As many of you know I am not politically incorrect, I am
politically accurate. Having said that here is some background info about SAFMC and NMFS that we all need to know before we send our emails, letters, attend public hearings, etc.
SAFMC
FACT - George Geiger, who purports to represent recreational fishermen, is the head of SAFMC's Snapper & Grouper Advisory Council.
FACT - Geiger, if he had his way, would have ALL recreational fishing be catch & release. He's one of these purists and is NOT a meat fisherman. Maybe he is too wimpy to get his hands slimy from handling fish, I don't know.
FACT - Geiger stated to me in person several pro-commercial statements when I met with him at the CCA BBQ.
NMFS
FACT - Paul Cameron recently met with NMFS Director Bill Hogarth and several other heavy hitters at NMFS. Paul explained to me that Hogarth told him there are three groups that have a three-way tug of war going with fisheries: commercial fishermen, recreational fishermen and the eco-fascist environmental lobby.
FACT - Hogarth said that the commercials and the eco-fascists are incredibly well-funded and well-organized. Hogarth said at the moment the recreational lobby is too disorganized and weakly funded to effectively counter the influence of these other two groups.
FACT - Hogarth said the time to effectively shape policy and have the most beneficial input and results is to voice our opinions and concerns
BEFORE the latest harebrained scheme from SAFMC gets to the public hearing stage. By the time it gets to the public hearing stage, the eco-fascist lobby and the commercial fish rapist lobby has had their input to the proposals and has already shaped the "argument" to their respective advantages. If we bitch about the latest scheme/scam before the hearing stage then we can have our fair share of input and we can shape events more to our liking instead of getting a punitive screw job like we just did in the 13C Amendment.
FACT - Geiger managed to slither his way onto the SAFMC council by saying he was a recreational fisherman. In turn WE can get him OFF the Council when his term is up by voicing our opinion about him now to NMFS (SAFMC's daddy), stating that we do not want him re-appointed to another term.
FACT - with CCA-Florida effectively George Geiger's bitch, we as meat fishermen need to find another, more effective recreational fishing organization that we can latch onto for better pro-recreational fishermen results.
FACT - Hogarth also said once a new proposed reg gets to the public hearing stage it means that it's too late and you get three options and they're all crappy: ScrewJob #1, ScrewJob #2 or ScrewJob #3. In the case of 13c, we got the worst screwing.
FACT - Hogarth said it is imperative we write our Congressman, our two Senators, write Hogarth himself, write the Secretary of Commerce (Hogarth's boss). He said write often and write on every issue that concerns you. Our letters ARE heard. They can use our numbers to justify to the commercials and eco-fascists and the longhaired filthy hippy PhDs within their own agency why they're not punitively enacting anti-recreational regs.
Now let's get to work, dammit.
Catch-All