Page 1 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

Volume 1, Issue 2Volume 1, Issue 2

GULF OF MEXICO IN THE SPOTLIGHTGULF OF MEXICO IN THE SPOTLIGHT Stealing the Red Snapper Fishery PLUS Dirty Politics Stealing the Red Snapper Fishery PLUS Dirty Politics

Hurricane Sandy Emergency Restoration Funding SnafuHurricane Sandy Emergency Restoration Funding Snafu

Meet Jim Donofrio & More insideMeet Jim Donofrio & More inside

VIKING AD

Page 3 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

FROM THE PUBLISHER’S DESK Gary Caputi

Executive Director’s Report: Casting Your Vote

4

RFA Issues & News 6

Canyon Runner Sem-inar Series

8

After the Storm: Sandy Disaster Relief

10

Breaking Legislative News: Pallone & RFA to the Rescue!

12

GULF OF MEXICO EXPOSE Theft by Deception Dirty Politics

15 22

PROFILE: Jim Donofrio RFA Exec. Director

28

I AM THE RFA Pete Santinii

33

State Chapter News RFA Boots on the Ground Around the Nation

36

Inside this issue:

Volume 1, Issue 2 November/December 2012

The entire country has heard about the wrath of Hurricane Sandy and the night-

mare she left behind. Most hard hit were the coastal areas of New York and New

Jersey. Estimates of general property damage are approaching $100 billion and

BoatUS recently reported that somewhere north of 65,000 recreational boats were

damaged or destroyed in her wake. The RFA’s headquarters office in New Jersey

was not spared and was still only operating on generator power weeks later and

while it has made getting this issue of the RFA E-News out a challenge it has not

slowed down the work of the staff, as you will see when you read this issue.

The damage to the infrastructure of fishing communities in both states was mas-

sive, more than enough for NOAA to declare a Federal Fisheries Disaster, which

allows Congress to appropriate emergency funds to help fishing related businesses

survive and rebuild. However, vagaries in the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act and

the Magnuson-Stevens Act could have excluded recreational fishing businesses

from receiving assistance. RFA sprang into action working with NOAA and area

political contacts to make sure that this did not happen. See John DePersenaire’s

article “After the Storm” and “Breaking Legislative News” in this issue to learn more

and see what the RFA has accomplished.

The impact of social media on day-to-day communication continues its march and

RFA managing director Jim Hutchinson has been hard at work expanding the

reach and communications ability of this organization. Social media gives us the

opportunity to get you the latest breaking news while providing you with the abil-

ity to respond. The RFA Facebook page has been operational for almost two years,

but many of you have not visited and “liked” RFA so you are not getting the latest

news and you’ve been missing Hutch’s most excellent blog. More recently Jim ac-

tivated the RFA Twitter account so you can now follow us there on your

Smartphone or tablet.

To hook up with the RFA on social media click the links below and be sure to share

us with your fishing buddies. May I take this last bit of space to wish you all a Merry

Christmas, Happy Hunakkah, Festive Kwanzaa, or whatever you might or might

not celebrate from everyone at the RFA. And the best of fishing in the New Year!

Page 4 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

Executive Director’s Report

NOW THAT THE DUST HAS CLEARED Thoughts on the 2012 Elections

By Jim Donofrio, RFA Executive Director

As a member of the Recreational Fishing

Alliance we advised you of our recom-

mendations and reasons for endorsing

specific candidates prior to the election.

In some races there was no clear choice

and the RFA abstained. In others, like the

Presidential race and those for certain

House and Senate seats we offered an

endorsement of one candidate over an-

other.

When the RFA endorses a candidate we

do so solely from the perspective of that

candidate’s record and potential impact

on our area of concern as noted in the

RFA’s Mission Statement. It’s all about

who has or has not worked with us on

issues effecting recreational fishing

rights, protecting fishing industry jobs

and on promoting legislation and regu-

latory actions that insure sustainable

fisheries with fair and balanced access.

With that in mind I would like to give

you some insight into our decisions and

the potential outcome of the results of

the election.

Let me start by noting the obvious, the

RFA was not pleased with the results of

the election in general and with the

reelection of President Obama in particu-

lar. Did we think we would get every-

thing we wanted to restore recreational

fishing from a Romney administration?

Definitely not! When he was Governor

of Massachusetts Romney had ties to

some of the same people and organiza-

tions in the environmental community

that have plagued recreational fishing

through their strong influence on the

Obama administration and his appoint-

ments to key agencies like the Depart-

ment of Commerce and NOAA. That said

Romney was a pro small business candi-

date who wanted to reduce the regula-

tory impact of the Federal Government

on businesses and the American people.

We had numerous substantive meetings

with his key policy advisers and felt

strongly that he would have been a far

better choice for fishermen than Obama.

After four years of living under and try-

ing to work with the Obama Administra-

tion we had plenty of experience with

his policy direction and style of leader-

ship. He instituted the National Ocean

Policy by Presidential fiat, which was

nothing more than a rehash of a bill that

was voted down in Congress by a bipar-

tisan majority year after year for far too

many good reasons than I can go into

here. NOP was a bone he threw to his

environmentalist supporters, but all it

does is add another huge layer of bu-

reaucracy to get in the way of intelligent

management. With NOAA being run by

appointees plucked out of the environ-

mental movement we are facing the

expansion of cap and trade fisheries

management and it is being forced

down our throats using a dishonest di-

vide and conquer approach to achieve it.

Just as bad we have watched as mem-

bers of the Regional Fisheries Councils

from the recreational and commercial

fishing communities were replaced by a

growing list of environmental zealots

further weakening our input into the

overall management process. These are

just a couple of examples of what has

become a disturbing trend under this

administration.

With the election settled and another

four years of the same ahead of us

chances are we will continue the down-

ward spiral in fisheries legislation and

management that started toward the

end of the Bush Administration. Remem-

ber, it was W that gave us fisheries man-

agement by Executive Order and alt-

hough that decree was to grant game

fish status to a few select species in the

EEZ, it was a bad precedent to set.

We can only hope that in the coming

years the House of Representatives will

have enough backbone to counter this

administrations continued assault on

recreational fishing and that our strong

working relationships with key Demo-

cratic and Republican Congressmen can

help us keep some potentially disastrous

policy decisions at bay.

The reform of the Magnuson Stevens Act

is still at the forefront of our efforts, alt-

hough it will probably be more difficult

to achieve under this administration. We

still have champions on both sides of the

isle in the Senate and House of Repre-

sentatives who understand the true im-

pact of the last reauthorization and the

need to fix it or risk the total collapse of

fishing participation, the industry and

the continued loss of industry jobs.

Although I might be disappointed by the

election results and the challenges it

presents to recreational fishermen going

forward I am always optimistic about

America and feel strongly that we can

overcome obstacles and work towards a

better day for our members and the

sport.

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Page 6 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

RFA Issues & News By Jim Hutchinson, RFA Managing Director

Each news item includes a corresponding hyperlink. For more

information, simply click on the link to read the release in its entirety.

RFA-NJ RESPONSE TO SANDY Soon after superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc on the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, the Acting Secretary of Commerce an-nounced the determination of a fishery resource disaster to help coastal fishermen in New Jersey and New York. An offi-cial federal fishery disaster declaration would aid in securing disaster relief for impacted aspects of the industry, including both commercial fishing operations and charter fishing operators, along with owners of related fishery infrastructure af-

fected by the disaster. The Acting Secretary noted that if money is appropriated, NOAA and NOAA Fisheries will work closely with members of Congress and the governors of impacted states to develop financial assistance plans to help our coastal communities and fishing industry. In its first official release after the storm, RFA pledged to remain active at the federal level to ensure that Congress responds accordingly to this pledge. Such fisheries disaster declarations have been made in the past, but it's incumbent upon Congress responding to actually allocate the necessary funds to support the recreational and commercial fishing industry. RFA of course will be dedicated towards working with Congress to ensure the recreational fishing industry especially is recognized. RFA Letter to affected Members, 11/19/12 RFA DELIVERS ‘NEW’ FINAL BUNKER COMMENTS The Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) has spent considerable time reviewing the latest draft amendment to the Inter-state Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden and has officially submitted its comments to the Atlantic States

Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) on behalf of RFA members nationwide. The deadline for public comment ended on Friday, November 16th. Coined by Dr. H. Bruce Franklin as 'The Most Important Fish in the Sea,' menhaden has be-come particularly controversial in recent years as members of the environmental business community have attempted to manipulate public action without actually hosting functional debate or discussion within the fishing community. "The management of this particular species has gotten more and more complex in recent years, especially since some groups have tried turning menhaden into a recruitment campaign," said RFA executive director Jim Donofrio. RFA's official posi-tion once again puts focus directly on the reduction industry, specifically Omega Protein, Inc. which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol OME. In a recent report to shareholders, OME reported third-quarter revenues of $77.8 million, the "highest quarterly revenues in the company's history" according to president Bret Scholtes who cited a "strong fish catch." Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) filings also show that Omega's top five executives took home

more than $13 million in compensation in the last two years. "Considering the dockside value of menhaden is around 8 cents a pound, the guys at Omega must be vacuuming boatloads of bunker from the Chesapeake every year," Donofrio said. RFA News Alert, 11/20/12. BLACK SEA BASS IS TOO HEALTHY FOR ANGLERS TO FISH The black sea bass fishery is rebuilt. However, much like red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico, the stock is too healthy for an-glers to actually go fishing. Because there are simply too many black sea bass along the East Coast, anglers are having too much success – and because the stock is so healthy, NOAA Fisheries will have no choice but to shut the fishery down for the next four months while considering how to take a huge chunk of the allowable catch away from anglers in 2013. The Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) says credit for this fisheries fiasco can be given to the 109th Congress which convened from 2005-2007. Due to wording in the Magnuson Stevens Act signed into law in 2007, since the recreational fishing

community exceeded its annual catch limit (ACL) on black sea bass in 2012, accountability measures will be triggered meaning any overages this year could come off of next season's allowable landings. RFA warns that it's entirely possible due to how Congress worded the federal law that the full overharvest in 2012 could be applied directly to the 2013 ACL. RFA News Alert, 10/22/12 MODEST REOPENING OF FALL RED SNAPPER In 2009, NOAA Fisheries announced a ban on both the recreational and commercial harvest of red snapper in South At-lantic federal waters off Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina would commence beginning January 4, 2010. In September, that fishery finally reopened for two consecutive weekends made up of Fridays, Saturdays, and Sun-days, with a one fish per-person, per-day, bag limit with no minimum size limit. Immediately following the 2009 closure,

Page 7 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

Dave Heil, a Florida-based attorney for the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) filed a lawsuit in federal court in Jacksonville seeking an emergency injunction to prevent the ban from taking effect and asking a judge to throw out the rule which created the ban. Heil and the RFA charged that the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) used improper data to drive their decision, explaining that the government already acknowledged that the data collection methodology used to make the closure determination was never intended to be

used for such purposes. The lawsuit helped spur a modest reopening of the red snapper fishery, though RFA reminds its members that it’s Congress that can really help anglers by amending the federal fisheries law. RFA News 9/13/12 OBAMA’S NOP PLAN TABLED BEFORE ELECTION Just before the presidential debates began, the Obama administration reported that the final version of the president’s National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan would not be released to the public as originally expected. In a meeting of the Ocean Research Advisory Panel, National Ocean Council Office Director Deerin Babb-Brott suggests that the final plan will be released to the public later. According to the National Ocean Policy Coalition (NOPC) which represents diverse in-terest groups united in helping protect the user interests by ensuring the new National Ocean Policy is done in such a way that it is helpful rather than harmful to national interests, Babb-Brott said the administration is still working on its final plan. Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA), an outspoken opponent of the president’s National Ocean Policy, is one of more than

30 NOPC members. RFA News 8/16/2012 WAL-MART MAKES HOLIDAY NEWS Dan Bacher of the Daily Kos reported on the widespread media attention given to Walmart’s decision to open “Black Fri-day” shopping one day early in 2012 to begin on Thanksgiving Day. But as he reports, fishermen should be more angry in defiance against Walmart because of the Walton Family Foundation’s dumping of $71.4 million into corporate green-washing efforts in 2011, which helped support ‘no take’ marine reserves and privatized ‘cap & trade’ fisheries policies like catch shares through direct funding to Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). Bacher points out how a recent article by the New York Times failed to consider the relationship between the Walton family and Walmart the corporation. "I didn't think to check the EDF board for Walton family members, or Walton Family Foundation donations," said Times reporter

Stephanie Clifford, adding "None of the third parties I'd spoken to had mentioned that connection, which isn't an excuse - I should have thought of it myself, but didn't. Read more about Walmart, 11/19/12.

