question about the NMFS and your help

[flatbottom]

Why are rec bag limits based on commercial quotas reached or not reached in a fishing season. Does NMFS feel we as rec fishermen are not equal as people. What are your comments on this and how would you make this bag limit regulation fair. I am looking for ways to address the NMFS on the way they regulate this natural resourse.We have to send a wide diversity of letters and have strong support from many regions. How has the regulations in place today effected your business, favorite past time, favorite sport, or you as an angler, or you as a parent, or you as a tax payer or what ever your title is? There are many groups today satisfied with the quotas and wish to remove the rec fishermen's ability to fish. This is not fair and I am hoping to form a letter based on your response to send to NMFS. Deep C has already demonstrated his short comings in the threads posted earlier. I use this resource to enjoy its beauty but some use this resource to earn a living. You all know someone in that position and now MNFS is threatening that.

[Bluewater Sportfishing]

Flat,
this is going to be a long ramble so try to piece it all together,
ok here it gos.

First things first this has been talked about and debated for a long time.
I must also say this before I go any further, I do not support the nmfs.
commercial intrest will always prevail for the most part. when you look at the commercial sector one must look beyond the small owner/operator, and look to the big corporations like red lobster, grotons, omega, and many more. They have the power to lobby big government because they have the greenbacks to do so. These monster corporations are making billions a year and trust me they are not going to let that slip away. Even the small owner/operators are seeing the light and are joining hands with the recs to promote a more conservative fishing method other then the blatent raping of the ocean that these mega corps are doing now.

What the recs can go is join groups like the rfa, the billfish foundation and many more that I am not aware of.
Start to go to public meetings and let your voice be heard.
one thing I have seen is people get on the band wagon and start to rally but when push comes to shove and its time to show up someware no one goes.
What the recs need is big money behind them. All the big boat builders such as viking, ocean yachts, merrit, jarret bay, alblemarle, carilina classic, buddy davis, and much more need to step up and say some words. I gotta believe that all of these restrictions are hurting boat sales.(for new boats) they have the money to get things rolling.

ICCAT needs to get on the ball with the blatent overfishing of the BFT stocks in the med. sea( cant spell it) they overfish their quota by 43 thousand metric tons a year...that is absurd. and because of that we suffer.
nmfs gives quota to us after they assess the toatal bio mass.

The nmfs has to deal with every intrest then deal out the quota to every body. We get the short end of the stick.
its a big problem and until we can unite as strong as or stronger then the commercial sector then we get what we get and there isnt much that can be done about it. Money makes the engine work.

[Capt. Brian Daley]

Bluewater sportfishing well said I have been to many meeting which most
are held in the winter and nobody is around reg that is, we are lost in numbers
here and nobody cares ya they ***** for a breif second and thats it out
of sight and out of mind thats what there hoping fore everybody better stand
up now or get out of fishing as you know it , you'll make your own bed

[flatbottom]

I understand every word. So we need to unite from the rec stand point and find some financial backers to have our plea heard. The unite part, I think, should be first on the list. Then take our plea to the large business owners for their support. That is a great angle to work from Kobey. I do not want the freedom of fishing for the recs to fade away. And at the pace it is going now. We don't have a future.

[Bluewater Sportfishing]

here are a few other things to consider also.
the amount of seafood that the american people eat has gone through the roof in the past ten years. sushi bars are on almost every corner in a city block. What this demand means is the commercial boats became alot more efficant in thier netting and dragging. double pair trawlers need to be stopped. nmfs needs to do this. these trawl boats can and do wipe out the complete entire school of fish in one pass. the fish cannot sustain this pressure. a purse seine will circle the school but at least 1/3 of the school is left. When I say school I mean a school of thousands of metric tons( a metric ton is 2200lbs) there are too many boats fishing thus there have been govt byouts to get the smaller boats out but give the quota to the corp that baught out the other boat. rob..you brought up the nmfs is now going to lower the the flounder to 14 for the commercial draggers. we all know that will only hurt the problem and not fix it. that is what nmfs is famous for. but on their behalf..the are almost gaurented to be getting major pressure from the big corporations.where do you think they get the funding money for their research? Other problems include commercial fishermen try to set the market. be the first one in to get the big money for their catch. problem with that is the last one in knows the market price is going to be low so they then need to catch more to make a little money.. that is wrong and we can blame our hunger of seafood for that. The govt also trades quota with Foreign countries for other goods and services...thats a public resource that they are giving away. the unused quota from this years GBT fishery down south went to mexico if I'm not mistaken.

there is so much going on that we are not aware of because we are not at the meetings. I reason why we dont go is we all have day jobs that would require us to take a day off from work. the meetings are also geared for the commercial fishermen and realy have no bearing on us. what we can do is go to the mettings and protest the quotas and research methods they use.
there are almost 5000 members on this board and coutless lurkers that if, by some small miracle all showed up we would have a voice the public meetings are all up for the public to see and know when they are its just getting everyone there!!

[Deep C]

I'm not gonna jump in with a redundant post about how they have screwed me and my business. Over all they are a total failure as an agency. For me as a fisherman, screw the business end, I am fed up with them bullying us around is some lame attempt to "Appear" like they are doing something.
The money represented from the corportations etc that Flat has listed is not as much of an issue as one may think. Those big companies often purchase their sea food from abroad any way... What they have that we don't is organization and direction. We need that. Not as special interests like billfish guys, tuna guys, flounder guys or what ever the target du jour is... I get frustrated seeing the different directions we go. Just with in certain groups you have "chapters" all infighting for "power"...
Kobey, I saw you mention Billfish Foundation. They have gone bunny hugger along with IGFA... Toss your support toward something like RFA but get them to stop their regional and internal power plays first. Then you as an individual can stir a load of shit by calling the NMFS people themselves and you congressmen and senators... Enough messages all on the same page will get their attention...

One page... Simple... Hey "NMFS" we are pissed and want you out of our end of the world... Period end. Thats the message we need to not only send but get accomplished. Surely there has to be some fishing lawyers on here that could draft up some stuff and do some leagaleese wording that could be included in legislation to start the reversal progress of the damage they have brought to the recreational industry...

They have a bad habit of proposing some really shitty stuff then lead the public into thinking that some how they are doing you a favor when they negotiate a "settlement" ... Don't buy into it... Keep the pressure on until they are really out of our hair...