Fishermen's Rally In Washington

[CapeMayRay]

I boarded a charter bus at South Jersey Marina at 7:00 am along with 50 plus others. (Commercial, Charter, recreation and others in the marine industry field.) We were very fortunate. Steve Spagnola of Sea Tow in Cape May took it on his own to organize a charter bus for the rally in Washington. Not only did he get a bus but he solicited support from local marinas, organizations, associations, including John from www.sportfishermen.com (Thanks John) and businesses that are directly effected by unfair fisheries laws.

All these groups that stepped up to the occasion and kicked in money for the trip and they came through big time, paying for the bus, lunch, an after the trip get together, making the trip free for all those that made the effort to go to the rally.

My personal thought on the rally. Even though I disagree with the RFA on the New Jersey Saltwater Fishing License issue and think they should support the efforts to get proper funding for NJ through a license so our registration fees in 2011 will not go to the Federal General Fund, I gave them my full support on the rally. They were dead right and did an excellent job on organizing and running the rally in Washington. Ray Bogan did an excellent job of running the show and maintaining a good flow.

For a first time rally there was and excellent turn out. There were representatives from Florida to Maine, the west coast and even Alaska.

Don't think it was possible to count the numbers but it was in the thousands all of which had a positive impact.

The list of government officials that spoke at the rally was long as they were present in Washington for various votes and were grabbed for the rally during their break periods. Every coastal state concerned about the fishing industry made an effort to speak at the rally. Our Senator LoBiondo and well know Senator Dodd were among the many.

Most prevalent at the rally were those most adversely effected and who have been or will be most economically harmed. I realize that most recreational fishermen fish as a hobby and are not as severely effected but considering the large numbers of recreational fishermen, there should have been a lot more in attendance. Maybe next time.

Overall, it was very worth attending. For all those that missed it, you were well represented by those who did and everyone came away feeling good about taking the day off to attend. Now it is just a matter of educating our fellow fishermen and government officials that we mean business and that we are not going to settle for being unfairly treated.

Here are just a few pictures from the rally.

Thanks to all those that made it a success.

[CapeMayRay]

Few more pictures.