US anglers protest !

[Lucky_Phill]

Thousands rally in DC for their "Right to Fish"

Leading house members join fishermen at US Capitol Mar 8, 2010 By RFA (More articles by this author)

February 25, 2010

- Over 20 federal lawmakers joined several thousand fishermen from around the country next to the US Capitol last month in a three-hour rally supporting national fisheries reform. The first reports from journalists on the scene tabbed attendance at between 3,000 and 5,000 with fishermen standing elbow-to-elbow in Washington DC. The rally was historic in that it was the first time that members of both the recreational and commercial sector found common ground in a cause for reform. "An incredible success," said Jim Donofrio, Executive Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) and one of the key organizers of the historic rally.

The United We Fish Crowd rally drew a fairly equal mix of recreational and commercial fishermen from as far as away as Alaska and California in united opposition to the strict federal fishing requirements contained in the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA). The nation's primary fishing law helped fishermen when it was enacted in 1976 by eliminating foreign fishing, but during reauthorizations in 1996 and 2006 new language has mandated rebuilding fish populations under arbitrary timetables resulting in the closure of many healthy and rebuilt fisheries.

Carrying signs and banners with the message I Fish, I Vote and Reform Magnuson Now, most participants came by chartered bus from points up and down the down coast which let off at nearby Union Station. The RFA estimates that were about 40 chartered buses, some arriving as early as Tuesday afternoon, and a few were hounded by weather-related traffic problems in New York and New Jersey depositing attendees on the scene nearly an hour into the rally. "We have close to 4,000 fishermen. This was better and bigger than we ever thought," Donofrio said.
United We Fish Sen. Schumer Those who arrived after the noon start missed an impassioned opening speech by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), lead sponsor of Senate Bill 1255, the Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act. "Shame on the Magnuson-Stevens Act," Schumer said MSA as currently written denies fishermen access to healthy and rebuilding stocks due to arbitrary, 'time-specific' deadlines. "We need flexibility to be able to thrive," Schumer promised the crowd, while charging federal bureaucrats with failure to recognize the impact of their decisions on working families. "We need to start caring about our fishermen as much as our fish.

The bipartisan unity that could be seen in the crowd between commercial and recreational fishermen was well-reflected on stage, as one by one democrats and republicans took to the microphone in support of their coastal constituents. Sen. George LeMieux (R-FL) encouraged fishermen to visit their legislators, telling them "we've got to change this law." LeMieux said the federal fisheries law was "keeping you out of work, it's keeping the tackle shop out of work, it's keeping the hotel out of work, it's keeping the restaurants out of work."
United We Fish Rep PalloneRep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), a longtime champion of coastal issues with a proven track record in protecting the ocean environment has been a champion of the Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act legislation in the House (HR 1584), and praised the fishermen for coming to DC with their concerns. "There is nothing more important than grass roots," Pallone told demonstrators. "The science is broken and what they are doing is wrong," Pallone said of how catch limits are determined. "We need flexibility ... that's the only way we're going to make some changes around here."

"You can't brush aside basic science," said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), co-sponsor of the Schumer Bill. "When did flexibility become an ugly word," said Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL), adding "we're not going to stand for it. We'll be there and we'll get it done." "This is about our right to fish. The bureaucrats have to get their heads out of wherever it is they are," said Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ) to cheers from the crowd.
On a day when legislators were busy with hearings on the banking industry and the Toyota recall, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) found time to address his fishing constituents and said he wished the banking regulators treated the financial industry "as harshly" as fishery regulators have treated the fishing industry.
Many legislators spoke about U.S. regulations resulting in more than 80 percent of the fish Americans eat being imported from countries like China and Russia, which Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina said "If you're gone, the Chinese own the fish market in North America. We can't let that happen."

"We're going to work it hard. That's 10,000 miles of fish beds closed; it will put hundreds of commercial fishermen out of a job. I'm hoping these guys (the anglers) can at least get members of Congress to take a look at another option," said Rep. Henry Brown (R-SC).

"Our fishing communities have taken a hit, which is why it is so heartening that so many have still taken the time and resources to come march on Washington in support of their industry," said Rep. John Tierney (D-MA), sentiments shared by fellow coastal congressmen like Rep. John Adler (D-NJ), Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC), Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY), Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL) and Rep. John Mica (R-FL), all members of Congress who spoke on stage yesterday.

