NMFS Meeting in silver springs yesterday on the Bluefin Tuna

[Bluewater Sportfishing]

5 People showed not including myself and steve, we made 7, 4 NMFS one guy that I don't know who he was so 12 people total at the meeting.....I guess a lot of guys down this way just don't give a shit. All the full time fishermen that make a living off the Ocean in O.C. maryland, Del, Cape May, etc should have been there. you can still help by sending letters till the 20th of this month. we have till friday. Margo was a little brazen with some of here answers, she was also a little cocky, I got a little upset when se kept on referring to the rebuilt stock of 2010. I simply asked "how can you rebuild a stock when half of it swims to the other side and gets caught"? She had no answer. She didn't have answers for a lot of things, just kept on referring to the 1999 deal, well it seems NMFS haven't moved much off that date and things have changed ten fold over the last ten years.

[frankypettolina]

I was busy earning a living in DE yesterday when I would have had to been driving to get to Silver Spring. And I do give a shit.

That is why I have written my letter and the OC Marlin Club blasted its membership to write letters.

Think they might have had a better turnout if they held the meeting in say, hmm, I don't know, part of the state that catches BFT? Or maybe promoted it? Or even held it in a central location convenient to the mid atlantic fisheries?

This reminds me of the Circle hook meeting held in Snow hill a few years ago. people who lived in Snow Hill couldn't find the location, and it was promoted about the same as this tuna meeting was.

They don't want us there, and they don't really care what are input is.

While I agree we must make our voices heard, I think you are sadly mistake if you think it will make a difference.

I will continue to write letters and attend meetings when i can, but it is sort of like beating my head against a wall.

[BuffaloHunter]

I've sent the letters to my Congressmen and women. I could not make the meeting because of work obligations.

Also agree with a lot of what Franky said. The Government and by extension NMFS could really care less about what we as fishermen, commercial or recreational think, do, or say as long as we follow THEIR rules. The facts don't matter to THEM, nor do the logical points and arguments you made. The brazen and arrogant woman you speak of personifies the entire attitude of the government, they just don't get it, and they never will it seems. All they want to do is tout past legislation as some kind of accomplishment regardless of whether is as any validity or applicability or USE today.

Thank you for your continued updates and work. Dealing face to face with the fiendish, loathesome, hideous beaurocracy is not an easy task. But I truly belive, there could have been 2000 of us there and they would not have cared any more. We're the ones who care, not them.

[Fishfinder]

I also sent my e-mail in but could not make the meeting. i agree with you Frankie, it would be nice if they would bother to make consessions for the fishermen and working people just once!! Holding a important meeting on a Tuesday from 4-6 pm sucks and believe me they know what they are doing. I have attended meetings at Silver springs before 4 or 5 years ago, and there were only about 12 people at that meeting as well. If they gave a shit about the fishermens imput they would try and have the meetings on a Saturday during the middle of the day and make the meeting place more favorable to the fishermen. It would be nice if they had a meeting somewhere down here in North Carolina as well, instead of making us drive 7 to 8 hours, but I guess that they don't give a damn about the North Carolina imput. In their defense, they did have a meeting here a few years back, but with the same time frame for the meeting and with the same amount of notice that Silver Springs and all of their other meetings get. There was a very bad turn out for that meeting, in fact I was one of the 3 people that showed up, and I told them then that scheduling the meeting the way they do is the reason they have not participation. WE are always expected to make sacrafices to go to these meetings, but you would think that once they would make a sacrafice for the benefit of the fishermen, especially since our tax dollars pay them!

Capt. Joe Shute

[BuffaloHunter]

I also sent my e-mail in but could not make the meeting. i agree with you Frankie, it would be nice if they would bother to make consessions for the fishermen and working people just once!! Holding a important meeting on a Tuesday from 4-6 pm sucks and believe me they know what they are doing. I have attended meetings at Silver springs before 4 or 5 years ago, and there were only about 12 people at that meeting as well. If they gave a shit about the fishermens imput they would try and have the meetings on a Saturday during the middle of the day and make the meeting place more favorable to the fishermen. It would be nice if they had a meeting somewhere down here in North Carolina as well, instead of making us drive 7 to 8 hours, but I guess that they don't give a damn about the North Carolina imput. In their defense, they did have a meeting here a few years back, but with the same time frame for the meeting and with the same amount of notice that Silver Springs and all of their other meetings get. There was a very bad turn out for that meeting, in fact I was one of the 3 people that showed up, and I told them then that scheduling the meeting the way they do is the reason they have not participation. WE are always expected to make sacrafices to go to these meetings, but you would think that once they would make a sacrafice for the benefit of the fishermen, especially since our tax dollars pay them!

Capt. Joe Shute

Government workers are usually done working by 4 or so. They WERE accomidating Fishermen by staying at work late.

