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VIEW FROM THE HELM
This week, the Gulf Council will
hear from National Marine Fisheries Service that Gag grouper landings in the
Gulf must be severely reduced. Management alternatives include full
closures for Gag and other grouper. Turtles are also on the menu.
Want to see how this happens?
Tune it to the Gulf Council meeting on the FRA website.
http://www.thefra.org/fisheyewide.htm The password is FRAROCKS.
Our right to fish is being
assaulted. I don’t know about you, but I will NOT be mugged without putting
up a hell of a fight. The time for an ounce of prevention is far past. We
now need pounds of cure, in the form of scientists, attorneys and other
experts.
There are roughly 12 million
saltwater anglers from Texas to North Carolina. If ONE PERCENT of those 12
million anglers spoke out, we would have 120,000 voices. Imagine the impact
of 120,000 emails and phone calls would have on our legislators’ collective
attention.
Now is the time for all those
affected to join the FRA and demand sound fisheries management. Together,
we can provide the CURE. Tell your friends. Time to awaken the sleeping
giant. He needs to kick some butt.
WHY DOES THE
AGENDA TO STOP FISHING KEEP ADVANCING?
It would take
hours and hours to lay out the organizational chart of this agenda to the
average angler. Understanding the motivations of this organized effort will
help you to counter this viral attack on our sport and our very human
nature. Read the second
in our series titled
indoctri-NATION
SHARE WHAT?
'Catch shares' is the new
buzz phrase for 'stop fishing'. Read more below. Catch shares
are a policy looking to be pushed as a law. Watch as CCA pitches catch
shares to the gulf Council this week.
Click here for the document. Watch FRA TV for the presentation
live. It should be sometime Wednesday morning.
Staying the course,
Denny O’Hern
FRA WELCOMES NEW DIRECTORS
The FRA is pleased to have the
following people join the Board of Directors:
Mike Jackson,
author of the I-N-D-O-C-T-R-I-NATION series.
Dr. Kurt Theodore,
a very vocal and politically active FRA voice, Kurt will head up the
legislative affairs committee.
And last, but far from
least, is Dave Heil.
Dave is heading up the new FRA South Atlantic chapter and is an FRA shark
suing NMFS on behalf of the FRA in the South Atlantic. An
Orlando-based attorney, Dave is in it for the long haul.
Welcome to the FRA Board, Mike,
Kurt and Dave. We all appreciate your sacrifices and dedication.
GULF
COUNCIL MEETING
The Gulf Council meets this week in Orange
Beach, AL.
the Gag and Red Grouper assessments will be
talked about, with the hot discussion revolving around the BOGUS Gag stock
assessment which will surely cause a full closure of Gag for a at least a
year.
While we all watch what is happening on the
Gag situation, the end run is happening with the turtle issue. With
the ridiculous estimate that 30% of turtles that are released alive will
DIE. The longline industry is the first casualty of the bogus turtle
'interaction' estimates. The rec sector is next. Watch for the
signs.
The CCA will have a representative presenting
a paper on 'catch shares', encouraging the idea that fish should be sold to
the highest bidder, regardless of intended use of the fish.
Watch this all on the FRA's TV page. The password is FRAROCKS.
GAGGING ON GAG NUMBERS
New assessment calls for 81%
reduction in Gag grouper landings!
Watch the National Marine Fisheries
Service tell this to the Gulf Council LIVE on FRA Fish Eye TV.
The new numbers will
cause the COLLAPSE OF THE RECREATIONAL GROUPER FISHERY. In 2006, rec
anglers spent $500 Million on grouper/snapper fishing in PINELLAS COUNTY
ALONE. $400 million combined was spent in Hillsborough and Manatee
counties. Browse
through the
Fisheries Economics of the United States 2006
economic report (for
.pdf click here).
We’ve been vocal about the results of the
current Gag and Red Grouper reassessments, yet the sloppy science continues.
The Gag Grouper issue is in the judge's
hands for both the Gulf and the South Atlantic regions.
SHARE WHAT WITH WHO?
'Catch shares' is the new buzz
phrase for 'stop fishing'. The concept of catch shares is a policy
looking to be SWIFTLY pushed into law. So far, no one has presented a
logical discourse on using catch shares of any sort to manage the
recreational fishery. The current thinking is that 'shares' could be
bought by someone who does not even want to see the fish landed.
