GOING POLITICAL
It's an election year, which means that we're going to be bombarded with a slew of ads from would-be politicos, all telling us what their opponents really mean when they say whatever it is they're saying. Case in point, if you Google "what do you mean by" and Bill Clinton, get comfortable, because you're going to be sorting through a whole bunch of different search results.

And no, this is not a knock against any particular politician out there, past, present or future. Rather, it's a knock against the semantics of the whole operation. Somebody says, "Hello," and we've got eighteen different interpretations of what that person meant by that. Call it the product of an over-analytical bunch of journalists. Mind you, yours truly is exempt from that group, but you know the people I'm talking about. Nantucket Independent columnist Grant Sanders comes to mind, but I digress.

Seriously, it's all about semantics these days. Semantics and politics. And I've been doing a little thinking about that combination. And as I've been telling you for lo, these many years, there are two things that are undeniably true in this world. One, my mother is always right. And two, when I set to thinking about something, it's not going to end pretty. And this time is no different.

You see, kids, my mother feels that politics is a personal matter. You don't discuss who you're voting for or how you feel regarding a particular political issue. It's your business and yours alone. Now, recalling undeniable truth number one, my mother is always right. So that means that we shouldn't discuss politics in public. But given the combination of the fact that I've been thinking about politics recently and that, according to undeniable truth number two, my thinking about things is destined to end in an ugly situation, there's a storm a-brewin' on the horizon.

Fasten your seatbelts, boys and girls. This is the year that "Tight Lines" goes political.

Now, this is not to say that I'm endorsing anybody - yet. It's just that I think I've hit that point where we need to shake things up a little around this joint. I mean, why is the Lighthouse Keeper the only column with the disclaimer about not necessarily representing the views of the entire editorial board of the paper? I want one of those disclaimers, too, dammit.

There now. That ought to get me a little parental advisory label, at the very least.

But back to the topic of political issues. We've been hearing a lot recently about sustainability when it comes to natural resources. It's the new environmentally friendly buzzword of the day. To buy and use sustainable products is a good thing, basically. But "sustainable" is a pretty loaded word when you start thinking about it. My dictionary defines sustain as "to keep up or keep going, as an action or process; to support (a cause or the like) by aid or approval; to provide for (an institution or the like) by furnishing means or funds." So, parents, when your kids are clamoring for more money, now you know what you're doing. You're sustaining them. Don't you feel better about writing that check now, knowing that, in a semantic sort of way, you're doing something that's technically good for the environment?

But when you look at the broader spectrum of things, sustainability is an issue with any natural resources, not just your kids' monetary well-being. Sustainable applies to things like food sources. You know, things like vegetables and cattle and chicken. Anything else come to mind, kids?

Oh, yeah. Fish. And what exactly do you mean by the word segue?

Friends and neighbors, in the coming months, I'm going to be talking a lot, I hope, about sustainable fish resources, and discussing which species are sustainable - in that they can reproduce to such an extent that the fish that are used can be replaced naturally. But there's more to it than that. There's the environmental impact of how specific fish are harvested. We'll be talking about that, too.

The goal here is not to preach or proselytize or whatever else. Rather, the idea is to find ways we can all make little changes in our lives to keep things going smoothly. Consider the small change made down in Port Lincoln, Australia. Organizers of the annual Tunarama Festival there decided that they needed to change the specifics of the Frozen Tuna Toss held as part of the festival. In the event that has been called "the highlight of Tunarama," contestants, for lack of a better description, toss frozen tunas. The contestant who tosses his or her frozen tuna the greatest distance is declared the winner. It's kind of like the Pike Place Fish Market meets Lambeau Field.

This year, however, things are going down a little differently down under. Contestants this year will toss replica tunas and, according to one past Toss champion, "The dimensions are perfect. The new replica tunas feel good, very balanced."

And why, you may ask, have contest organizers gone to the extreme of using fake fish for the Frozen Tuna Toss? One of the reasons is that the tuna population worldwide - especially bluefin tuna - has been decimated in recent years. And while only a few tunas are used in the annual Australian tilt of heaving the frozen specimens across an outdoor arena, even a few is a good start.

So check back here in future columns for ways that we can all make our own little difference in the world and help keep fishing sustainable for generations to come, just like the gang at Tunarama. But in the meantime, you'll have to excuse me. I've got a Super Bowl to watch.

Tight lines. I