The turn of the year is full of wishes, hopes and sometimes commitments to change what needs to be changed. It's the right time and the implementation time is 365 days if it is not leap year that has 366 days with addition it 29 February. Years that can be divided by four are leap years. The next time it falls will be in two years. The turn of the year is also a vantage point for what happened during the past year.
The number of hopes for the future, respective conclusions about what became 2021, amounts to approx 8 billion if it matches the number of people on the planet. All equally serious and important. Together a resource to perform great deeds for the future if we decide to do so. High on the list is the need for a climate that makes continued life possible. We have never experienced a greater challenge, regardless of whether we believe the threat is real or just fabricated. It is risky to take a chance even if we were to conclude that it was not as dangerous as it seems right now.
For us anglers and fishermen, there is a parallel challenge; nature with fresh water and healthy fish is number one and really the only thing we can prioritize. If there is fish, we are there! Our responsibility begins in ourselves and how we handle our way of life. I'm not a role model, despite knowledge, insight and awareness of the consequences of my lifestyle with over-consumption of energy, as example. Even knowing how I can live a good life without my large consumption of electricity and fuel. I have examples from my own family through an electricity bill for my grandfather years 1940, the year I was born. At that time, the annual consumption in that farm amounted to 50 watts for 25 SEK! It was enough for three light bulbs but was a lot of money at the time, about 650 kronor today. Addition 5 kronor for the radio! And they thought they lived a decent life even then, even though Grandpa's annual income was only a few hundred.
At the moment there is no one who demands that I move to live in "distress". But it can not continue like this. In Glasgow, hundreds of nations agreed on a tough climate-saving program. It is good, but it is not possible to legislate conditions that change our life patterns at the rate needed. In democracies, it is not a quick fix unless I, as an individual, stand up. Emma, Fifteen, one of my grandchildren has protested to the Minister of Agriculture about industrial fishing for herring. She received a reply that the letter had been sent to the wrong minister. We also had herring flounder on the Christmas table this year. This year it was no bigger than a matchbox due to industrial fishing for fish feed with appeared as gravlax on the dish next to!
Last year I celebrated my 75th birthday as an 'angler'. I have the same interest today and will continue as long as I can hold on to a rod. And Långå fiskevårdsförening will work for the fish in the first place. For the fisherman in others. We know you agree!
Helgi Jonsson