Page 8 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

Canyon Runner Seminars

An Amazing Educational Experience for Offshore Fishermen

1) Big-Eyes Secrets to Catch 75 Big-Eyes in 2 Years - Capt. Mark

DeBlasio

2) Advanced Electronics - Use Your Electronics to Find Fish -

Capt. Mark DeBlasio

3) Advanced Canyon Trolling - Tournament Winning Angler -

Brad Burgess

4) Tournament Winning Marlin and Tuna Techniques- Tourna-

ment Winning Crew - Capt. Sean Welsh & the Crew of the Rest-

less Lady

5) Getting the Most from Every Bite and From Life on the Edge -

Mike "Desire" Jacobs – (Capt. Mark's Mentor - Learn from the

Man that We Learned From)

6) Trolling Baits for Big Fish - Capt. Joe Shute - The Inventor of

the Best Big Tuna Skirt Time and Time Again (New York Seminar

Only)

7) Advanced Jigging & Popping Techniques – Capt. Adam Sherer

- Shore Catch Charters

8) Engine Preventative Maintenance & Repairs at Sea - John

Lane - Forked River Diesel

9) Day-Time Swording – Capt. R.J. Boyle/Team Lindgren Pitman

10) Inshore Bluefin Chunking – All The Techniques! - Capt. Gene

Quigley - Shore Catch Charters

11) Water Temp Analysis - Basic Courses for First Time At-

tendees - Capt. Len Belcaro

12) Advanced Water Temp Analysis and Year in Review - Capt.

Len Belcaro

13) Learn How to Rig Ballyhoo for Tuna – Canyon Runner Crew

14) Learn How to Rig all your Chunking Gear like a Professional

Mate - Canyon Runner Crew

15) Learn How to Service and Maintain Your Reels - Penn Reel's

Technicians

16) Learn All the Best Knots and Test Them on Line Testing Ma-

chine - Team Berkley

17) Spectra/Top-Shot Techniques - Basil Pappas - BHP Tackle

18) Electronics Troubleshooting & Maintenance - Simrad Techs

19) Tuna Tagging Techniques - Atlantic Tuna Project

The RFA has been involved with the folks at Canyon Runner Sportfishing since the inception of their seminar

series. Capt. Adam La Rosa is a long-time member, financial supporter and cheerleader for the RFA and he has

invited us to be a part of the seminars each year to solicit new members and hold a special raffle to raise

funds. We will be there again this year. If you’ve never attended one of the Canyon Runner Seminars they are

unlike any other. The information comes from captains and mates who live on the “Edge” and hold nothing

back. And while you’re there stop by the RFA display, sign up or renew your existing membership and enter

the drawing for some great tackle prizes.

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Page 9 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

Page 10 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

AFTER THE STORM

Securing Federal Assistance for the Recreational Fishing Industry in the wake of Hurricane Sandy

By John Depersenaire

‘Superstorm’ Sandy had a tremendous

impact on the Mid-Atlantic and North-

east coast, especially in New Jersey

and New York, but with damage also

inflicted to parts of Connecticut, the

Delmarva Peninsula, and all the way

down to North Carolina. Particularly

in New Jersey and New York, so much

of the shore-side infrastructure essen-

tial to the recreational fishing commu-

nity was damaged making it impossi-

ble for fishermen to fish from the

beach, launch their boats or even buy

bait. Rebuilding will take a substantial

amount of time and money to restore

this infrastructure to the levels that

existed on October 28, 2012, the Sun-

day before the storm made landfall.

Immediately following their assess-

ment of damage in the areas impact-

ed by Sandy, Governors Chris Christie

of New Jersey and

Andrew Cuomo of

New York requested

federal fisheries re-

source disaster dec-

larations; the disaster

determination by

the Acting Secretary

of Commerce Rebec-

ca Blank would help

trigger federal assis-

tance and economic

development pro-

grams contained in

the Magnuson Ste-

vens Fishery Conser-

vation and Manage-

ment Act (MSA) and

the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act

(IFA) to provide immediate disaster

relief assistance. (See Gov. Christie

letter to NOAA)

Within 3 days of receiving Governor

Christie’s letter, Acting Secretary Blank

determined that a catastrophic re-

gional fishery disaster had occurred as

defined under MSA section 315 and

IFA section 308 due to a natural dis-

aster (see letter to Gov. Christie and

Gov. Cuomo). This determination au-

thorizes the Small Business Admin-

istration (SBA) to issue loans, with limi-

tations, for physical damages and as-

sistance for economic losses resultant

of the storm. The Acting Secretary

went on to indicate that the Depart-

ment of Commerce would continue to

evaluate the impacts of Sandy on the

states’ commercial and recreational

fisheries and the fishing and pro-

cessing infrastructure.

Section 315(a) of MSA, the section

that authorizes disaster assistance,

includes language that mentions

“fishermen, charter fishing operators,

United States fish processors, and

owners of related fishery infrastruc-

ture” as being eligible recipients of

assistance. Furthermore, Section 315

(1)(A) goes on to identify “processing

facilities, cold storage facilities, ice

houses, docks, including temporary

docks, and storage facilities and other

related shoreside fishery support facili-

ties and infrastructure.”

While one can argue that vital recrea-

tional fishing businesses like tackle

shops and marinas could be classified

as “related fishery infrastructure” un-

der section 315(a)

and a “related shore-

side fishery support

facility” under section

315(1)(A), neither of

the terms tackle shop

or marina is identified

in either of the feder-

al laws, not MSA nor

IFA.

Tackle shops were

some of the hardest

hit fishing businesses

in the states of New

Jersey and New York,

yet under the current

federal law, it is not a

certainty that they

Marinas, tackle shops and shore-side infrastructure im-portant to the recreational fishing industry were hard hit by Hurricane Sandy. Over 65,000 recreational boats were damaged or destroyed.

Editor’s Note: The storm of the century and then some hit New Jersey and New York

causing massive damage to shore-based recreational fishing business, but will they

receive the Federal help they deserve now that NOAA has declare a “Fisheries Disas-

ter” for the region? The consequences of the 2006 reauthorization of the Magnuson-

Stevens Act might preclude that assistance on a technicality.

Page 11 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

can be classified as eligible recipients

of federal assistance at this time. Out-

side of the physical damage to many

of the coastal shops – damage which

can already be covered through insur-

ance, FEMA funds and perhaps even

emergency SBA loans – the cata-

strophic loss of income in November

and December the loss of private an-

gler access and opportunity is some-

thing which needs to be recognized

under the federal fisheries resource

disaster declarations.

Consider for a moment that the com-

mercial fishing industry will qualify for

emergency relief, by law, because of

lost days at sea. One recent newspa-

per article in New Jersey quoted a

commercial fishing advocate as saying

his fleet had lost approximately 10

days of business following the storm –

that’s 10 days of financial loss per boat

which will qualify for federal grant

assistance under this declaration.

However, because neither MSA nor

IFA identify tackle shops specifically as

eligible recipients of assistance, the

30+ days (and counting) of lost angler

access and business might not qualify

for assistance under these laws. That

could leave the local retail tackle in-

dustry out in the cold.

It’s important to note that this particu-

lar problem was not unforeseen.

When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf

States in 2005, Congress followed up

with an emergency provision that was

incorporated into Magnuson as it was

being reauthorized. To mitigate the

devastating impacts of that storm, be-

ginning in 2007 and continuing

through 2012, $17.5 million per year

was allotted to the Gulf region to pro-

vide personal assistance, assistance for

small fishing businesses, promotion of

domestic seafood, funding for state

seafood testing programs, and imple-

mentation of turtle excluder devices.

Also included in the allowable uses of

the money was the development of

limited entry programs and voluntary

capacity reduction programs which

no doubt sparked the battle of catch

shares in the Gulf.

When Congress was reauthorizing the

Magnuson Stevens Act in 2006, an

amendment introduced by then Rep.

Richard Pombo (R-CA), Rep. Barney

Frank (D-MA) and Rep. Don Young (R-

AK), would’ve recognized, by law,

“recreational participants, marina

owners and operators, for-hire vessel

owners and operators, bait and tackle

shop owners and operators” as offi-

cially defined segments of the fishing

community and recreational fishing

industry.

Sadly, hardline environmental groups

like the Marine Fish Conservation Net-

work and Pew Charitable Trusts de-

monized this particular amendment to

our federal fisheries law and ensured

that this clear definition of the recrea-

tional fishing industry was ultimately

stricken from the Magnuson Stevens

Act. As such, these particular groups

have helped put our recreational fish-

ing industry into a desperate situation,

with no access to coastal fisheries, no

income, and virtually no recourse un-

der federal law to qualify for emergen-

cy economic assistance.

In the wake of Sandy’s devastating

strike on the Mid-Atlantic Coast, the

Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA)

has been working with members of

the House and Senate, as well as NO-

AA, to ensure that tackle shops and

other critical recreational fishing busi-

nesses are included when federal as-

sistance is disbursed appropriately. In

addition, RFA is working with the state

governments of New Jersey and New

Jersey to ensure that the Governors

from those affected state specifically

identify recreational fishing businesses

when they submit their spending re-

quest plans to NOAA. The disaster

declaration by the Commerce Depart-

ment is the first step in the process. It

will now be up to Congress, particular-

ly the House of Representatives to

take up action to ensure that funding

will be made available to our fishing

industry, while at the same time defin-

ing who it is in this “fishing industry”

qualifying for relief.

SBA low-interest loans are nice. The

problem with emergency loans of

course is that you need a source of

income to repay the debt. During the

first full month following the storm,

tackle shops remain closed along the

coast, many suffering serious physical

damage while also facing devastating

loss of business due to beach closures

(Continued on page 13)

This sprawling 250 slip marina on the Manasquan River is just one of hundreds that sustained massive damage to docks, water and electrical systems, fuel service facilities and more. Rebuilding in many cases will cost millions of dollars.

Page 12 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

THIS JUST IN!

Congressman Frank Pal-

lone, Jr. (D-NJ) has con-

firmed that recreational

fishing infrastructure such

as marinas, tackle and

bait stores and public ac-

cess points that provide

fishing access are eligible

for disaster assistance un-

der the fishery disaster

declaration. This is excel-

lent news according to

Jim Donofrio of the Recre-

ational Fishing Alliance

(RFA) who has been con-

cerned about the fact

that the federal fisheries

law doesn’t actually have

language written into it to

protect marinas and tackle

shops specifically in such a

disaster.

"We and the entire recreational fishing community ap-

preciate Mr. Pallone reaching out to NOAA and request-

ing that the agency release their official interpretation of

the regional coastal disaster assistance program lan-

guage in Magnuson as it relates to the recreational fish-

ing industry," Donofrio said.

On November 16, Acting Secretary of Commerce Rebec-

ca Blank announced that she had made the determina-

tion of a fishery resource disaster to help coastal commu-

nities in New Jersey and New York. With this determina-

tion, under Section 308(d) of the Interjurisdictional Fish-

eries Act (IFA) and Section 315 of the Magnuson-Stevens

Fishery Conservation and Management Act

(Magnuson), federal relief funds can be appropriated

and directed at assisting with disaster relief.

In the two weeks following the disaster declaration,

Donofrio and the RFA staff have been pressing exten-

sively for direct answers as to who is actually eligible for

relief under the federal mandate. "Sometimes it takes a

lot of pushing and prodding to get through bureaucrat-

ic red tape, and often it even requires an act of Con-

gress," Donofrio said, explaining how neither Magnuson

nor IFA actually recognizes the recreational participants,

marina owners and operators, and tackle shop owners

and operators as eligible recipients of disaster funding.

"The recreational fishing industry, our tackle shops, mari-

nas, for-hire folks and everyone associated with saltwa-

ter angling is thankful to have the support of Congress-

man Pallone in helping get those critically important an-

swers."

As a senior member of the House Natural Resources

Committee and the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife,

Oceans and Insular Affairs, Rep. Pallone has been at the

forefront of fisheries issues in the United States, both in

terms of conservation and resource protection, as well

Breaking Legislative News December 1, 2012 :

Congressman Pallone gets NOAA to answer the serious question following Sandy,

while RFA’s Jim Donofrio pledges, “We Will Not Be Overlooked.”

Congressman Pallone in conference with RFA’s Jim Donofrio (foreground), Jim Hutchinson, (left) and Pat Healey, member of RFA’s Board of Directors. Pallone has been a staunch supporter of the fishing communities in his home state of New Jersey, but also an ally on fixing the Magnuson-Stevens Act through the legislative process.

