Weekly:

I read with great interest that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will be charging those of us who fish in Chesapeake Bay anywhere between $10 and $15 to fish starting in 2011. The cost, according to NOAA, is to “estimate fish stocks … and preserve fisheries.” In other words, it is yet another tax by our government. I don’t recall paying a fee to the government, other than my fishing license, to catch anadromous fish during the 1980s, yet fishing for rockfish was banned. It was realized then, without a tax, that their population was at a seriously low level. The fishery has since rebounded.

I will sell my boat and equipment rather than pay another tax. What is the $50 license on my boat for? And Maryland Department of Natural Resources wonders why the number of people who hunt and fish is declining. Call your representative in Washington and voice your complaint. Enough is enough.

P.S. I called NOAA and was told that the privilege of registering next year will cost between $15 and $25.

–Allen Delaney, Prince Frederick

Farewell Mr. Boy

Dear Bay Weekly:

So sorry to hear about the loss of your kitty, Mr. Boy [Jan. 14]. Wanted to write to let you know how much I loved your story about him. He sounds like he quite a character.

–Maria Cahn, via email

Dear Bay Weekly:

Thank you for the sensitive appreciation piece about your late friend, Boy. If there is a creature, real or fictional, that will so enrich our lives as can feline domesticus, I have not found it yet. 

 A cat understands what a dog does not; for that matter, he may well know more than we do, brain cavity size notwithstanding. It’s just that he chooses not to tell anyone about it.

In a separate vein, I love what you’re doing with Bay Weekly. Thirty years ago, one of my early publishers said, Find out what they want, and give it to ’em. My read is that you’ve arrived at about the right mix.

–Fred Miller, Spa Creek: Annapolis