Somebody wealthier that YOU. Watch a CCA representative pitch catch
shares to the gulf Council this week.
Click here for the document. Watch
FRA TV for the presentation live. It should be sometime Wednesday
morning.
SHARK ATTACKS!
NMFS continues on its path towards
total destruction of our offshore fisheries. Unabated by fact,
logic and previous court opinions, the march towards closure continues.
The attitude of NMFS seems to be 'so sue me if you don't like it'.
OK. We will. And we have. Twice in the past 3 months,
in two different courts, over the actions of two different Councils.
FRA members can be proud that the FRA
won't back down in the face of daunting opposition.
The FRA SHARKS are in full hunt/feed
mode. You just can't keep a good shark down. Special THANKS
to Craig Berman and Dave Heil!
(Cue the theme from 'JAWS')... Get 'em,
boys!
PLEASE HELP SUPPORT THE FRA! We
need to feed the sharks.
Make a donation to the FRA.
Click here.
"Environmental extremist groups could care
less who they put out of business or that you no longer have the right
to take fish from your surrounding waters for your personal
consumption."
Read part 2 of “I-N-D-O-C-T-R-I –
Nation”
click here
Mark your
calendars
Next South Atlantic Fisheries Management
Council meeting:
September
14‐18, 2009
The Charleston Marriott Hotel
170 Lockwood Boulevard
Charleston, SC 29403
Click here for more information
GULF Council -
Full Council
meetings:
click here for more information
August 11 - 14, 2009
Perdido
Beach Resort
Orange
Beach, AL
FRA
grouper/snapper BASH and ‘fishing tournament’. Date and time TBA Gators on the Pass, Treasure Island
FRA’s Fish Eye TV
Making quite a splash with its ability to allow people
to view meetings via the internet, the broadcast suffers when the meeting
site’s internet connection drops. The link for the web TV broadcast is on
the front page of the FRA web site. Sit in on a meeting without the
travel hassles.
The FRA password is
FRAROCKS.
GET NEWS FROM THE MACHINE
The various fisheries
management councils and National Marine Fisheries Service produce
newsletters and press releases. You can sign up to receive these via email,
or even request that hard copies be mailed to you each time.
The National Marine Fisheries
Service puts out Fishnews, which highlights management actions taken in all
of the federal fisheries management councils. It is worth reading.
To sign up, go to
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/fishnews.htm.
The Gulf Council puts out
press releases on a timely basis.
To subscribe (no charge),
pressreleases@gulfcouncil.org
The South Atlantic Council produces newsletters and press releases.
Email
kim.iverson@safmc.net and request to be on the press release and
newsletter email lists.
RULES
AND REGULATIONS
GULF
OF MEXICO RECREATIONAL REEF FISH SEASONAL CLOSURES AND
GROUPER REGULATION
CHANGES
The seasonal closures are:
The recreational fishery for gag will be closed Feb 1 – Mar 31, 2009
The recreational fishery for red grouper
and black grouper isclosed February 15 – March 14, 2009
The daily bag limits are:
·
Two fish per person for gag.
·
Two fish per person for red grouper.
·
Five fish per person for all grouper in
aggregate.
Full regulations for the Gulf of
Mexico (includes links to each Gulf State’s own saltwater fishing
regulations).
click on Fishing
Regulations on the left side of the page.
SOUTH ATLANTIC GAG, BLACK AND RED GROUPER RULES REMAIN
THE SAME, FOR NOW.
New
rules for Gag grouper and Vermillion Snapper went in effect on July 29,
2009.
click here for the full rule.
Full
fishing regulations for the South Atlantic.
UPCOMING MEETINGS
Next South Atlantic Fisheries Management
Council meeting:
September
14‐18, 2009
The Charleston Marriott Hotel
170 Lockwood Boulevard
Charleston, SC 29403
Phone: 1-800-968-3569 or 843-723-3000/Fax: 843-266-1479
Click here for more information
GULF Council -
Full Council
meetings:
click here for more information
August 11 - 14, 2009
Perdido
Beach Resort
Orange
Beach, AL
Don't forget to support the FRA.
HELP THE FRA DEFEND YOUR FISHING RIGHTS.
PLEASE DONATE
NOW!
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