Page 13 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

as the rights of American fishermen. On November 29th

,

2012, Rep. Pallone officially got word from NOAA fol-

lowing frequent requests for confirmation.

"I understand that there has been concern that certain

aspects of the recreational fishing sector were not in-

cluded in the fishery disaster declaration,” Rep. Pallone

said of the recent federal declaration. “My office has

been working with the National Oceanic and Atmos-

pheric Administration (NOAA) to confirm that shore-side

fishery infrastructure including marinas, tackle and bait

stores and boat ramps are eligible for assistance with

this declaration." (Click here to read the full release.)

Now that NOAA has confirmed that the recreational

fishing industry will be covered by the federal disaster

declaration, it is up to Congress to appropriate funding

for disaster assistance. RFA is also working with key

members of the recreational fishing industry in both

New York and New Jersey in gathering relevant fiscal

information with regard to the afflicted community; that

information will ultimately have to be compiled by both

of those state’s governors in order to fully document the

official request to the federal government.

Once Congress has approved the final appropriation,

NOAA will begin the working with the affected states

on developing a spending program to determine alloca-

tion of the funds.

"We now need to work to make sure funds are appropri-

ate and directed to those impacted by the storm," Rep.

Pallone said. "That's why it is important that the state

and federal governments identify those fishermen, fish-

ing related business and the shore-side infrastructure in

need of assistance and direct funds where necessary."

Donofrio said he and his staff have been in contact with

members of the Marine Trades Association (New York

and New Jersey), the New York Fishing Tackle Trades

Association, United Boatmen, Folsom Tackle Distributors

and numerous tackle shop operators afflicted by storm

damage in order to collect the vital financial information

required for the final appropriation process.

"NOAA was in and out of our region before most even

had a chance to clear the debris from their properties

and it was our concern and the concern of Mr. Pallone

that many of the affected businesses within the recrea-

tional industry might get overlooked," said Donofrio,

explaining how NOAA had sent representatives into the

field just before Thanksgiving without actually consult-

and local curfews. While surfcasting

for striped bass along the New York

and New Jersey beaches especially is

an industry mainstay every fall, loss of

access has meant lost customers and

lack of income. Rough estimates from

some of the shops along the striper

coast indicate an average loss of over

$100,000 in revenue for the month of

November alone as compared to pre-

vious years.

A double-shot against the sector oc-

curred on November 1, which is when

the federal government shut down

the black sea bass fishery, a healthy

and rebuilt fish stock, due primarily to

flaws in the wording of the federal

fisheries law. Many for-hire boats

(charter and party boats) which suc-

cessfully weathered the storm

should’ve been able to ferry anglers to

the black sea bass grounds immediate-

ly, but a federal regulatory action

won’t allow it. This arbitrary and ca-

pricious ‘emergency closure’ of a

healthy fish stock ensures that the cap-

tains and their crews can’t actually go

to work, which means no way of actu-

ally paying back SBA loans.

Without access, there are no opportu-

nities to go fishing – and when you

can’t go fishing, business suffers. To

help our shoreside business owners,

RFA will continue working Congress

to ensure that funding is made availa-

ble and that your local tackle shops

and marinas will be represented. Ad-

ditionally, it’s imperative that our state

and federal government takes access -

both to beaches and our black sea

bass stock - as being both critical to

the health and stability of our recrea-

tional fishing community.

(Continued from page 11)

After the Storm

Page 14 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

Page 15 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

Theft by Deception The Hijacking of the Red Snapper Fishery

By Capt. Thomas J. Hilton

Editor’s note: As the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and its minion’s crash headlong down the unholy path of fisheries management by “cap and trade” there will be winners and losers. Recreational fishing stands to be the biggest loser, as a few well connected people work behind the scenes to deceive the public while seeking to capture the lion’s share of the red snapper fishery for their own profit. This is a story of the monopolization of a public resource and the destruction of recreational fishing in the Gulf of Mexico.

B ack in 2006, giant, well-

funded enviro corpora-

tions like Pew Charitable

Trusts and the Environ-

mental Defense Fund were busy

meddling with federal fisheries

management laws behind the

scenes, wielding what I consider

to be undue influence through a

complex, multi-year scheme to

convert our Public Trust Resources

into tradable commodit ies

through a program commonly

called “Catch Shares.” After the

2007 Reauthorization of Mag-

nuson, the EDF websites proudly

proclaim; “Our Oceans Team was

instrumental in crafting and imple-

menting the changes to the 2006

Reauthorization of the Magnuson-

Stevens Act which introduced a

market approach to protecting our

oceans…”

Once it was pointed out that EDF

wielded possibly illegal, undue

influence on the political process

that impacted fisheries manage-

ment legislation, they quickly re-

moved all such references to their

dirty deeds on all of their websites.

I was able to capture a screen shot

(see page ##) before they wiped

their fingerprints clean like com-

mon thieves. Do a search now

and you will find no such refer-

ences, they have refined the verbi-

age to deflect any involvement or

guilt on their part.

This reauthorization introduced

catch shares in the commercial red

snapper fishery here in the Gulf of

Mexico, based on the EDF ideolo-

gy of “Cap and Trade” for publical-

ly held fisheries known as Individu-

al Fishing Quotas (IFQs). Also in-

cluded in the EDF-inserted chang-

es were rigid requirements for An-

nual Catch Limits (ACLs) and Ac-

countability Measures (AMs) in the

recreational sector, which have

wreaked havoc on Gulf recrea-

tional fisheries every year since

what I call “The Hijack” (see RFA’s

Hijacking Fisheries Management

exposé at www.joinrfa.org/Press/

Hijack20070605.pdf.)

First, let's take a look at the com-

mercial red snapper IFQ program,

currently undergoing its mandat-

ed 5-year review, as it is this enti-

tlement program that is fueling

the move to extend the Catch

Shares program in the Gulf to the

recreational fishery. That will re-

quire the implementation of sector

separation, the severing of for-hire

charter and party boat vessels

from the rest of the recreational

user group. There is a lot of money

and deception being deployed by

the Environmental Defense Fund

to try to make that happen, and I

certainly hope that as more light is

shed on just what is going on we

can prevent them from being suc-

Page 16 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

cessful.

GOVERNMENT HANDOUTS

The commercial catch share plan

started by eliminating the majority

of the Gulf’s commercial fishermen

from eligibility to vote on the le-

gally-required referendum for

IFQs. The feds knew the majority

of the small time operators would

vote against it so they took them

out of the process leaving those

commercial fishermen who stood

to gain the most from the imple-

mentation of catch shares to vote

on implementing an IFQ program.

Can you guess how that turned

out? They voted overwhelmingly

in favor - who wouldn't under

those circumstances? The govern-

ment, operating under the pro-

gram that was promoted by EDF,

was promising to gift those fisher-

men with an enormous financial

windfall that made some of them

instant millionaires through an

entitlement program that gives

them exclusive access to a Public

Trust Resource—our red snapper.

And, that's exactly what has hap-

pened.

In a report issued in 2011 the me-

dian price of a single “share” of

the red snapper fishery was val-

ued at $79.80 and the average

price was $63.15. These prices in-

creased significantly since the start

of the program with the median

price increasing about four fold,

approximating EDF's prediction of

400% returns on these shares for

investors. The total value of the

Gulf of Mexico Commercial Red

Snapper Shares is around

$79,800,000 a huge asset con-

trolled by a select few individuals

or corporations, with virtually no

payback to the American people

for the use of that asset for their

personal profit.

An interesting bit of information

that is not broadcast by our feder-

al fisheries managers is the 18

largest shareholders account for

about 50% of the total value of

the shares. To put it another way,

about 4% of the shareholders con-

trol close to 50% with a value ap-

proaching $40 million, an average

of $2.2 million for each of those

shareholders. Even more troubling

is the fact that anyone who was

gifted the maximum share per-

centage of 6.0203% was given an

entitlement payoff of $4,802,995

based on median price in 2011.

That’s $4.8 million worth of a pub-

lic resource or assets, our assets,

given away for free to each of the

largest recipients, with 100% of

the proceeds from the harvest go-

ing directly into their private bank

accounts. Not the greatest deal for

the American people, Gulf fisher-

ies,or Gulf coastal communities, to

say the least.

Was the removal of the information concerning EDF’s questionable involvement in pushing a

“market based approach” to fisheries management in the 2007 Magnuson reauthorization just the

start of a larger cover-up? Could it involve the enrichment of a few players close to their cause at

the expense of the public and the snapper resource in the Gulf of Mexico?

Page 17 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

PRIVILEGED FEW

The Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper

IFQ Program is the only program

in the nation that gives away the

rights to Public Trust Resources

with virtually no return, not only

to the country, but to the fishery

itself. When looking at other ex-

amples of individuals

or corporations prof-

iting from Public

Trust Resource such

as gas, oil, or timber,

the American people

receive compensa-

tion through leases,

royalties, etc., but not

here in the Gulf of

Mexico. All of the

profits generated

from the harvest of

the snapper resource

goes directly into the

bank accounts of

these individuals or

corporations, which

at the very least

seems to violate the

provisions of the

Public Trust Doctrine.

This resource in the

Gulf, now a tradable

commodity worth

close to $80 million,

is actually owned by

every American, yet

we are receiving ab-

solutely no return on

that asset. Worse, the

Magnuson Stevens

Act states that there

should be a cost recov-

ery fee to cover all costs the gov-

ernment incurs managing and

enforcing the RS-IFQ Program, but

somehow that law has been sub-

verted with an artificially-low 3%

cap put in place. This has resulted

in the American taxpayer being

forced to subsidize this entitlement

program to the tune of about $1.6

million annually since its inception.

In other words, not only is the

American public being denied any

return on their assets, they are be-

ing stuck with the tab of adminis-

tering this program, a double

whammy. The enviro insiders who

set this scam up are laughing all

the way to the bank.

The changes made to the Mag-

nuson Act in 2006, designed and

orchestrated by the same people

who initiated the Cap and Trade

program for carbon emissions

must be rescinded immediately,

and replaced with laws that actu-

ally make sense for our fisheries

and the American people.

RETURN THE PUB-

LIC TRUST

If shares are going

to be allocated to

individuals and

corporations, the

concept of entitle-

ment needs to be

replaced with the

concept of oppor-

tunity and the

fishermen allocat-

ed those shares

must fish them or

lose them. The

concept of leasing

the shares be-

tween fishermen

needs to be halt-

ed immediately,

and replaced with

the concept of the

fishermen leasing

the shares directly

from the govern-

ment. Recipients

of food stamps

are not allowed to

trade, sell, or lease

their entitlement,

why should these

fishermen? If the

fishermen were to

pay a royalty of say,

$3 per pound for

the right to fish these shares, then

the monies raised would not only

be sufficient to pay for the man-

agement and enforcement of the

program, but any excess funds

could be used for stock assess-

ments, habitat enhancement, or

RED GOLD! The value of commercial red snapper shares

being given away is at $80 Million and growing.

Page 18 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

other programs that actually bene-

fit the resource, and therefore, the

American people. The personal

profit from our Public Trust Re-

source with no return to the coun-

try should be illegal.

The push for implementation of

Catch Shares, IFQs and Sector Sep-

aration. in the Gulf recreational

fisheries needs to be halted imme-

diately and replaced by common

sense fisheries management that

actually works. The 6-month sea-

son for red snapper that was in

existence prior to the 2006 Reau-

thorization is one example of

when the feds actually got some-

thing right; the season was long

enough to allow plenty of access

to the fishery by all recreational

fishermen, the fishery was rebuild-

ing, and the Gulf coastal commu-

nities were benefitting from all of

this.

Hopefully the upcoming assess-

ment will actually count the fish

swimming around the tens of

thousands of artificial reefs, oil plat-

forms, and other structures where

they have been purposely ignored

in previous assessments. Strange

that they are not counted in the

assessments, but are counted to-

wards our quota.

Some stock estimates show that

there are 3-1/2 times the number

of red snapper swimming inside

the 1,260 square miles of artificial

reefing zones off of Alabama than

the National Marine Fisheries Ser-

vice claims to exist in the entire

Gulf of Mexico. If true, the Gulf rec-

reational fishermen deserve fair

access to the fishery, not to men-

tion to their fishing heritage and

their Constitutional right to pursue

happiness. For so many of us the

pursuit of happiness is found on

the waters of the Gulf of Mexico

fishing.

