FISHERMEN/Easterly Flow.......Say goodbye to the last of the Fluke season!!!

[hammer4reel]

Originally Posted by 1captainron

I couldn't agree with you more Dale!! It was like pulling teeth trying to raise money for SSSFF. I said that would be the last time I ever begged for anything in my life. I was more shocked by the number of "Pros" in the Party & Charter Boat industry that just blew it off. Here I was in Atlantic city at a booth selling Hats & shirts like an *******, for what? I raised thousands of dollars from many of my customers who didn't bat an eye writing a check, yet, I had to hear excuses from the folks this would have benefited the most. The general public has NO skin in the game, write a letter, call a congressman? Nobody does it now and look at the shape of this country!! Broad Bill, you can post all you want, I appreciate the hard work you put into this, you have way more stamina than me as I seem to think we are at the point where it doesn't matter. We no longer have a voice or any Skin in the game either, we are actually in the way!! I'll do what I have to do to survive and when my time is up, so be it. I'll be just another Captain who made it to Mel's place.......

That’s why I saw quickly it was a loosing battle .
As you saw , hardly any people with skin in the game were at the marches in Washington .

Wasn’t like they needed to be running trips here in February.
When recs that actually took a day off work to see that , they were not donating again .

Then guys who donated under their own names , instead of their boat’s name were bashed for not helping Those guys also said FU.

ASA doesn’t do shit for all the money manufacturers money that they recieve to fight for fisherman’s rights .
.
Guys even cry like babies when the suggestion of a salt water license comes up .
.
Can’t help those that are too lazy to help themselves .

.

[bunker dunker]

pointing fingers is just a waste of time.we never ever had big lobbing groups or big money behind us except for those of us who marched and protested the 200mile limit.while some say it was our own fault,i say bs!!!were was all the big mfgs????who had our back???this has been going on for decades and still no big backers?????we never had the funds to do real battle.but i will say that all the
big talkers are fishing with the best gear from those big companies that never
gave what was needed.this is just my 2 cents but i for one don't have to touch the stove more than once.

[Broad Bill]

Originally Posted by bunker dunker

pointing fingers is just a waste of time. We never ever had big lobbing groups or big money behind us except for those of us who marched and protested the 200mile limit. While some say it was our own fault, I say bs!!! Where are all the big manufacturers???? Who had our back??? This has been going on for decades and still no big backers???We never had the funds to do real battle, but I will say that all the
big talkers are fishing with the best gear from those big companies that never gave what was needed. This is just my 2 cents but I for one don't have to touch the stove more than once.

The fishing industry is a multi billion dollar industry and it takes being organized, funded and litigious to get a seat at the table. All three things the recreational sector lacks. Quick read about the American Sportfishing Association "ASA".

https://asafishing.org/wp-content/up...March-2021.pdf

They're huge, well funded by salt and fresh water licenses and excise taxes from recreational tackle purchases including marine gas purchases. They're also all too often missing in action.

We also have fishing organizations who don't unite or work together. They all have their own agendas. Lot of people with good intent but as far as execution is concerned collectively they get a C-. And then we have too may recreational anglers who don't want or think it's necessary or worth the effort getting involved.

I reached out early on to SSFFF, RFA, JCAA and Salt Water Anglers of Bergen County and while everyone was amazed at the work I did, I got very little support and went up against NMFS, ASMFC and MAFMC myself. Dave you can attest to that, you're one of the very few who had my back. When it came down to addressing the issues or kissing the federal government's ass, everyone blinked and did the later. All I heard from very reputable people we all would recognize who I thought had our best interests in mind and that of the fisheries said "Whatever you do, don't go up against the commercial sector", "Don't ruffle NMFS, ASMFC or MAFMC feathers" and instead try getting a seat at the table. Seats are appointed and they don't want us in their sandbox. No one with any clout is willing to rock the boat.

I offered multiple solutions to stop commercial netting during the spawn and re-allocate their quota for those spawning months to the other ten months of the year and got push back from a major local fishing organization because they didn't want more commercial quota pushed to summer months when the recreational sector has access to the stock. Translated, continue destroying the spawn, provide no protection to tens of millions of spawning breeders creating unprecedented discard levels while destroying trillions of eggs because they didn't want commercials having more of their quota allocated to summer months they're already fishing. So let's kill the future life line of the stock to avoid commercial quotas in July and August being increased by an absolutely negligible amount. Great strategy and this was the position of their Cooperative Board who asks us to contribute every year to their organization and support their tournaments.

The recreational sector is broken at every level. There's a lot of well meaning people but collectively we can't get out of our own way. NMFS knows it, commercials know it and without a lawsuit of some sort finding a legal argument against these asinine regulations, nothing will change until the stocks are so depleted at that point it won't even matter.

