Recreational Fishing Alliance calls for boycott of Walmart

In a somewhat quixotic move, a recreational fishing alliance is calling for a boycott of the retail giant Walmart because of donations to a series of conservation groups the alliance says are driving anglers off the water.

The Recreational Fishing Alliance is protesting a total $36 million in donations, made by a foundation run by the company's founding Walton family, to groups such as Ocean Conservancy and the Environmental Defense Fund. The groups have championed tighter federal restrictions on the catch of sought-after food fish and trophies, stocks that surveys have indicated are over-fished.

Anglers say the regulators have been pressured by the groups into enforcing regulations that are too strict, crippling a multimillion-dollar industry, recreation and way of life without any real evidence that the species are over-fished.

"When you spend your hard-earned money on fishing tackle only to learn the profits are being used to close down fishing access, it gets folks justifiably upset," said Jim Donofrio, alliance executive director, in a news release.

Walmart spokespeople did not respond Friday when asked for a comment. A spokesman for the Ocean Conservancy said officials for that groups were traveling and couldn't be reached immediately for comment. The alliance has at least 500 members in South Carolina. The group led a 2010 protest of federal regulations in Washington, D.C., that drew 5,000 people.

Mark Brown, a Shem Creek charter boat captain who is vice chairman of the state chapter of the alliance, said Lowcountry anglers are angry at the donations and say they won't shop at Walmart, but that's easier said than done in tough economic times. He's not sure what the alliance hopes to accomplish, he said.

The environmental groups' push to put more and more of the ocean off-limits "is going to hurt us badly one day," he said. But when it comes to Walmart, "They're so big, how do you fight that?"