To watch a fascinating video about red snapper abundance on

the artificial reefs off Alabama click on

The Truth Red Snapper Over Population

Page 19 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom Hilton is a dedicated recreational fisherman with over 50-years experience fishing the Gulf . He holds a 50-ton Masters License and is president of Hilton’s Fishing Charts, LLC and Realtime -Navigator.com – a subscription website that uses satellites technology to track dynamic offshore en-vironmental conditions to aid fishermen through-out the U.S. and Central America. He also is Presi-dent of Reef-Man, LLC which designs, produces, and deploys artificial reefs off the Texas coastline. To date the company has deployed over 500 tons of low relief material in addition to approximately 100 designed artificial reef structures. He intro-duced the concept of the Texas Great Barrier Reef in 2006, designed to mitigate the loss of Essential Fish Habitat associated with the planned removal of hundreds of oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexi-co. Hilton is an ardent RFA member, a regular at-tendee at Gulf Council meetings, and has become a vocal activist fighting for the future of recreation fishing access and heritage alongside the efforts of the Recreational Fishing Alliance.

Page 20 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

Page 21 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

Page 22 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

Dirty Politics: Enviro's “Trick” Voters

into “Treating” Their Own

How EDF and its shell organizations try to influence the

political landscape.

By Jim Hutchinson, Jr.

Managing Director, Recreational Fishing Alliance

As referenced in a previous column for TheOnlineFisherman.com, "Rep. Steve Southerland of Florida's 2nd Congressional District is what we at the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) call a Fishing Champion," an independent voice in Washington who has "stood up for all fishermen along the Gulf of Mexico, rec-reational and com-mercial alike, while passionately repre-senting coastal in-terests in the House Natural Resources Committee."

On October 9th at a rally in Panama City, recreational and commercial fishing groups united in keeping our public resources open and accessible to the American public (including RFA, Pan-ama City Boatmen Association, Big

Game Fishing Journal, Capt. An-derson's Marina and the Southern Kingfish Association) presented Southerland with an award for be-ing a 'Fishing Champion.'

In recent billboards popping up

around the district however, Rep. Southerland has been wrongly ac-cused by zealots at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) of being an enemy of our oceans. What these groups actually mean to say is that

Rep. Southerland is an enemy against their attempt to pri-vatize our coastal resources. The radi-cal environmental groups and their lackeys have spent the past five years trying to steal away vital coastal fish like red snapper and gag grouper from real fishermen to place them into the hands of private investors.

EDF'S Great Pre-tender

One of the more vocal and deceitful EDF lackeys is Capt.

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared as a guest column on TheOnLineFisherman.com

penned by RFA managing director, Jim Hutchinson, Jr. It spells out how EDF is pursuing a war

against the Gulf of Mexico fishing community in general and has recreational fishing clearly in it’s

sights. From dirty backroom deals to creating shadow organizations they put up to confuse politi-

cians and the general public into thinking the represent anglers and commercial fishermen there

As a saltwater angler himself, Rep. Steve Southerland has actively fought in Congress to support a better balance of commerce and conservation

in order to protect both the fish and the fishermen.

Page 23 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

Jim Clements, a commercial fisher-man from Carrabelle, FL and a member of the EDF-funded Gulf Fishermen's Association. In bill-boards purchased in Panama City, Apalachicola, Crawfordville, and Tallahassee attempting to discredit Rep. Southerland as being an "enemy of the ocean," Clements has already admitted to spending $7,500 under the alias of Captain Jim's Charters, Inc with a website of www.captainjimscharters.com.

The problem of course is that Clements is not a charter boat fisherman. According to state and federal records, while Clements submits an annual for profit corporate report as a charter business operating as Captain Jim's Charters in the state of Florida, Clements him-self has no state or federal per-mits required to operate a char-ter recreational fishing business in the state. Clements doesn't have any permits to run a char-ter, and only recently did he create a website, one of the most critical items in running a successful char-ter operation in the 21st century as any real charter captain will tell you. The web domain and hosting itself has been managed by Tyler Media Group which secured the domain and built the website after September 27th.

Now, if you're looking for a charter trip in the Panhandle, Clements' website will be of no help. It simply links out to environmental lobbyist websites including Oceans Champi-ons of California and the National Resource Defense Council of Phila-delphia. Recent calls to Tyler Media asking to contact Capt. Jim to schedule a sportfishing charter were rebuffed, with Tyler noting that the captain is away on vaca-tion and not able to be reached.

The commercial fishermen turned EDF activist turned recreational

charter captain (one without the required permits) has been actively denigrating recreational anglers for years in the News Herald of Pana-ma City. In 2008 for example, Clem-

ents openly promoted the individu-al fishing quota (IFQ) plan of re-source ownership in an online pub-lication, saying "There are some in the recreational sector who are at-tempting to derail our progress to-ward reducing overcapacity." Re-ducing overcapacity is another way of saying 'reducing fishing partici-pation' which is what the catch share scheme would essentially do.

Of our recreational fishermen, Clements calls us "misguided" and "resentful" while presenting us with a direct message, "to the recreation-al sector, I say get your own house in order before you come over to ours." Given the fact that recrea-tional and commercial fishermen share allocation of vitally food-fisheries like red snapper and gag grouper, most everyone in either industry realizes that we are all forced to live under the same roof anyway.

"Beware of anyone who is not a commercial fisherman who tries to influence your vote," Clements not-ed, while failing to describe his own manipulation of the public

perception by pretending himself to be a recreational charter captain.

In another recent anti-angler blast, Clements again turned to the News Herald of Panama City to criticize those of us in the recreational fish-ing community who stand op-posed to private resource alloca-tion and sector separation schemes pushed through EDF, charging us with "misleading the public" Ac-cording to Clements' agenda-driven rhetoric, the federal govern-ment and private entities are not pushing for catch shares in the rec-reational community, and again calls anglers 'liars' for fighting both the sector separation and IFQ pro-gram for red snapper.

NOAA'S Catch Share Plan for An-glers

For those who care to read the NOAA Catch Share Policy as Clem-

Real fishermen from the Keep Fishermen Fishing coalition (which hosted a nation-al rally for fishing reform in March in DC) are combatting the phony, EDF-supported fishing ads in Florida's 2nd Congressional district with messages of their

own praising Rep. Southerland's honesty, integrity, trust and purpose.

Page 24 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

ents suggests, just type "NOAA Catch Shares Recreational" into your favorite Internet search en-gine to read more about the new federal policy. The other side of the story is quoted word-for-word be-low and comes directly from that policy document.

While NOAA itself "does not advo-cate the use of individual private angler catch shares," the govern-ment agency in its very next breath adds the caveat, "however, NOAA will support Councils in the identifi-cation and application of innova-tive management measures that both promote individual angler fishing access and foster sustaina-ble fisheries."

As further described, such "management measures" could very well include individual fish tags, which NOAA explains "there

are a few examples where a limited number of tags for individual fish have been allocated to anglers on a per capita or lottery basis. Histori-cally these tagging programs have been used where the resources were limited and a strict constraint on landings was required. NOAA will continue to work with Councils who have expressed interest in adopting such tag programs."

In other words, while NOAA has distanced itself from actually sup-porting individual catch shares for anglers, the government agency has in fact approved policy which would support Councils who vote to incorporate individual fishing quotas through a fish tag program allocated to the general public via lottery or auction. Considering that NOAA and the Secretary of Com-merce get the ultimate say in who

gets appointed to sit on these Councils, individual private anglers are thankful to have elected offi-cials like Rep. Steve Southerland fighting to protect our individual rights against appointees directing policy.

That runs counter to Clements' publicized comments that "catch shares are strictly for the commer-cial fishery," or that catch shares "should not be used in the recrea-tional sector, and no one is advo-cating that." The actual NOAA Catch Share Policy created with the help of EDF clearly states, "NOAA supports the design and develop-ment of catch share programs for the recreational charter and head boat sector as appropriate." Those who understand what the recrea-tional fishing industry is all about - particularly local businesses who

EDF money has been financing groups like this one which was bussed to a public hearing in Panama City, FL

claiming to represent commercial or for-hire fishermen supporting sector separation and catch shares.

Page 25 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

rely on open access fishing oppor-tunities in the charter and head boat fishery - can clearly see this for what it is.

By allowing Councils to divide our recreational sector into two or more very distinct and different components, (A) the charter and for hire sector and (B) private an-glers, NOAA Fisheries is essentially supporting the redistribution of stock allocation through personal ownership of the resource. Once the recreational fishing community is divided into 'professional' and 'private' sectors, angler access will diminish even further as the re-source is privatized into the hands of a few. (This of course is why groups like the RFA are supporting Governor Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election, in part to overturn the current NOAA admin-

istration hand-selected by President Obama to run roughshod over our sector starting in early 2009. Mis-sion accomplished Mr. President!)

In the first paragraph of NOAA's Catch Share Policy as it pertains specifically to "recreational anglers," the government has determined on its own that "successful recrea-tional angling experience is not as dependent on harvest," explaining how "many anglers participate on the expectation of a catch and con-tinue to fish without realizing a positive catch on every trip, and some anglers release the fish they do catch." Whatever think tank or vision quest that this theory came from – the concept that anglers don't really care whether we have a red snapper to take home for din-ner so long as we're out on the wa-ter – is proof in point that the NO-

AA Catch Share Policy is a flawed document.

The Enviro's Congressional Cam-paign

Local Gulf fishermen in the Panama City region of course don't have to be told about the effort by outside interests to buy off the election there; the attempted takeover of Gulf fisheries has been underway for some time, led by the efforts of radical anti-angler organizations like EDF and their EDF Action Fund. As spotlighted in earlier piec-es here at the OnlineFisher-man.com, EDF and the EDF Action Fund have invested more than $750,000 in just the past 3 years on establishing their own fishing or-ganizations like the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders Alliance,

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Gulf Fishermen's Association and South Atlantic Fishermen's Associa-tion in an effort to fool the public (and those who serve the public) into thinking that their way of man-aging fisheries was in the public interests.

The Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Share-holders Alliance in turn doled out $48,000 in the 2011 calendar year to help create a new organization called the Charter Fishermen's As-sociation; the fact that EDF would fund a fishing organization based on ownership of commercial fish shares, which in turn would create its own recreational fishing organi-zation, has sent up red flags throughout the state of Florida.

It has since been revealed that the Director of the Charter Fishermen's Association, failed tech stock inves-tor Michael Miglini, also takes a $40,000 salary from the organiza-tion, while he's also become one of the biggest owners and resellers of red snapper stock in the Gulf of Mexico. According to some com-mercial fishing representatives, Miglini and his companies are "essentially the people with red snapper allocation. If you would like to go catch and sell red snap-per from the Gulf you call them, everyone does."

According to private emails associ-ated with a potential inspector gen-eral's review of the Gulf fisheries issues surrounding sector separa-tion plans and EDF's financing of various pseudo fishing organiza-tions, one commercial fisherman described Miglini's business entity, Great Sage, Inc, as "a private com-pany whose primary function is leasing red snapper to the Gulf's fishermen. I have heard they own

hundreds of thousands of shares."

As Capt. Tom Hilton puts it, "Miglini is in actuality a commercial fish bro-ker masquerading as a recreational charter captain representing, as a

Board Member, a 'recreational char-ter fisherman's association' that is in reality an extension of an extreme anti-fishing environmental corpora-tion that wants to privatize our public trust resource - our fish."

It has been pointed out by some members of both the recreational and commercial fishing community that Miglini's own comments be-fore the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council in October of 2011 may have broken federal law in terms of full disclosure and hon-esty. In testifying on record before the Gulf council, Miglini, speaking on behalf of the Charter Fisher-men's Association, said his organi-zation "was formed by a group of captains who each wrote a check out of their own personal or char-ter business accounts and pooled our resources to get organized and engage more effectively in this council process."

The actual IRS forms for the Charter Fishermen's Association indicate that $48,000 was given by the Gulf of Mexico Reef Shareholders Alli-ance, an EDF shell group of IFQ owners and investors, specifically to create the upstart organization.

United Share Croppers' Attack on

Fishermen

Miglini and Clements are on a tear in the Gulf of Mexico to defame and discredit anyone who would dare stand in their way of taking full ownership of the fish stocks for their own purposes. They have the full backing of environmental or-ganizations based in New York City, Philadelphia and Southern Califor-nia in working to corrupt the politi-cal system, and their goal of course is to remove any legislative champi-on for open public access to a natu-ral public resource.

Needless to say, the recreational fishing community, including indi-

vidual anglers, for-hire captains, bait and tackle store owners, boat dealers and the thousands of busi-nesses which rely on open access fishing opportunities, Congressman Steve Southerland has been our 'fishing champion' for cutting through the bureaucratic rhetoric in order to see both sides of the story, and for helping stop this hos-tile corporate takeover of our natu-ral public resources.