[Detour66]

I often wonder why corporations such as Penn, Gulp, Yamaha etc don't take steps to challenge current legislation and better protect recreational fisherman. I realize commercial fishing is more profitable for them but there are a significant number of recreational fisherman that generate significant income for these companies. I know they hire attorneys to fight for commercial fisherman.Why not do the same on the recreational side? The cost of retaining a top notch attorney is far less than the potential loss of earnings they will face due to limitations that current regulations are imposing on the recreational fishing industry. Recreational fisherman have rights too! We should not be cast aside or we will eventually lose our drive to spend our hard earned money and valuable time on a no win situation. Just look at the dwindling number of party boats. The writing is on the wall!

[hammer4reel]

Originally Posted by bunker dunker

pointing fingers is just a waste of time.we never ever had big lobbing groups or big money behind us except for those of us who marched and protested the 200mile limit.while some say it was our own fault,i say bs!!!were was all the big mfgs????who had our back???this has been going on for decades and still no big backers?????we never had the funds to do real battle.but i will say that all the
big talkers are fishing with the best gear from those big companies that never
gave what was needed.this is just my 2 cents but i for one don't have to touch the stove more than once.

As BB posted EVERY manufacturer gives ALOT of money directly to one organization . The ASA .
It’s the ASA job to do all the legal work , which IMO they do a piss poor job of .

Don’t blame the manufacture as they def contribute more than their share .

Here is who is supposed to be fighting for our fishing rights as recreational anglers

https://asafishing.org/about/


.

[Broad Bill]

BD,

Take 15 minutes and read the article in the ASA link I posted earlier if you haven't already. As of 2020, excise taxes (tackle sales and I assume marine gas sales) derived from sportfishing expenditures (coming from manufacturers like the ones you referenced in your post) amounted to $650 million combined with the $752 million generated through the sale of state fishing licenses and $283 million in private donations, recreational anglers generated a total of $1.7 billion annually to support and improve fisheries conservation.

Thanks to America’s anglers and the money they spend to pursue their passion, they account for the largest single block of support for fisheries conservation across the country. This support leads to cleaner water and better fishing opportunity, which in turn inspires more people to take to the water with rod and reel in hand.

$1.7 billion annually, where are those funds going? Maybe five or six years ago, Dave (Dales), Dan (H4R) and I attended a roundtable with Michael Waine and other top officials with ASA and recreational representatives involved in the fishery to discuss the plight of the summer flounder stock and regulations. I remember Waine saying "We'll have to bring this to the Hill". There was zero follow up as far as I know from that meeting, all politics, lip service and show, no action. The money is there, there's in my opinion no accountability how it's being used no different than our tax dollars with government. We're staring down the barrel of a gun with the risk of losing one of the most important fisheries to both the Mid-Atlantic and New England coastal states and arguably the largest recreational group or political action committee does nothing to address the declines taking place not just with summer flounder but with just about every salt water fishery under management.

[june181901]

To anyone who might have an answer: Is it probable that the ASA people have seen a version of the future where freshwater fishing will be the main generator of funds? Other than some of the Great Lakes there is little commercial freshwater fishing that I'm aware of now.
Does anyone have some breakdown of fresh v salt expenditures by anglers and of the money generated from marine fuel taxes and freshwater tackle excise taxes?

[hammer4reel]

Originally Posted by june181901

To anyone who might have an answer: Is it probable that the ASA people have seen a version of the future where freshwater fishing will be the main generator of funds? Other than some of the Great Lakes there is little commercial freshwater fishing that I'm aware of now.
Does anyone have some breakdown of fresh v salt expenditures by anglers and of the money generated from marine fuel taxes and freshwater tackle excise taxes?

Ocean fishing is WAY more expensive to do .
Different degree of tackle prices .
Size of the boats used , as well as the amount of fuel is staggering .
I run two fresh water boats an entire season gas wise , for the same cost as one trip in the salt .

.

[Broad Bill]

Originally Posted by june181901

To anyone who might have an answer: Is it probable that the ASA people have seen a version of the future where freshwater fishing will be the main generator of funds? Other than some of the Great Lakes there is little commercial freshwater fishing that I'm aware of now.
Does anyone have some breakdown of fresh v salt expenditures by anglers and of the money generated from marine fuel taxes and freshwater tackle excise taxes?

June181901,

If you read the ASA article, it has charts showing economic impacts by state and species broken out between freshwater and saltwater fisheries. Should give you a general sense of answers to your questions

BB

[bunker dunker]

ok if you are all on board that the amounts that are given are "good enough".than why are we were we are.money talks bs walks,that my friends is American business 101.