In a passionate speech directed at Gloucester fishermen, state Senator Bruce Tarr (R-MA) said he supported changes he called the salvation of fishermen in New England, flexibility modification which would allow more reasonable rebuilding timelines while still achieving conservation goals and sustained fishing communities." "We don't have a minute to spare we're losing commercial fishing boats, we're losing the ability to fish recreational, this makes all the sense in the world, it's not an unreasonable measure," Tarr said.
United We Fish Sen. BrownTogether with fellow state Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante (D-MA), the Massachusetts delegation stole the show by returning to the park at 2:30 Wednesday with Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) the newest member of the Senate. Brown, Tarr and Ferrante led Massachusetts fishermen off to a meeting in the Senate, while North Carolina Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Kay Hagan (D-NC) took their constituents off to gain more support for Flexibility.

HR 1584 picked up three additional co-sponsors the week of the February 24th rally (29 total co-sponsors), while S 1255 gained another three supporters (for a total of 5). The lobbying effort in DC by RFA staffers in support of these vitally important coastal bills will continue.

Copyright Acknowledged: MARLIN The international sportsfishing magazine.



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[Chris Ryan]

Oh that rumble of fisherman working together is getting louder around the world. Will Australians have the same wherewithal to follow suit??

[TimiBoy]

I reckon the time for a protest here is fast approaching...

Cheers,

Tim

[mudrunner]

i was just about to post this......good on you timmy...

remember the thread i posted? (now ...removed) ...carbon credits for whales, sharks, and tuna........also there are moves for, free lawyers for fish in switzerland....can you see where all this is going?

heres another article....

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/s...ory?id=4975762

Updated: March 9, 2010, 1:59 PM ET
Culled out

Obama administration will accept no more public input for federal fishery strategy




By Robert Montgomery
ESPNOutdoors.com


The Obama administration will accept no more public input for a federal strategy that could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing the nation's oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters.
AP/Luis M. AlvarezOne sign at the United We Fish rally at the Capital summed up the feelings of recreational and commercial fishermen.


This announcement comes at the time when the situation supposedly still is "fluid" and the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force still hasn't issued its final report on zoning uses of these waters.

That's a disappointment, but not really a surprise for fishing industry insiders who have negotiated for months with officials at the Council on Environmental Quality and bureaucrats on the task force. These angling advocates have come to suspect that public input into the process was a charade from the beginning.
"When the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) completed their successful campaign to convince the Ontario government to end one of the best scientifically managed big game hunts in North America (spring bear), the results of their agenda had severe economic impacts on small family businesses and the tourism economy of communities across northern and central Ontario," said Phil Morlock, director of environmental affairs for Shimano.
"Now we see NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and the administration planning the future of recreational fishing access in America based on a similar agenda of these same groups and other Big Green anti-use organizations, through an Executive Order by the President. The current U.S. direction with fishing is a direct parallel to what happened in Canada with hunting: The negative economic impacts on hard working American families and small businesses are being ignored.
"In spite of what we hear daily in the press about the President's concern for jobs and the economy and contrary to what he stated in the June order creating this process, we have seen no evidence from NOAA or the task force that recreational fishing and related jobs are receiving any priority."

PHOTO GALLERY

Fisheries In Danger

Consequently, unless anglers speak up and convince their Congressional representatives to stop this bureaucratic freight train, it appears that the task force will issue a final report for "marine spatial planning" by late March, with President Barack Obama then issuing an Executive Order to implement its recommendations — whatever they may be.
Led by NOAA's Jane Lubchenco, the task force has shown no overt dislike of recreational angling, but its indifference to the economic, social and biological value of the sport has been deafening.
Additionally, Lubchenco and others in the administration have close ties to environmental groups who would like nothing better than to ban recreational angling. And evidence suggests that these organizations have been the engine behind the task force since before Obama issued a memo creating it last June.
As ESPN previously reported, WWF, Greenpeace, Defenders of Wildlife, Pew Environment Group and others produced a document entitled "Transition Green" shortly after Obama was elected in 2008. What has happened since suggests that the task force has been in lockstep with that position paper.
Then in late summer, just after he created the task force, these groups produced "Recommendations for the Adoption and Implementation of an Oceans, Coasts, and Great Lakes National Policy." This document makes repeated references to "overfishing," but doesn't once reference recreational angling, its importance, and its benefits, both to participants and the resource.
Additionally, some of these same organizations have revealed their anti-fishing bias by playing fast and loose with "facts," in attempts to ban tackle containing lead in the United States and Canada.
That same tunnel vision, in which recreational angling and commercial fishing are indiscriminately lumped together as harmful to the resource, has persisted with the task force, despite protests by the angling industry.
As more evidence of collusion, the green groups began clamoring for an Executive Order to implement the task force's recommendations even before the public comment period ended in February. Fishing advocates had no idea that this was coming.
Perhaps not so coincidentally, the New York Times reported on Feb. 12 that "President Obama and his team are preparing an array of actions using his executive power to advance energy, environmental, fiscal and other domestic policy priorities."
Click here for archive