Major Alan Lamarche, who many anglers know from his work as As-sistant Chief of Law Enforcement for the Florida Game and Fish Com-mission, probably said it best in his letter to The Times of Apalachicola and Carrabelle, saying "Representative Steve Southerland is a sport fisherman and he is the best friend every fishermen has ev-er had in Congress. Capt. Jim Clem-ents is a commercial fisherman who doesn't like sharing the Gulf fisher-ies with us Sports."

"The fact that PETA and 'Ocean Lovers' and other 'Preservationist' organizations with 'feel good names' give our congressman a bad report card makes Representa-tive Southerland deserving of a Blue Ribbon in my book," Major La-marche added.

Mine too Major! A blue ribbon and a framed certificate honoring Steve Southerland as a Fishing Champi-on!

Soon enough, the Halloween hi-jinks with sharecroppers masquer-ading as fishermen and radical en-vironmental groups 'tricking and treating' their way through the Panhandle will be over, and for fishermen's sake, let's hope Rep. Southerland gets the vote again and continues to champion the cause of Florida anglers every-where!

Page 27 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

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Page 28 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

Jim Donofrio has been the driving force behind the Recreational Fish-ing Alliance since the beginning over 15 years ago. Friends and crit-ics alike agree that he is out-spoken, passionate, an effective lobbyist and possesses an intellect capable of predicting the impacts and implications of legislation and regulatory actions well into the future. He is at home at the helm of a tournament fishing boat chas-ing marlin, drifting a skiff in a bay for flounder, sitting in a duck blind at sunrise his trusty lab by his side, conferring with members of Con-gress or testifying at high level

public hearings. He easily goes from camouflage and waders to three piece suits, from the local luncheonettes to D.C. receptions without missing a beat. So who is Jim Donofrio and how did he come to represent recreational fishermen and the industry with such passion, perception and dedi-cation?

Jim grew up in a small suburban town in New Jersey in the 1950s and 60s. When he wasn’t in school he was off somewhere fishing or hunting. His introduction to salt-water fishing led him to his earliest

jobs on the water as a deckhand on some of most highly regarded for-hire boats in the Sandy Hook area in the late 1960s. His first ride was on the Francis C with veteran skipper Don Calio and a little later aboard the Blackfin under the tute-lage of its legendary captain, Joe Renzo. In 1971 he was aboard Andy Albano’s Tilly, a private boat that specialized in targeting giant bluefin tuna in the Mudhole off the North Jersey coast. The entire giant tuna fleet at that time con-sisted of about a dozen boats. They had no loran, navigating the old fashioned way using ranges,

pr o f i le s Jim Donofrio, RFA Executive Director

Page 29 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

compass, clock and depth finder. During one fifteen day period in 1971 the Tilly with the young Donofrio in the cockpit caught a giant every day for 15 days straight, an accomplishment that has probably never been equaled in Jersey waters.

While he was honing his skills as a deck hand, learning the ins and outs of fishing, he was also gather-ing the necessary sea time to quali-fy for his captain’s license. And when he wasn’t working on char-ter or private boats as a deckhand he was fishing from center console skiffs, usually with his brother Ricky, a striped bass angler of the first order who still plies the North Jersey coast whenever he’s not in his florist shop.

In 1979 Donofrio got his Coast Guard certification and was grant-ed his captain’s license. His first job as skipper came in 1980 when he took the helm of a 36’ Pacemaker called the Drifter. He sailed from Shark River and Cape May at vari-ous times of the year targeting striped bass, bluefish, weakfish and sharks. In 1982 he made his first canyon trip loading the Drifter with extra fuel bladders and head-ed offshore at the blistering speed

of 11 knots. He put together a catch of tuna and along the way fell in love with being offshore. With the canyon’s calling he pur-chased a 40’ Chrisovich dubbed the Drifter II and started making the offshore run for tuna with more regularity.

“In those days we fished offshore for bigeye, yellowfin and longfin, but white marlin were more fre-quently caught on the 20 and 30 fathom lines,” Jim recalled. “But those were also the years the do-mestic pelagic longline fleets were growing at an exponential rate ravaging the billfish populations while they were fishing down the swordfish stocks. In recent years white marlin are again being en-countered closure to shore, but

usually far south of New Jersey. The RFA, through its work on reigning in the pelagic longline fleet through the imposition of time and area closures was instru-mental in the recovery of white

marlin and Atlantic sailfish stocks.”

With big game fishing becoming a driving force in his life Donofrio went on the marlin circuit at the helm of private tournament boats that competed in events from

North Carolina to the Bahamas living his life from port to port fol-lowing the fish with the seasons. It was an exciting time, but a difficult one to be able to put down any roots.

“Around 1993 I was becoming more aware of fisheries manage-ment,” Donofrio recounted. “My concern about the health of many of our marine fisheries was peak-ing, but at the same time I was wary of the way the National Ma-rine Fisheries Service seemed bent on devaluing the socioeconomic impacts of recreational fishing while frequently hiding the dam-age being done by an ever more industrialized commercial fishing industry. The recreational sector was being scapegoated and over-regulated under the guise of con-servation while commercial over-fishing was frequently kept under the radar in one management plan after another. The result was the downplaying of recreational participation while handing over the lion’s share of quotas in many fisheries to commercial interest and it just wasn’t right. I really started reading up on the manage-ment process, the science, or what passed for science, and that even-tually led me to the legislation that created the regulatory process and the politics of it. It became obvious to me that if recreational fishermen were losing many of the early bat-tles we were involved in it was be-cause we did not have a cohesive organization capable of represent-ing our interests. That weakness was most glaring when it came to the legislative process, where the real power to change the system and right the wrongs was found. While we had national trade asso-ciations for the marine and tackle industries, neither organization had the expertise in marine fisher-ies and they expressed little inter-est in using their limited lobbying efforts in that arena. Saltwater an-

Page 30 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

glers simply did not have the clout that the commercial sector was bringing to bear on the politics of fisheries management and it was our Achilles’ heel.”

Donofrio embarked on a path of intense self-education including courses at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. During this time he was absorbing as much information as he possibly could about politics, government, regula-tory agencies, lobbying and fisher-ies management. In 1995 he met with two visionaries in his home state, Bob Healey of the Viking Yacht Company and Capt. Dick Weber, owner of South Jersey Yacht Sales, both accomplished businessmen with a deep and abiding love of saltwater fishing. They began discuss-ing the need for an organization to rep-resent and protect the interests of salt-water anglers and Donofrio outlined his vision for just such an organiza-tion. He laid out a bold vision for a grassroots political action organization that he deemed the equivalent of the NRA for recreational fishermen

While this was going on there was a battle raging over NMFS decision to reopen the EEZ (waters outside 3 miles) to the harvest of a re-bounding striped bass stock. This decision had serious implications for the future of this highly valued recreational fishery and was being opposed by a ragtag group of fish-ing clubs and state organizations with little success. Healey gave Donofrio a challenge: pull together a coalition of groups and individu-als capable of halting the reopen-ing—in essence prove you are ca-pable— and he would provide startup money to build the political action organization that Donofrio

envisioned. Jim hit the ground run-ning and generated so much inter-est in the angling community, the press and among area politicians that he packed all three public hearings. There were over one thousand fishermen at each meet-ing, something that NMFS had never seen before or since! In addi-tion to the public pressure, Donofrio found a willing ally in Congressman Jim Saxton, the chair of the House Fisheries Subcommit-tee, who took an active role in pressuring the Agency into main-taining the closure for the health of the striped bass stocks. As a re-sult the Assistant Administrator of the NMFS, Dr. William Hogarth, called off the misguided effort and the Recreational Fishing Alliance was born.

One thing Donofrio felt was para-mount in establishing any grass-roots organization, whether it was a 501(c)(3) conservation types like the Coastal Conservation Associa-tion or a 501(c)(4) political action groups like the RFA, was providing a clear, concise mission statement by which that organization would operate.

“An organization’s mission state-ment is its Bible and Ten Com-mandments,” said Donofrio, “the pledge it makes with its members. Too many conservation groups have misled their members into believing they could act as lobby-ists or deal with actions that were political in nature when nothing could be further from the truth. Others claim to represent recrea-tional fishermen when their mis-

sion statement never even men-tions the word ‘fishermen’. I vowed the RFA would be totally up front with its goals and would operate accordingly and I am proud to say that after 15 years these three sim-ple tenants have never been com-promised.”

As the RFA began to grow it took on many difficult tasks following up on its first victory. A new scourge was entering the offshore tuna fishery called pelagic pair-trawling, initially billed as an ‘experimental gear.” A large net was strung between two high powered trawlers and pulled at speed through vulnerable canyon areas offshore, frequently right through fleets of recreational boats fishing these areas. The effective-

ness of the gear on tuna was clear, but it came with negative impacts to non-target species and the recrea-tional offshore fishing fleet that was generating

strong economic benefits to coastal areas. Something had to be done. The RFA took on the chal-lenge taking the concerns of its members directly to Assistant Sec-retary of Commerce Terry Garcia. Donofrio held high level meetings with him and brought in a number of key legislators from the House and Senate to put pressure on the DOC to stop this experimental fish-ery in its tracks and again won the day.

More important, albeit controver-sial victories followed that had benefits for saltwater anglers across the spectrum of bay, inshore and offshore fishing, not to men-tion the business side of marine recreational fishing. One that

RFA Mission:

Safeguard the rights of saltwater anglers;

Protect marine, boat and tackle industry jobs;

Ensure the long-term sustainability of our nation’s

fisheries.

Page 31 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

would prove contentious was the battle to reign in pelagic long lin-ing. While aimed primarily at the withering swordfish stocks off the Atlantic and Gulf coasts longlining was also decimating non-target species including billfish and sharks at an alarming rate. The num-ber of boats in the fleet was totally unsustainable and the damage they were doing approaching incalculable! NMFS con-vened a working group of organizations that in-cluded the RFA, The Bill-fish Foundation, Coastal Conservation Associa-tion and the American Sportfishing Association, among others, to devel-op a negotiated settle-ment with the Bluewater Fishermen’s Association representing the long-liners. The RFA left the negotiations when it be-

came obvious that the direction the talks were taking would have no impact on reducing the long lining decimation of swordfish or by-catch impacts on billfish and sharks,

yet the other organi-zations persisted. The work they did was resulting in a plan that was tout-ed in press releases and “closing a half a million miles of ocean” to long lin-ing. The problem was that the over-whelming majority of the closed area was inside 50 fath-oms where pelagic long liners didn’t fish! Great press re-lease, amazing spin, but no benefit to swordfish, billfish, sharks or recreation-al fishing!

The RFA struck out alone obtaining

documents and catch records through the Freedom of Infor-mation Act that clearly indicated where the highest catches of imma-ture swordfish and greatest by-catch of billfish was occurring and

Donofrio works as comfortably with Republicans like Gov. Chris Christi (l)

and Congressman John Boenher (r) as he does with leading democrats like

Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. and Senator Charles Schumer.

Donofrio is seen here testifying before the House Natural Resources Committee-

Fisheries Subcommittee on Magnuson Reauthorization.

Page 32 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

began crafting a strategy to imple-ment time and area closures that would protect those areas year round in some cases, and seasonal-ly in others. Donofrio assembled a group of legislators who were con-vinced that the negotiated settle-ment with the long liners was smoke and mirrors and that the RFA had identified the problem and a right solution. They forced NMFS to back away from the settlement language and unilaterally implement the Swordfish Fishery Man-agement Plan with the critical time and area closures identi-fied by the RFA. That was over ten years ago and the rest is history—swordfish stocks have rebounded, and white marlin and Atlantic sail-fish stocks have jumped dra-matically in the ensuing years. It also started a rift be-tween the RFA and other or-ganization that has been diffi-cult to overcome.

“We have often found our-selves in the crosshairs of oth-er organizations that would rather see the RFA go away than work together to ac-complish the important work that needs to be done on be-half of recreational fishermen and the industry,” Donofrio laments. “The RFA has been proven to be right time and time again, yet our work is often undercut by these or-ganizations that should be working side by side with us. This has never been truer than during the run up to the 2007 reauthoriza-tion of the Magnuson Steven Act and our continued efforts to cor-rect this incredibly damaging legis-lation since it was passed and signed into law. Industry organiza-tions like the ASA and NMMA, and conservation groups that claim to represent saltwater anglers like the CCA, were missing in action during

the legislative process when a bill they knew would have drastic neg-ative impacts on their constituen-cies was being challenged in the lobbying efforts undertaken by the RFA. How did they know? We told them. We asked them to join a coa-lition to fix the language in the bill that has been used to shut down one important fishery after another

to recreational fishermen since 2007, yet they chose to walk away from the table and let it pass when, with their help, we had a good chance of correcting it before it be-came law.”

