To anyone who fishes, I urge you to contact your legislative representatives. The tentacles of fisheries regulations are steadily choking small businesses out of existence, while restricting individual saltwater anglers from enjoying fishing opportunities.
Ever since the first bad re-authorization of Magnuson-Stevens in 1996, through the last federal update in 2006, many small businesses have permanently closed their doors. A visit to some of the local fishing ports to compare activity today to what it was 15 years ago and you will see first-hand; many of those businesses and the people that worked there have gone.
I did a rough count for New Jersey alone and came up with 22 party boats that are gone, not replaced, and not coming back, since that reauthorization -- there are probably many more than that. I don't know the amount of family owned tackle shops and full-time charter boats that have gone by the way-side but I do know it is substantial. Along with that is the fact that, as of a couple years ago, private boat registration was down by 36% in New Jersey.
If you think that the above statements do not relate to you, but you have anything at all to do with recreational fishing, think again. The more fishermen that are pushed off the water and from the surf and jetties, the smaller our voice gets. If it keeps going this way, eventually, even catch and release will not be permitted; and if you think that's crazy, just look what they have done in the last 20 years, with the environmental industry at the helm of NMFS.
On top of all this, there is a wholehearted move by many of these same people to establish no-fish zones throughout the Northeast, just like they were able to accomplish on the West Coast. There is a deep-pocketed environmental industry that is making money by keeping YOU off THEIR waters.
According to NMFS data, the sea bass stock has been rebuilt 229%. The stock is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring. And yet we are once again being told that we must be penalized.
Porgies are rebuilt over 300% and yet again the fisheries managers are cutting the bag limits back again from 50 fish to 15 for the simple reason that they believe 50 fish is too many - thus taking away something more from fishermen because of someone’s personal beliefs.
And fluke - which was also rebuilt to historic numbers through angler sacrifice - they have us catching the breeding females only and are pushing through harsher regulations.
The original intent of Magnuson-Stevens was good - sustain fish stocks and fishermen simultaneously. But the federal law has been hijacked by special interest groups that are making a pretty good living by stopping fishermen from fishing while manipulating public opinion to believe that our oceans are dying and that fish stocks are collapsing.
I urge you to take a few moments to contact your Governor, Congressmen, U.S. Senators, the Secretary of Commerce and even the President of the United States. The Magnuson-Stevens Act was first implemented as a tool for “conserving” our coastal fish stocks; the other side only wants those stocks “preserved” by removing fishermen from the resource equation.
Fishermen are not always going to agree on everything, but sustainable fisheries through common-sense amendment of our federal fisheries law is something we need to come together on.
You can find your Representative and U.S. Senator’s contact information by visiting
www.congress.gov.
For your state representative in Trenton, go to
www.njleg.state.nj.us Finally, if you want to support the political fight by supporting lobbyists who are battling at both levels to bring that common-sense approach to recreational fisheries management, I encourage you to go to
www.joinrfa.org Capt Bob Bogan
Party Boat Gambler
Point Pleasant Bch, NJ
