flatts1
11-03-2003, 09:32 AM
Dear Fellow Fishermen,
I am writing to inform you about a cause that is worth everyone's time. It is the Massachusetts Freedom to Fish Act (F2F). As you may or may not know, The Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) and The Massachusetts Striped Bass Association (MSBA), along with a growing number of other local organizations, have been working very hard behind the scenes to make F2F into law in Massachusetts. We now need your help!
We have a tentative hearing date set at the Massachusetts State House for Thursday, November 13th and we need as many anglers as possible to fill the room - and that means you!
Why do you need to go?
There are extremist environmentalist groups seeking to close vast areas of the ocean permanently to fishing. For example, The Ocean Conservancy (TOC) is currently championing a campaign calling for a "network" of marine reserves (permanent no fishing / no take zones) in the Gulf of Maine that are at least 100 square miles. They have already succeeded in imposing such closures in California. Also, The Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) is actively calling for the creation of "fully protected ocean wildlife and habitat areas at Stellwagen Bank, where all extractive and otherwise harmful activities would be prohibited." They have their sites set on Stellwagen Bank and they promise there will be a closure there. In fact, reliable sources tell us they have the votes now on the Stellwagen Advisory Panel to do so!
These closures are arbitrary and the science cited by these organizations crumbles under minimal scrutiny. That is exactly why they are against F2F. When F2F is enacted, it will require scientific justification and tangible goals before a closure is implemented. More importantly, it will require that the closure is reevaluated over time to see if the closure's goals have been met. If not then it stays closed. If so, then F2F requires the closure will be removed. Does this sound reasonable to you? I thought so.
Folks, organizations like CLF and TOC have key people on the panels that manage your favorite fishing spot. In fact the former head of CLF, Douglas Foy, now heads the Massachusetts Department of Environment! The bottom line here is that it doesn't matter if you fish with a rod and reel or with a gill net - these groups discount us all the same. Indeed, if you take a fish home for dinner then these extremist groups consider it to be a "harmful extractive" activity. It is for reasons like this that we all need to make sure that they don't succeed in permanently taking away our access to our prime historic fishing grounds.
MSBA President, Patrick Paquette, summed it up best when he said "For years we (Recs vs. Commercials) have been arguing over the rules of the game. In this one case, what is at stake is the whole playing field."
While the Massachusetts Freedom to Fish Act will only apply to state waters (within 3 miles of the coast), do not under estimate the need for it's passage. These environmentalist groups are presently working very hard to create closures within the Commonwealth's waters and passing F2F in individual states will help pave the way for the national version of the bill that will apply to federal waters.
It is often said that most fishermen are conservation minded. I think that this is very true. All we ever ask for are reasonable regulations so that we can pursue our favorite past time while ensuring the sustainability of fish stocks. Indeed, when species are found to be in trouble, fishermen are usually the first ones to call for tighter regs. F2F is simply a legal formalization of our conservation ethic and WE NEED YOUR HELP TO SEE THAT IT BECOMES THE LAW.
Please visit the following link to learn more about The Massachusetts Freedom To Fish Act.
http://www.msba.net/f2f
Then schedule November 13th off with your employer and come to the Massachusetts State House on that day. By all means spread this message on every fishing website that you visit. Feel free to paste it whole or in part. However, keep in mind that all of the discussion in the world of this topic on internet message boards won't make nearly as much difference as actually showing up and demonstrating to our elected officials in that we will not stand by idly and let these out of touch conservation groups decide our fate. Ladies and gentlemen, fishermen of all types are the largest stakeholders in this debate. Let's show our elected officials just how large we are!
If you have any further questions or are interested in car pooling to the state house on November 13th, then please send email to f2f@basspond.com
We hope to see you there.
Sincerely,
Mike Flaherty
MSBA Political Committee Chairman
I am writing to inform you about a cause that is worth everyone's time. It is the Massachusetts Freedom to Fish Act (F2F). As you may or may not know, The Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) and The Massachusetts Striped Bass Association (MSBA), along with a growing number of other local organizations, have been working very hard behind the scenes to make F2F into law in Massachusetts. We now need your help!
We have a tentative hearing date set at the Massachusetts State House for Thursday, November 13th and we need as many anglers as possible to fill the room - and that means you!
Why do you need to go?
There are extremist environmentalist groups seeking to close vast areas of the ocean permanently to fishing. For example, The Ocean Conservancy (TOC) is currently championing a campaign calling for a "network" of marine reserves (permanent no fishing / no take zones) in the Gulf of Maine that are at least 100 square miles. They have already succeeded in imposing such closures in California. Also, The Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) is actively calling for the creation of "fully protected ocean wildlife and habitat areas at Stellwagen Bank, where all extractive and otherwise harmful activities would be prohibited." They have their sites set on Stellwagen Bank and they promise there will be a closure there. In fact, reliable sources tell us they have the votes now on the Stellwagen Advisory Panel to do so!
These closures are arbitrary and the science cited by these organizations crumbles under minimal scrutiny. That is exactly why they are against F2F. When F2F is enacted, it will require scientific justification and tangible goals before a closure is implemented. More importantly, it will require that the closure is reevaluated over time to see if the closure's goals have been met. If not then it stays closed. If so, then F2F requires the closure will be removed. Does this sound reasonable to you? I thought so.
Folks, organizations like CLF and TOC have key people on the panels that manage your favorite fishing spot. In fact the former head of CLF, Douglas Foy, now heads the Massachusetts Department of Environment! The bottom line here is that it doesn't matter if you fish with a rod and reel or with a gill net - these groups discount us all the same. Indeed, if you take a fish home for dinner then these extremist groups consider it to be a "harmful extractive" activity. It is for reasons like this that we all need to make sure that they don't succeed in permanently taking away our access to our prime historic fishing grounds.
MSBA President, Patrick Paquette, summed it up best when he said "For years we (Recs vs. Commercials) have been arguing over the rules of the game. In this one case, what is at stake is the whole playing field."
While the Massachusetts Freedom to Fish Act will only apply to state waters (within 3 miles of the coast), do not under estimate the need for it's passage. These environmentalist groups are presently working very hard to create closures within the Commonwealth's waters and passing F2F in individual states will help pave the way for the national version of the bill that will apply to federal waters.
It is often said that most fishermen are conservation minded. I think that this is very true. All we ever ask for are reasonable regulations so that we can pursue our favorite past time while ensuring the sustainability of fish stocks. Indeed, when species are found to be in trouble, fishermen are usually the first ones to call for tighter regs. F2F is simply a legal formalization of our conservation ethic and WE NEED YOUR HELP TO SEE THAT IT BECOMES THE LAW.
Please visit the following link to learn more about The Massachusetts Freedom To Fish Act.
http://www.msba.net/f2f
Then schedule November 13th off with your employer and come to the Massachusetts State House on that day. By all means spread this message on every fishing website that you visit. Feel free to paste it whole or in part. However, keep in mind that all of the discussion in the world of this topic on internet message boards won't make nearly as much difference as actually showing up and demonstrating to our elected officials in that we will not stand by idly and let these out of touch conservation groups decide our fate. Ladies and gentlemen, fishermen of all types are the largest stakeholders in this debate. Let's show our elected officials just how large we are!
If you have any further questions or are interested in car pooling to the state house on November 13th, then please send email to f2f@basspond.com
We hope to see you there.
Sincerely,
Mike Flaherty
MSBA Political Committee Chairman