Since 2007 the RFA has spearhead-ed the drive to stop the implemen-tation of measures that would prove devastating to the recrea-tional fishing community through legislative fixes in the “Flexibility in

Rebuilding American Fisheries Bill” only to have those organizations side with the very environmental organizations like the Pew Founda-tion in undercutting our efforts to get it passed. They have gone so far as to champion opposing legis-lation that will not fix the problems at the heart of the issue and only muddy the waters making true re-

form all the harder to achieve.

All the while Donofrio re-mains resolute. “The RFA was created to provide a specific service to saltwater anglers and the industry and it continues to do so. We have held out our hands to other organiza-tions to join us, but when their goal is control regard-less of the success on these critical issues there is little we can do to try and be inclusive. So much of what we predicted would hap-pen back in 2006 has come to be. Bad science driving horrible management deci-sions; unnecessary closures; precipitous drops in saltwa-ter recreational fishing par-ticipation and regulations imposed on anglers that are totally out of sync with what fisheries management is supposed to be all about continue with no end in sight. The RFA will continue to work with legislators who understand what is

happening and are willing to act while it fights for fishermen and a growing number of businesses in the recreational fishing community who get it.”

Where does Donofrio get his in-sight, devotion and passion to con-tinue to fight on behalf of anglers? The answer is simple. He is not and never has been a Washington in-sider. He’s one of us. A fisherman!

When he isn’t busy taking care of RFA business

he can sometimes be found catching dinner.,

Page 33 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

.Ask 100 Boston-area anglers who the best-known -- or just plain “best”—local fisherman is, and it’s a sure bet that at

least 90 of them will say “Pete Santini!”

Pete grew up in Medford, Massachu-setts and was catching bluegills and perch at the age of three. When he

was 12 he caught his first flounder in Boston Harbor, and instantly became hooked on salt water fishing. He opened a tackle shop in nearby Ever-ett called Fishing FINatics in 1993, and now enjoys a repu-tation as the proprietor of “the busiest tackle shop in Boston.” He sells bait and gear for eve-rything from trout to giant tuna. His specialty is trolling a

tube-and-worm rig for striped bass that he designed over a decade ago and is appropri-ately called the Santini Tube. He sells the lures at the shop and through mail-order and they’ve accounted for literally thousands of big striped bass

all along the East Coast.

And Pete’s the real deal. He spends over 150 days a year on the water, both off Massa-chusetts from spring through

fall, and in winter in the Gala-pagos Islands where he oper-ates a charter boat that tar-gets marlin, tuna, mahi, and wahoo. He runs the Zobo Flounder Tournament each May, the proceeds of which are given to the nurses who care for leukemia patients at Massachusetts General Hospi-tal, and he’s the founder of

the popular Boston Harbor Striper Shootout that takes place every June and benefits the Veterans Home in Chelsea. On top of all this he appears on many TV fishing shows as guest

pro, provides fishing reports, conducts talks and slide presentations, is a pop-ular speaker on the New England Salt Water Sportsman Seminar tour where his enthusiasm for fishing is truly con-tagious. He is also the Boston rep for the International Game Fish Associa-

tion.

We caught up with Pete, a long-time

member of RFA and one of its most loyal supporters in the Boston area, in early November to ask him a few

questions.

RFA: Pete, you’ve offered on-the-water fishing instruction for a number of years now, and have been very successful at it. Why did you get into this side of the

business?

PS: I started to realize that we were losing an entire generation of fishermen. Fishing gradually became replaced by video games and other forms of entertain-

ment, and those folks are now becoming parents themselves. The parents never fished much, so they can’t pass their knowledge and passion off to their kids, plus there are organi-zations with anti-fishing agendas that target children in the schools. I positively love to get out on the water with a family, and see a six-year-old catch his or

her first flounder. Everyone gets excited, and more times than not these folks quickly turn into a real fishing family. I get a lot of satis-

faction out of that.

RFA: Are there any fisheries here in New England that concern

you?

Op-Ed courtesy FoxNews.com

I AM THE RFA Capt. Pete Santini, Everett, Massachusetts By Barry Gibson The RFA membership is a diverse group that includes anglers, captains, business owners, biologists and more….

Page 34 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

PS: I think our groundfish – mainly cod, haddock —are in trouble. We’ve had a lot of years of great fishing out on Stellwagen Bank and the other offshore grounds, but this season we’ve seen a real decline. We’re catch-ing fewer fish everywhere we go, and the sizes are smaller. I think the cur-rent management system of catch shares has had a lot to do with it, be-

cause big draggers can now come into the inshore areas such as

Stellwagen.

We watched a free-for-all take place last winter and spring. The big boats

need to stay offshore.

RFA: The New England Fishery Man-agement Council is considering open-ing up many of the areas currently closed to commercial groundfishing

next spring. What’s your take on that?

PS: I think it’s absolutely the wrong move from a conservation viewpoint. These areas are sanctuaries for what-ever fish remain. If we open them up, the fish will have no place to hide. They’ll all get caught, and we’ll be in

even worse shape.

RFA: New England has lots of different fish that folks can catch. Which species

do you feel is the most im-portant for Boston-area an-

glers?

PS: I’d have to say winter flounder. Although stripers are real popular, flounder can be caught by just about

anyone with a rod and reel. They’re a great fish, terrific eating and not that hard to catch. A few dollars’ worth of rigs and seaworms, and away you go. You can catch flounder from the docks and shorelines all around Boston Harbor, or from a small boat, and have a good shot at bringing

home enough fillets for three or four meals. Recrea-tional flounder fishing is a whole industry in itself here, and the resource is healthy enough so that fshery man-agers should be able to ex-tend the season into the fall. I know that’s some-

thing the RFA is working on.

RFA: You’ve been a member and pro-moter of RFA for years. What is it about our organization that appeals

to you?

PS: I like the fact that RFA’s key mis-

sion is to safeguard the public’s right of access to our salt water fish. With-

out reasonable access there would be no sport fishery, and none of the busi-nesses that go along with it, including mine. And, we need to manage our fish stocks based on good science, not

on politics or agendas driven by pri-vate organizations that simply want to restrict fishing. The RFA works tireless-ly to make sure that each manage-ment decision that affects recreational fishermen has a solid foundation in accurate science. The RFA is the watchdog for anglers and the sport fishing industry, representing a lot of us who can’t go to every fishery meet-ing or write countless letters to politi-

cians and fishery managers. I depend on the RFA to look out for me, my business, and my fishing customers. Being a supportive member, and en-couraging others to join as well, is the

least I can do in return.

RFA: Last question – Pete, you fish for smelt, stripers, cod, tuna, and marlin, all with the same extraordinarily high level of enthusiasm. So what kind of

fishing do you, personally, like best?

PS: Believe it or not, it’s fishing the beaver ponds for brook trout near a house I own in Pittsburg, New Hamp-shire. When I’m up there with a fly rod

in my hand, I truly relax!

Pete Santini’s shop, Fishing FINatics, is located at 99 Main St. Everett, MA; (617) 381-1997. You can check out his

Pete loves introducing kids to fishing and

seeing the smiles on their faces.

Page 35 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

Page 36 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

RFA-California Update Jim Martin RFA West Coast Regional Director flatland@mcn.org

Pacific Halibut – Catch Sharing Plan

In Alaska, the commercial-fishing dominated North Pacific Fishery Management Council voted to reduce the alloca-tion of Pacific halibut for "guided anglers" who choose to fish on charter boats, and re-allocate fish to quota share holders in the longline halibut fishery. Alaska Charter Asso-ciation President Greg Sutter testified at the Council meet-ing in Anchorage in October, stating that all of the alterna-tives considered by the Council represent a reduction of allocation to the charter sector and pointed out the myriad of concerns about the proposal for "Guided Angler Fish" (GAF) which can be leased from commercial quota

holders to allow anglers to pay for an extra fish. In 2011, a similar federal rule was issued and ACA, the RFA and many other recreational fishing groups raised a public education campaign within the state of Alaska, causing a record num-ber of public comments to be submitted; the rule was with-drawn by NMFS. The same coalition is considering another campaign to quash this rule. "It sets an awful precedent where the public has to 'rent' the privilege to fish from catch share holders in the commercial sector, who never paid anything to obtain these fishing rights in the first

place," said RFA's Jim Martin.

Meanwhile, at the southern edge of the Pacific halibut's range, in California and southern Oregon, a different set of

problems is emerging. The stock seems to be moving south and growing fast, while declining off Washington. Anglers out of Eureka report a stable, reliable and growing halibut fishery where catches were rare in years past. Many observ-ers believe that the closure on trawling within 10 miles of the shore has allowed halibut populations in northern Cali-fornia to grow. With that success comes a price – the catch-es are exceeding a small allocation that is split between Southern Oregon and Northern California. RFA-NorCal's Jim Martin testified at the Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting in Boise, ID and the Council held off on

new regulations that could have cut the re-emerging hali-

but fishery off California by up to 85%.

The New Abalone Wars

In past decades, the recreational abalone divers fought a two-front war on commercial overfishing of abalone south of San Francisco, and against poachers north of the Golden Gate, where commercial abalone diving has been banned

since the late 1940s.

Today, we're in a much different situation. Commercial fish-ing for abalone has been under a moratorium since the late 'nineties, and poaching penalties have been vastly in-

creased due to the efforts of groups like RFA-NorCal Chap-ter and the Sonoma County Abalone Network (SCAN). Yet dark clouds remain over the last of the world's remaining healthy recreational abalone fisheries. California Depart-ment of Fish and Game biologists have been pressing for a 25% reduction in the legal abalone taken in California. They point to a huge die-off last summer in the area around Fort Ross, Salt Point and other areas along the coast of Sonoma County, north of San Francisco. Once again, the legal divers for abalone are being penalized for

forces beyond their control.

When punch-cards were introduced to the fishery, it start-ed at 100 abs a year and quickly went down to the current

annual limit of 24 per person. The daily limit is 3 per day, and the fishery enjoys a high Catch Per Unit of Effort (CPUE) where nearly everyone who dives or "rock-picks" for these tasty marine snails gets a limit. In 2013, California's network of "marine protected areas" will be complete, and many abalone hunting grounds have already been placed off-limits to abalone diving as well as all most other types of

fishing.

Yet these new closed areas are not being considered as "replenishment zones" and the State Agency Biologists do not consider any positive influence from these new MPAs. After years of propaganda about "rebuilding fisheries" with marine reserves, we are seeing no benefit from them – only

more proposals for cutbacks. RFA-NorCal will be at the next Fish and Game Commission meeting to weigh in on the

proposed cut-backs in the abalone fishery.

RFA CHAPTER NEWS Reports & Updates from RFA State Chapters

and Regional Directors

Page 37 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

9th

Annual Randy Fry "Big X" Memorial Freediving Tournament and Iron Diver Chef Seafood Challenge Benefits RFA-NorCal Chapter

Over sixty divers competed in this super event on October 13th. It was co-hosted by the RFA-NorCal Chapter and the NorCal Dive Club and held at Pacific Star Winery on the

Mendocino Coast (www.pacificstarwinery.com).

The competitors were treated to good ocean conditions, sunny weather, wine tasting and a fantastic effort by five

teams in the Iron Diver Chef Seafood Challenge. We raised nearly $6,000 for the RFA-NorCal Chapter, which will help fund travel expenses to the important public hearings that

affect our fishery and to visit with key legislators.