Morlock fears that "what we're seeing coming at us is an attempted dismantling of the science-based fish and wildlife model that has served us so well. There's no basis in science for the agendas of these groups who are trying to push the public out of being able to fish and recreate.

"Conflicts (user) are overstated and problems are manufactured. It's all just an excuse to put us off the water."
In the wake of the task force's framework document, the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation (CSF) and its partners in the U.S. Recreational Fishing & Boating Coalition against voiced their concerns to the administration.
"Some of the potential policy implications of this interim framework have the potential to be a real threat to recreational anglers who not only contribute billions of dollars to the economy and millions of dollars in tax revenues to support fisheries conservation, but who are also the backbone of the American fish and wildlife conservation ethic," said CSF President Jeff Crane.
Morlock, a member of the CSF board, added, "There are over one million jobs in America supported coast to coast by recreational fishing. The task force has not included any accountability requirements in their reports for evaluating or mitigating how the new policies they are drafting will impact the fishing industry or related economies.
"Given that the scope of this process appears to include a new set of policies for all coastal and inland waters of the United States, the omission of economic considerations is inexcusable."
This is not the only access issue threatening the public's right to fish, but it definitely is the most serious, according to Chris Horton, national conservation director for BASS.
"With what's being created, the same principles could apply inland as apply to the oceans," he said. "Under the guise of 'marine spatial planning' entire watersheds could be shut down, even 2,000 miles up a river drainage from the ocean.
"Every angler needs to be aware because if it's not happening in your backyard today or tomorrow, it will be eventually.
"We have one of the largest voting blocks in the country and we need to use it. We must not sit idly by."

[mudrunner]

some of the more worrying statements from the article..

The Obama administration will accept no more public input for a federal strategy that could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing the nation's oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters.

Quote
Additionally, some of these same organizations have revealed their anti-fishing bias by playing fast and loose with "facts," in attempts to ban tackle containing lead in the United States and Canada.

That same tunnel vision, in which recreational angling and commercial fishing are indiscriminately lumped together as harmful to the resource, has persisted with the task force, despite protests by the angling industry.

Quote
As more evidence of collusion, the green groups began clamoring for an Executive Order to implement the task force's recommendations even before the public comment period ended in February. Fishing advocates had no idea that this was coming.

Quote
Perhaps not so coincidentally, the New York Times reported on Feb. 12 that "President Obama and his team are preparing an array of actions using his executive power to advance energy, environmental, fiscal and other domestic policy priorities."

Quote
Morlock fears that "what we're seeing coming at us is an attempted dismantling of the science-based fish and wildlife model that has served us so well. There's no basis in science for the agendas of these groups who are trying to push the public out of being able to fish and recreate.

"With what's being created, the same principles could apply inland as apply to the oceans," he said. "Under the guise of 'marine spatial planning' entire watersheds could be shut down, even 2,000 miles up a river drainage from the ocean.

"Every angler needs to be aware because if it's not happening in your backyard today or tomorrow, it will be eventually.

[Fafnir]

I think they can rumble all they like. It's not looking good. A win for the greens in the US would bring us one step closer to the end of fishing as we know it here in Aus.

[sparkyice]

"if we don't hang together, surely we shall hang separately"

i think those are the words of an old american colonist, patrick henry, speaking of the american revolution.

the "greens" are global. why not we fishers?
i'm not much of a leader, but i would throw my support into an international orginasation that was pro- fishing.