[PBangler]

Hi all … my husband Don & I are long time supporters of the party boat industry as well as readers of this terrific website. I decided to put my past differences aside with the RFA and just rejoined, thanks to reading many of the posts within this thread. Rejoining was easy with PayPal and a $35 fee to join for a year was minimal compared to what we spend on fishing per year.

Money is always important, but as was already stated “the number of memberships” in your organization is also important when going to Washington to lobby. It’s not about which administration is in office, because the last reauthorization of the Magnuson Stevens Act (MSA) took place in 2006 under a Republican President, with both chambers of Congress having a Republican majority.

It is the result of huge amounts of monies spent by environmental groups to convince the masses in this country, no matter which side of the aisle, the sky is falling with all of our fisheries. Some of the new laws under the latest reauthorization of the MSA, intended to micro-manage both commercial and recreational fishing, will ultimately lead to the destruction of the small mom & pop industries within both sectors, changing out precious few remaining “seaport” waterfront landscapes forever.

I for one love eating at the Shrimp Box and looking at all the boats, both commercial and recreational surrounding it. How sad it would be if it all were replaced with waterfront condos. This is not a Jersey nor a Black Sea Bass closure problem, but a small taste of a nationwide tsunami about to hit our coastlines. It needs to be stopped now and it will take a nationwide organization to get it done. To me the RFA fits the bill.

I’ll get off the soapbox now – thanks for listening and more importantly thanks for starting the momentum going!

Kathy