Amadeo Bachar contributed the artwork for the t-shirts and hoodies made for the event and a special thanks goes out to all of the sponsors who helped make the raffle a suc-cess: Roger Thomas, Salty Lady Sportfishing NorCal Underwater Hunters Hammerhead Spearguns Amadeo Bachar: Fine Art

Pacific Star Winery The Beach House Inn Noyo Fishing Center SubSurface Progression Dive Shop in Fort Bragg Telstar Charters The Free Dive Shop in Sacramento Banks Boards Phil Herranen Spearguns Pierson's Building Supply in Eureka Dick's Place in Mendocino Hulicat Charters in Half Moon Bay

Cafe Beaujolais in Mendocino End of the World Rowing Club in Noyo Harbor Metropolis Bakery, San Francisco The Speargear Shop

And the winners were... MEN'S ABALONE 1. Jim Christopherson: 9.968" 2. Tim Nickels: 9.925"

3. M. Gomez: 9.77" WOMEN'S ABALONE 1. Star Argo: 9.226" 2. Jo Willeford: 9.196 MEN'S SPEARFISH 1. Dennis Haussler: 64.2 points 2. Adam Sauve: 46.1 Matt Mattison: 37.3

WOMEN'S SPEARFISH 1. Tarney Haussler: 6.8 points JUNIOR WOMEN 1. Jo Willeford POLE SPEAR 1. Tony Vau: 27.8 points IRON DIVER CHEF Seafood Cook-off:

1. John Hayes & "The Salty Dawgs" 2. Eugene Porter & "Randy's Raw Bar" 3. Larry Ankuda, Rob Wolf & "the Wolfpack"

RFA-Florida Update Capt. Rick Hale, President bait48@yahoo.com

Forgotten Coast Chapter RFA-FL Forgotten Coast Chapter

Capt. Tom Adams

In spite of an unprecedented amount of money being funneled to Jim

Jo Willeford took second place in the women’s abalone

Page 38 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

Clements and the Gulf Fishermen’s Alliance (representing maybe 10

percent of commercial fishermen) by various environmental groups to

try and stop Congressman Steve Southerland’s bid for re-election, he

won handily. Southerland is a Republican, but his performance in his

first term gained him overwhelming support in a district that has over

60% registered Democrat. He even won in Calhoun County which is

over 70 percent Democrat. Congressman Southerland is a man who

works hard for what his constituents want and need and has been tireless

in his efforts to get our economy turned around for the better and fish-

ing, both commercial and recreational, is a major part of the coastal

economy of the Florida panhandle.

In the name of fairness Southerland had to go up against environmental

giants like the Pew Foundation and the Enviornmental Defense Fund.

That painted a target on his back for this past election and they came

after him through their surrogate organizations and people who have

been promised a huge economic windfall from the implementation of

catch shares. With their wallets flush with EDF cash to spend on the

election Internet postings, newspaper articles, advertisements and even

billboards filled with lies decried Congressman Southerland. Thankfully

the mudslinging was not enough to disparage a good man and a solid

representative of his constituency.

When you win an election in a district that is registered 60% for the

opposing party and win with 71% of the vote you are truly

a representative of and by the people. The members of the Recreational

Fishing Alliance were proud to support Congressman Southerland. Hats

off to all District 2 residents. We should be proud of ourselves for keep-

ing the democratic process alive and well here in Northern Florida.

EDF Stacks Gulf Council Committees

The North Florida chapters of the RFA have been closely monitoring the

appointment process for key committee positions on the Gulf Council,

committees that will have a big influence on the shape of management

of red snapper and other commercial and recreational fisheries. The

outcome so far does not bode well for the majority of fishermen who are

opposed to sector separation and the imposition of catch shares in the

recreational snapper fishery.

Of a total of 66 positions on four key committees we have identified 48

seats being held by pro-EDF individuals who are pushing to usurp the

snapper fishery for the benefit of a few. We have been amazed by the

power that EDF has wielded in the appointment process making sure

that their chosen few dominate positions while truly independent fisher-

men from the majority who want nothing to do with catch shares who

attempt to get on these committees don’t even get so much as a return

phone call.

In many cases the EDF plants on committees like the Ad Hoc Headboat

Committee don’t even own or operate a boat, but some are already vest-

ed in large numbers of commercial catch shares. To those of you who

have been following the catch shares debate the names will stand out

loud and clear.

The following is a list committee members with an asterisk next to those

members who are identified as either financially involved with organiza-

tions funded by EDF or have supported sector separation and catch

shares. Those who sit on multiple committees have double asterisks.

Ad Hoc Headboat Scott Hickman*

Mike Jennings**

David Krebs**

Tom Marvel, Jr.*

Michael Miglini**

George Niles

Kelty Readenour*

Gary Smith

Donald Waters*

Troy Williamson

Council Rep.: Myron Fischer

Staff Rep.: Richard Leard/Assane Diagne**

Ad Hoc Mackerel LAPP

Tom Becker

Randy Boggs, Chair**

Evonn Caraway*

Cliff Cox*

Chad Haggert, Vice Chair*

Scott Hickman**

Michael Miglini**

Ed Schroeder

Steve Tomeny*

John Williams*

Staff Rep.: Assane Diagne**

Ad Hoc Reef Fish LAPP Bill Bird

Randy Boggs**

Elizabeth Fetherston*

Martin Fisher

Troy Frady*

Scott Hickman**

Gary Jarvis*

David Krebs**

Edwin Lamberth

Donald Leal*

Julie Morris*

Mike Nugent

TJ Tate*

Bill Tucker*

Richard Wallace, Ph.D.*

Troy Williamson

Chair: Steve Bortone*

Vice Chair: Julie Morris*

Council Rep.: Bob Gill*

Staff Rep.: Assane Diagne*

Data Collection Patrick Bennett

Glen Brooks*

Jason DeLaCruz*

Suzanne Delaune

Troy Frady*

Brad Gorst*

Chad Hanson*

When oil platforms like this one are retired they still make great structure for Gulf of Mexico sea life. RFA chapters in this region are working to have them desig-nated artificial reefs.

Page 39 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

Matt Hill *

Gary Jarvis**

Michael Kelly

Brad Kenyon*

Camp Matens

Michael Miglini**

Bart Niquet*

Tracy Redding*

John Schmidt*

Robert Spaeth

Russell Stewart

Bobby Terrebonne*

Elbert Whorton*

Bob Zales, II

Council Rep.: Harlon Pearce*

Staff Rep.: John Froeschke*

If you’d like to get more active and join the RFA and work with the Forgotten Coast Chapter in Florida

contact Capt. Tom Adams 4tomadams@gmail.com.

RFA New England Update Capt. Barry Gibson RFA New England Regional Director barrygibson6@aol.com

Anglers Face Potential Major Cod, Had-dock Cuts in 2013

Preliminary numbers from the New England Fishery Man-agement Council (NEFMC), made available this past Au-gust, indicate that the catch of Gulf of Maine cod may need to be reduced by a whopping 72 percent in 2013.An as-sessment of the condition of cod stocks, conducted in late 2011, seemed to point to a significant decline in the popu-lations of these important game and food fish. Fishery man-agers had earlier predicted that cod stocks were rebuilding, but the assessment suggested that cod were actually heavi-

ly overfished.

So, earlier this year, the National Marine Fisheries Service

(NMFS) tasked the Council to come up with a revised recov-ery plan to end overfishing. Because a new plan would be complicated and time-consuming to create, an agreement was reached to cut the commercial and recreational catch of cod for this year – 2012 – by just 22 percent from the

2011 catch. The big reduction would take place in 2013.

New regulations for the recreational fishing sector this year included a drop in the size limit from 24 inches to 19 inches (to reduce discard mortality) and a reduction in the bag limit from ten to nine cod per person per day. Make no mis-take, this was an interim “gift” to sport fishermen this year. But if the full 72 percent reduction goes into effect for

2013, what can we expect for regulations?

Rumors have run rampant, but it’s possible the recreational

sector could see a 24-inch (or higher) minimum size again, and possibly a two- or three- fish per day bag limit along with it. Alternatively, there could be a significantly short-ened season, perhaps just July and August. Or, anglers could end up with some combination of the above. Regard-

less, if it’s indeed a 72 percent cut it won’t be pretty.

There are, however, a couple of mitigating circumstances.

The 2011 cod assessment has come under a lot of fire for some of its assumptions and methodologies, and there’s a big push on to have it either re-conducted or critically ex-amined. If either takes place, there’s a possibility that the numbers may turn out differently, and a smaller reduction

in catch might do the rebuilding trick.

Another hope for the recreational sector may lie within the new way that NMFS performs it recreational fishing survey. The new survey system, implemented this year, is said to be much more accurate than the old “telephone book surveys” of the past. As of early September, the new system indicat-ed that the recreational catch of cod in 2012 may only be a fraction of what was estimated for 2010 and 2011. There-

fore, it is possible that anglers may not see as much of a

reduction in 2013 as initially projected.

A separate Gulf of Maine haddock assessment conducted late last year also indicates that this stock is in far worse shape than anticipated, and a massive 76% reduction in the recreational Annual Catch Limit (ACL) is likely. Anglers had no bag limit in 2012, but this may drop to a potential two

or three fish per day in 2013.

The NEFMC’s Recreational Advisory Panel (RAP) met in ear-ly October to prioritize measures for these potential reduc-tions. The RAP first voted to give the NEFMC the authority to implement separate but conservationally equivalent measures for the for-hire and private recreational sectors. Subsequent votes established a priority of increasing mini-

mum fish sizes for both cod and haddock.

There are a lot of unanswered questions as to what will actually happen on May 1, 2013, the formal beginning of

next year’s saltwater fishing season, but one thing is certain – RFA’s officers and members in New England will continue

to stay heavily involved in this issue every step of the way.

Closed Fishing Grounds May Be Reo-pened.

Earlier this year the NEFMC voted to consider allowing commercial sectors to request exemptions to a number of areas in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank that have been closed to commercial activity for as long as 20 years or more. The idea is that now, under sector management

and catch shares, there are “hard” ACLs so some on the NEFMC feel it makes little difference where the fish are

caught.

One area, the Western Gulf of Maine Closed Area (WGOMCA), is of particular concern to recreational fisher-men. This 1,100-square-mile tract of bottom off Massachu-

Page 40 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

setts, New Hampshire and Maine, which encompasses pro-ductive Jeffreys Ledge, has been closed to commercial fish-ing sine 1998. It has been about the only reasonably good fishing ground for cod and haddock within reach of party/

charter and private boats operating north of Gloucester.

The current proposal for Framewok 48, the groundfish plan the NEFMC is currently crafting, is to open up a north-south

strip along the eastern edge of the WGOMCA. Unfortu-nately, this is where many of the recreational boats fished in 2012 while pursuing pollock (as cod catches were way off due to large draggers fishing the inshore grounds) so there is likely to be gear conflict, as well as local depletion

of bottom fish, in this area in 2013.

At its October meeting, the RAP voted unanimously to maintain the status quo of the WGOMCA and keep it closed in its entirety, citing potential negative impacts on the groundfish resource, habitat concerns, and gear con-flict. The RAP also voted to maintain the status quo of all

other areas currently closed to commercial activity.

How these potential openings will play out in Framework 48 is unclear at this time, but again, RFA will continue as a major player in the deliberations. The plan is scheduled to

be implemented this coming spring.

On a Brighter Note!

Not all is doom and gloom in New England. Here were

some bright spots in 2012:

----Lots of small stripers in the 12” to 19” range were seen virtually everywhere. I received numerous reports of these fish in many rivers and bays from Massachusetts all the way

up through the Maine coast. Good news, for sure.

---The National Marine Fisheries Service recently did a sur-vey of Gulf of Maine winter flounder, and found that stocks are much healthier that previously believed. So, in re-sponse, NMFS has doubled the commercial catch limits in

the EEZ. New England’s coastal states have yet to relax sport flounder regulations in response, but the RFA intends

to keep the pressure on.

---Bluefish ranged as far north as the central Maine coast in good numbers in July, and many guides and anglers re-ported some of the best bluefishing in years. Although the average size of the of fish has been a bit smaller than in the heyday of the 1980s, they’re still running a respectable

three to ten pounds, with a few bigger ones mixed in.

--Shark fishing was great in many areas. A number of char-ter skippers called to tell me that they had never seen such big blue sharks, many topping the 200-pound mark. Some

jumbo threshers to 300 pounds were taken as well.

Capt. Barry Gibson is RFA’s New England Director. He serves as chairman of the NEFMC’s Recreational Advisory Panel (RAP), as chairman of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine’s Saltwater Fishing Committee, and as vice-president of the Northeast Charterboat Captains Association. He spent 27 years with Salt Water Sportsman magazine, and has owned and operated a charter boat business in Boothbay Harbor, ME, since 1971.

RFA-New Jersey Update Capt. Adam Nowalski captadam@karenannii.com The Mid-Atlantic Council met in Long Branch, and in the October 18, 2012 report from the Northeast Office (NMFS), it was announced that the Feds were pursuing an emer-gency closure of the black sea bass fishery in federal waters for the remainder of 2012. This is a result of the 2012 land-ings through August are at 2.3 million lbs. and our coast-wide quota for 2012 was less than 1.4 million lbs. This was the result of highly suspect landings data from Massachu-setts that indicated that their landings mysteriously in-creased 20 fold or better in a two month period, which

again brings into question the use of recreational landing projections whether they are based on the old MRFSS pro-gram or the supposedly improved MRIP data. It seems we are dealing with data that has little or no basis in science or fact, but the result is the same, the fishery will be closed, most likely for no good reason at all.

New quota restrictions could have a severe impact on the recre-

ational cod season and bag limits next year.

