Why I’m Voting: A Fisherman Urges Republicans to Confront Climate Change

“Politically, I’m a realist. I mean, I’m a conservative at heart. Less government is always better. That’s kind of the New Hampshire way. I’m a charter boat fisherman. I’m pretty active in the commercial fishing business here. I do a little bit of cod and haddock fishing, but primarily striped bass. Yeah, bring them up, if you can. I just love it. The fishing industry is changing a lot. It’s been changing radically the past 10 or 15 years, and a lot of it has to do with climate change and environmental issues. It’s all about warming waters. So it affects everything: fish migrations, the lobster industry, the scallop industry, which is a huge business. And we’ve just seen a massive decline in the amount of fish that are be able to catch, both commercially and recreationally.” “But that’s only about 400, maybe 500 pounds.” “OK.” “If not, then you’re good. But that’s fishing: You never know unless you go.” “I’ve been very fortunate to see Nikki Haley, both at one of her events and kind of a private meeting with other fishermen. And I really like what she said. She was a governor in South Carolina. She was very close to the shrimping industry there. But I think she understands what a fisherman does every day in and day out. So like right now, it’s 10 degrees outside here in New Hampshire. Our ocean water temperature is 42 degrees. That’s unheard-of. I’m looking at my business and saying, ‘What am I going to be fishing for in another five years?’ I mean, I’m frustrated. I mean, I try to tell people what’s going on, you know, but the hardcore conservatives and the climate deniers are people that aren’t on the water every day and seeing it. I just think the country’s going in two separate directions at the current time. And it’s just not healthy. We’re not getting anything done. We got to move the country forward.”