[Bluewater Sportfishing]

I was busy earning a living in DE yesterday when I would have had to been driving to get to Silver Spring. And I do give a shit.

That is why I have written my letter and the OC Marlin Club blasted its membership to write letters.

Think they might have had a better turnout if they held the meeting in say, hmm, I don't know, part of the state that catches BFT? Or maybe promoted it? Or even held it in a central location convenient to the mid atlantic fisheries?

This reminds me of the Circle hook meeting held in Snow hill a few years ago. people who lived in Snow Hill couldn't find the location, and it was promoted about the same as this tuna meeting was.

They don't want us there, and they don't really care what are input is.

While I agree we must make our voices heard, I think you are sadly mistake if you think it will make a difference.

I will continue to write letters and attend meetings when i can, but it is sort of like beating my head against a wall.

Frank,
I agree with the part about having it closer to the fishermen and I strongly support a meeting in MHC but thats not going to happen because it closes for comment on friday. I do however think more people should have made the time to be there. Full time fishermen should have been there. there was just a few people there and I have to think what a shame. the few that did show up cudos to you! you made the effert, the new englanders showed up in force why the hell cant we? They set the stage(N.E.) not us, so any changes that are made you can thank the yanks.......NMFS saw the pisspoor turnout and inside they were laughing at us....what a shame.

[Bluewater Sportfishing]

I've sent the letters to my Congressmen and women. I could not make the meeting because of work obligations.

Also agree with a lot of what Franky said. The Government and by extension NMFS could really care less about what we as fishermen, commercial or recreational think, do, or say as long as we follow THEIR rules. The facts don't matter to THEM, nor do the logical points and arguments you made. The brazen and arrogant woman you speak of personifies the entire attitude of the government, they just don't get it, and they never will it seems. All they want to do is tout past legislation as some kind of accomplishment regardless of whether is as any validity or applicability or USE today.

Thank you for your continued updates and work. Dealing face to face with the fiendish, loathesome, hideous beaurocracy is not an easy task. But I truly belive, there could have been 2000 of us there and they would not have cared any more. We're the ones who care, not them.

If there was 2000 of us there it would have been a spectical!
news would have been there govt. officials who knows, but it would have been grand. cant win a fight with just 4 people against a room full of bullies. At this point its mute anyway as the meeting is over and all we can do is wait for the outcome.
and when it comes oh boy the bitching is gonna be through the roof!

[Deep C]

Its our own appathy that gets us nowhere. Until we get off our dead asses and show in mass the game is lost... I was basically alone in my circle fight... Others supported my position but when it came time for meeting they were no place to be found...
THe BFT is effectively extinct as it sits... Until we stop whining and actually show them our faces they'll continue pissing on us. My position is that fighting each screwed up issue they bring into our world is a waste of time but if we all as one collectively went for the throat to close them down that could be done easier than it seems. They are a financial burden on already cash strapped noaa and have no successes in their track record to justify keeping them open.
Kobey I applaud your efforts and empathise with the piss poor follow up by our bretheren... "Oh somebody else can do it... Dancing with stars is comming on..."

[sanchoco]

I have a suggestion, Lets get the fishing community together and do something about it ourselves. Why do we need to rely on the government to make the rules for us.

Why not create our own group of fisheries managers and tell the gov to go to He**.

My experience so far is that no fishermen give a dam unless he thinks that his personal rights are being taken away. Example - how can you tell me that I Can't fish with 'J" Hooks.

If we as fishermen, Recreational, Commercial and related business would get together and set rules for ourselves and start to think ahead of today then the NMFS would not need to be involved. How can we blame them when we are part of the reason that they have to exist.

Get off your soap box and do something about it instead of just complaining here.



Deep C - thanks for taking the time to go to the meeting. I Wish more people would care about our future fisheries.

[Captain Greg Sears]

I hate to say this but the southern group has never had a good showing at these meetings. I would have been there from Massachusetts but I had previously scheduled appointments. It is a shame that we even have to go through this. We still are not working together on this issue one group is doing things one way and another is doing things their way. I heard allot of talk about the NETA group but only about sending money to them For what? I have recruited a few lawyers and public officials They where supposed to attend the silver springs meeting and did not due to meetings in DC about our government issues. I have not seen one news report regarding this issue but Octo Mom gets allot of press. Where are some of these famous fisherman who belong to this site I thought SFC was a great tool to organize but it looks as thou no one gives a crap. I am going to hire my own lawyer to prepare a law suit in my own behalf for lost business and unfair trade regulations if this bag limit stays in place. Talk is cheap alot of fisherman on this site put up a good talk but do nothing to back it up. If we lose this battle its because no one is getting involved. I am done playing politicion and this is my last post, Our government is screwed up because we let it get that way. Nice talking to some of you from SFC but you need to do better as a group to get things done. Again I am done trying to convince people to join forces and this is my last post on SFC.