Page 41 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

This closure comes partially as a result of the Council Omni-bus Amendment from a couple years back. If not for the fight lead by the RFA at that time, this closure would have likely been levied much earlier this year. But NMFS had to wait until landings exceeded the year's target as opposed

to just basing things on projections. (August data showed that 1.1 million lbs. had been caught in May and June. Pro-jecting that out would have likely resulted in emergency closure action being pursued at that time.) So where to now? Well, next week the states will be meet-ing in Philadelphia, and on Thursday, a discussion of a clo-sure of state waters will no doubt occur (ASMFC Summer Flounder, Scup, Black Sea Bass Management Board). A few years back the states did not close state waters when NMFS closed Federal waters, but the result of this discussion may

be different this time in consideration of the ramifications for 2013. Part of the above referenced Omnibus Amendment calls for recreational lb.-for-lb. payback of overages. Overages are supposed to be averaged over a 3 year period, but this is the first year operating under this system so we only have one year of data. The math, although straightforward, is ugly. 2.3 million lbs. landed through August. September and half of October fishing occurred. 3+ million lbs. of land-

ings according to MRFSS/MRIP is very possible. If we land 3.2 million lbs. (numbers to be reported in December), we will have exceeded our 2012 quota by 1.8 million lbs. (3.2 million lbs. of landings vs. 1.4 million lb. harvest limit, these are approximations). Our 2013 quota is 1.8 million lbs. De-duct a 1.8 million lb. 2012 overage from a 1.8 million lb. 2013 quota and we are left with - NOTHING FOR 2013. Right now, I don't know what this means for Jan/Feb sea bass fishing. Currently, the federal rule has the season open then and the state of NJ has done its diligence in being

ready to open the season. But as a result of the above, the closure may extend well into 2013. We won't know until NMFS publishes its notice of emergency action in the next couple of weeks. While I can't guarantee anything, I can assure you that a lot of people will be working overtime on this, not just at the RFA, but I believe the Council and NMFS recognize that this outcome is unacceptable for a rebuilt stock where overfish-ing is not occurring. (Remember, overfishing by definition doesn't have to do with the quota but is instead of a meas-

ure of taking too many fish for the stock to remain sustaina-ble. The Black Sea Bass overfishing limit is actually well over 7 million lbs. Although that number has uncertainty around it, even when you add the high rec landings with the commercial landings, we are still well below the over-fishing level.) In addition to working with the Council and NMFS, RFA will also be working hard on political fronts as this is just further ammunition of the threat to fishing that an unreformed Magnuson Stevens Act poses. Thanks to all of you, and I

hope that we'll have something better to report in the com-ing months. We needed a miracle to save the sea bass sea-son a few years ago and we got one. This mess wasn't cre-ated overnight, and it won't be fixed overnight. Here's hop-

ing again.

5th

Annual Friendly Sons of the Shillelagh

Fluke Tournament

The Friendly Sons of the Shillelagh held their 5th Annual

Fluke Tournament on Saturday, August 18, 2012. Despite

the early rain & rough seas, the tournament registered 116

boats and had two weigh-in stations, one out of the Shark

River Inlet and one out the Manasquan Inlet. Many of the

participants reported they had a great day of fishing with

many keeper fluke caught in the 3 to 4 pound range.

First place went to Bill Baker from Brielle who caught an

Black sea bass are a popular target for rec fishermen on

private boats and an important species for headboats

sailing in the Mid-Atlantic region. This closure comes at a

time when there are few, if any, available species for this

segment of the for-hire fleet to fish for.

Page 42 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

8.50 pound fluke. Second and third place went to Charlie

Parker with a 7.87 lb and a 7.22 lb fish. Fourth and fifth

place was a tie with a 7.00 lb fish caught by both Jeff Crilly

and Mike Wells. Al Durso, who caught a 6.90 lb fluke, took

6th

place. The largest fluke caught by a Shillelagh member

went to George Snowden with a 4.74 pound fish. After-

wards, over 500 anglers enjoyed an awards picnic hosted

by the Shillelagh Club located on 16th. Ave. in Belmar, NJ.

All proceeds from the Tournament will be donated to the

Recreational Fishing Alliance, and the FSOS Foundation,

Photo: Bill Baker, winner of the Shillelagh Fluke Tourna-

ment, along with Tournament Director Gary Friedhoff and

Executive Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance Jim

Donofrio

RFA-New York Update New York Sport Fishing Federation (NYSF) Jim Hutchinson jhutchinson@joinrfa.org Dateline, November 12

th. It’s two weeks after ‘superstorm’

Sandy devastated the region, and tens of thousands of New Yorkers remain without power with hundreds, many without homes. On behalf of our members and friends in the business community, the New York Sportfishing Federa-tion offers its prayers, condolences and support, however

and wherever possible. When Sandy officially made landfall along the New Jersey coast on October 29, it forced power outages for nearly 8.5 million customers in 21 states, though the Long Island Pow-er Authority (LIPA) suffered the greatest loss with about 1.1 million electric customers. A second follow-up nor’easter just days later was responsible for knocking out another 123,000 customers. As of November 12, LIPA has said it could not restore pow-

er to about 17,500 homes and businesses in Nassau and

Suffolk Counties on Long Island and 37,500 in the Rocka-ways in New York City due to the severe flooding from Sandy that damaged electrical panels, wires, outlets and appliances, therefore making it unsafe to restore service.

One of the hardest areas along the entire Atlantic Coast is the coastal Queens region, where a devastating fire on the Rockaway Peninsula at the height of the storm left 111 homes burned to the ground, 20 more heavily damaged. Reports there show not a single building on Breezy Point, Queens was left unscathed, coupled by a rising storm surge and the ensuring fire which ravaged blocks and blocks of homes on the barrier island. In the days following the storm, one Far Rockaway couple teamed up to bring emergency medical relief to devastated

victims of Sandy--despite being victims themselves. Dr. John Meringolo (an anesthesiologist) and his wife Mar-garet (a registered nurse) have been providing medical assistance to residents at a makeshift triage center at St. Francis De Sales Church on B. 129 Street. "I saw a man this morning, he suffered a head wound when his crowbar slipped and hit him in the head as he renovated his house," John Meringolo told the NY Post last week. After applying pressure on the wound, he sent the man to a local hospital

for further treatment. The Meringolo's home was damaged during Sandy and they were forced to temporarily relocate. The couple, who have three children, put their jobs on hold to lend a hand to those still suffering. "We took care of our home and kids, now it's time to help the community," John told the NY Post. Dr. John Meringolo is on the Board of Directors of the New York Sportfishing Federation.

Southwest of Queens, across the Narrows in Staten Island, fellow New York Sportfishing Federation Board member John Malizia is also in the midst of Sandy’s devastation, spe-cifically in the Great Kills and Midland Beach neighborhood where eight people in the area drowned during the storm. “There are many people on Staten Island as well as Long Island that still have no electricity and have heavy damage to their property our prayers go out to them,” Malizia said via email on November 12 after finally getting electricity

returned after two straight weeks. Malizia too was one of the relative lucky ones whose home was spared during the storm. “My boat got some damage, but the marinas and homes near the marinas were heavily damaged,” Malizia added. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano visited Staten Island during the Veteran’s Day weekend to survey relief efforts and cleanup programs, where a huge parking lot was filled with trailers and a supply distribution tent,

Page 43 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

plus another tent where residents who lost their houses were registering for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance. According to Staten Island Borough President James Moli-

nari, the biggest problem now is returning power to 10,000 homes which he said can't be done until each home is inspected to make sure it's not corroded by saltwa-ter. Molinari also said that about 17,000 Staten Island resi-dents have been interviewed by FEMA employees and al-most $39 million has been distributed. “Our board of directors is very much a microcosm of New York’s marine district, with representatives from throughout the region from north to south, east to west,” explained New York Sportfishing Federation president Jim

Hutchinson, Jr. “Just like the state overall, some of our board members are in the thick of it, some were spared, but we’re all tied into this thing together.” New York Sportfishing Federation board member Bob Dan-ielson was activated to the New York Department of Trans-portation’s Emergency Operations Center in Hauppauge and is working around the clock to help remediate travel issues in that region. Meanwhile, the board’s vice-president Chuck Hollins is currently working clean-up at the Bob

Sweeney Sport Fishing Education Center in Babylon, where New York Sportfishing Federation and other groups regu-larly meet. Fellow New York Sportfishing Federation board member Kathy Heinlein is also president of the Captree Boatmen's Association at Captree State Park; a NY Daily News report said for-hire vessels in the Captree Boat Basin fleet were mostly unscathed, but they will not be permitted to resume schedules until Captree State Park is reopened which could have devastating financial impacts.

Board member and North Fork charter boat captain Joe Paradiso personally fared well during the storm, saying “both house and boat are ok, thank god.” Another charter boat captain on the New York Sportfishing Federation board of directors, Capt. Mike Barnett of Freeport, was equally lucky in that his boat the Codfather weathered the storm in its slip. “It was like nothing we’d ever seen before. It knocked boats off the blocks and they traveled and ended up on people’s

front lawns. It was one big collision in the boatyard with no one there,” Barnett told Newsweek’s Daily Beast. “I pre-pared for the worst, and this was much worse than the worst,” he added. Capt. Mike’s Freeport neighbors were not as fortunate. “It’s destroyed my business,” said Capt. Frank Rizzo, whose mother, Elsie Rizzo, is the owner of Miss Freeport V, which for the past 12 years has chartered fishing trips and party cruises. “Sandy ruined two boats, ruined the office, and ruined all our storage,” he says. “We were counting on win-

ter business, but I don’t think we’ll have any business now. The way Long Island has been destroyed, I don’t know who’s going to be doing parties.” Hutchinson said it’s expected that businesses will be reeling

for some time due to the sheer devastation, but told the NY Daily News recently that there are other things the govern-ment can do to help support New York’s coastal fishing community. “Throughout New York and New Jersey we have lost so many marinas, bait and tackle shops, and boats damaged beyond repair, (that) our industry is really in a state of despair. It’s not likely we can begin to rebuild, especially with pending regulations that won't allow us to fish rebuilt fishery stocks.” “The federal government, as part of its emergency declara-

tions, needs to make an emergency winter opening of our healthy black sea bass fishery,” Hutchinson added, explain-ing how a federal disaster declaration could provide those party boats with an opportunity to get people back to the fishing grounds this winter to fish on a rebuilt sea bass stock. “I know it’s hard, darn near close to impossible for some to think about fishing for fun right now, but in terms of our contribution to the local business community, the sooner

our New York Sportfishing Federation members can get back on the water, the quicker we can return to some sense of normalcy,” Hutchinson added.

Watch these pages for more State

Chapter updates in the future.

Page 44 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

Page 45 Making Waves | Nov/Dec 2012

The RFA Mission Safeguard the rights of saltwater anglers

Protect marine, boat and tackle industry jobs

Ensure the long-term sustainability of our nation’s fisheries.

Anti-fishing groups and radical environmentalists are pushing their agenda on marine fisheries issues affecting you. The Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) is in the trenches too, lobbying, educating decision makers and ensuring that the interests of America’s coastal fishermen are being heard loud and clear. Incorporated in 1996 as a 501c4 national, grassroots political action organization, RFA represents recreational fishermen and the recreational fishing industry on marine fisheries issues on every coast, with state chapters established to spearhead the regional issues while building local support. “The biggest challenge we face is the fight to reform and bring common sense and sound science into the fisheries man-agement process, says James Donofrio, RFA founder and Executive Director. “Anti-fishing and extreme environmental groups are working everyday to get us off the water.” Despite the threats to diminish access to our nation’s resources, Donofrio says that RFA offers members hope in an organization that’s designed from the ground up to fight back. “As individuals, our concerns will simply not be heard; but as a united group, we can and do stand up to anyone who threat-ens the sport we enjoy so much – fishing!” After more than a dozen years working inside the Beltway and within state capitols along the coast, RFA has become known as one of the nation’s most respected lobbying organizations, and our members have a lot to celebrate.

The Recreational Fishing Alliance Headquarters

Mailing Address P.O. Box 3080

New Gretna, New Jersey 08224 Phone: 1-888-564-6732 toll free Fax: (609) 294-3812

Jim Donofrio Executive Director Jim Hutchinson Jr Managing Director John DePersenaire Policy & Science Researcher

Kim Forgach Administrative Assistant

Gary Caputi Corporate Relations Director Capt. Barry Gibson New England Regional Director

Jim Martin West Coast Regional Director

Patrick Paquette National Shore Access Representative

Cover Background Design: Mustard Seed Graphics