No need to turn this into a huge deal. I don't believe anyone is arguing that the catch record cards shouldn't be turned in.
But in the world we live in if something is truly required there is generally some sort of consequence for not following through. I. E. crab catch record cards and the 10 dollar fine for not returning them.
A fishing license is not required in general. But it is required if one is going to fish, and there is consequences for fishing without one. If the state said a fishing license was required for fishing, but then implemented zero punishment for fishing without one, how many people would go buy one?
As far as voting and turning the cards in, that argument doesn't hold weight with me since I do not believe in our democracy nor our system of voting. Therefore I find voting completely silly and refuse to do so. I will bitch about people in power because it is my belief that individual voting doesn't put them there, and I don't believe in our system. Nor do I believe that the WDFW will do anything positive with the information they receive from these cards. But that's neither here nor there, and certainly not relevant to this thread.
But like I said, I always return them anyway in the hope that maybe the data will be useful and help future fishing seasons, even if I don't personally believe that to be the case.