NEW CONTACT ( TILEFISH REGS CONT. )

[DIRTYFOOT2]

Gentlemen,
After multiple calls, and letters I've been directed to a new contact that may be able to help w/ the new tilefish limit were so fond of :lol: .
His name is George Geiger w/ the South Atlantic Fisheries Mgmt Council.
ph# 843-571-4366
samfc.net
George is our ( rec ) representative on the council. I've just recently e-mailed him and called. Hopefully I'll hear something back soon. Please jump on board. The more letters and e-mails he gets the louder our voice is.
Keep fightin, Keep writing
Butch

[Gaitor]

Nice find Butch. We need to barrage every contact we can find with our concerns over this totally unfair limit on the recreational fisherman.

[poolman]

You guys,I'm paying attention too.Nice work.I'll be sure to harass them as well

[fish-n-dude]

Thanks for the Update!

You might be interested to know that he is also the local CCA VP for South Florida. Here is a link some of you might find interesting posted by a buddy who attended the CCA membership drive this weekend.

http://groups.msn.com/100FathomFishi...95665873405440

I think the least they should do is reduce our take by the same amount they reduced the commercials. I've been sending letters / emails for weeks now. Hopefully if we squeal loud enough maybe someone will listen.

[DIRTYFOOT2]

Great post. I've been getting the runaround from all these beuracrats. What is an MPA? Glad your buddy got a hold of mr geiger. Sounds like he did a great job of expressing our displeasure at being locked out.
Take care,
Butch aka ( DF2 )

[miamiangler1]

Originally Posted by DIRTYFOOT2

Great post. I've been getting the runaround from all these beuracrats. What is an MPA? Glad your buddy got a hold of mr geiger. Sounds like he did a great job of expressing our displeasure at being locked out.
Take care,
Butch aka ( DF2 )

Hey guy`s I`m just wondering ..it looks like it is only us 5 guy`s writing ... DF2, poolman ,Gaitor , fish-in-dude and me ! Seems no one else has an opinion on Tile fish bag limit or dont care catching tilefish! if it is only us 5 writting , not much will happen.. who ever reads this should also write ... and voice their opinion here on this forum....

[Renegade]

I AM ALSO ON BOARD AND SENDING E MAILS. I THINK YOU GUYS ARE DOING A GREAT JOB. DONT GIVE UP. I AM ALSO ASKING MY DEEP DROP BUDDIES TO WRITE OR SEND E MAILS.

[miamiangler1]

Originally Posted by Renegade

I AM ALSO ON BOARD AND SENDING E MAILS. I THINK YOU GUYS ARE DOING A GREAT JOB. DONT GIVE UP. I AM ALSO ASKING MY DEEP DROP BUDDIES TO WRITE OR SEND E MAILS.

Thanks Renegade.. thats what I like to see and hear from other deepdroppers ... tell everyone you know to write ...I even have buddies that dont fish writting ...I`m even having my daugther write ... seems that they will listen to kidds more often !

[DIRTYFOOT2]

Will pen something to Wickstrom this week. Maybe we can get thier lobby team to help [-o< . Don't want to post in the incorrect forum, but maybe
a quick drop in the sword forum might get some more of our buddies writing. Trying to think of all angles.
Keep up the good work,
DIRTYFOOT2

[poolman]

Hey Butch,MPA I believe stands for management protection area, in other words... no fishing here. Has anyone else joined the FRA ? After reading the replies from Mr Gieger. My opinion of this guy is maybe he doesn't have OUR best interest in mind. I'll keep my"on the take," opinions to myself for now. But something smells just a little fishy to me. And it aint rec-caught tilefish!

[DIRTYFOOT2]

I think he's not familiar w/ ddroppin. I also think the CCA secretly considers what we do as non-sporting because of the electrics :shock:.
Screw them. They'll never get a dime from me. We'll eventually
come across the right org. that will help w/ our cause. Just got to
keep pluggin away
DF2 :twisted:

[Gaitor]

I read the post at the site in Fish-NDude's post. Mr Geiger sounds like most politicians .... full of self importance, clueless, arrogant and not representative of their constituants.
The only email response I've received was one directing me to someone else (who hasn't bothered to reply). Maybe they realize there is no accptable answer to this blatently unfair decision as relates to the recreational fishermen. So they implement guvmint philosophy #1 .... ignore it and maybe it will go away! Guess what mr pompous guvmint worker .... It AIN'T GOING AWAY!.
Keep the heat on boys!

[DIRTYFOOT2]

I'm getting the same runaround.
Still have lots of ink in the pen though
DF2

[fish-n-dude]

Originally Posted by DIRTYFOOT2

Great post. I've been getting the runaround from all these beuracrats. What is an MPA? Glad your buddy got a hold of mr geiger. Sounds like he did a great job of expressing our displeasure at being locked out.
Take care,
Butch aka ( DF2 )

MPA = Marine Protected Area. I am not a marine bioligist so I can not testify if these things are good or bad, but what I can tell you is that are popping up all over the country. Most of them limit fishing to trolling only "NO BOTTOM FISHING". Some limit to "NO FISHING PERIOD" it depends on whether it is a type 2 or type 1. We are currently fighting with the SAFMC about Amendment 14 which will close an 8 square mile of reef that we routinly catch large seabass at of the coast of Stuart. This is a story in itself and would require another thread. But be on the lookout and monitor the SAFMC closely. Many of the council members would like to see something like 20% of ALL the coastlines closed to fishing. This is not limited to deep water stuff either. They do have public hearings but they are not usually publicized very well. It's a shame to have a member on the advisory panel who is also a CCA member and he did not even have the decency to notify all the CCA members and encourage them to attend the public hearings.

Also watch out for HAPC areas (Habitat Area of Particular Concern). They (SAFMC) are proposing to set the entire Florida Straights along the East coast of FL (600' out to the EEZ) setup as an HAPC. While this does not mean you can not fish there I view them as a precursor to the MPA. For those of you not familiar with the Oculina Banks it is a stretch of reef / hard bottom that runs from Fort P all the way to the Cape. This entire area from about 300' to the 100 fathom line is considered an HAPC. Approximately 30% of the area is also an MPA closed to bottom fishing.

[Gaitor]

I just sent another round of emails out today to various "talking heads" including a bunch at NOAA. Whether they choose to reply remains to be seen. I'll give them a week and then send them again if I haven't heard from them. Methinks the fox is guarding the henhouse on this one.

[DIRTYFOOT2]

Tortugas has a large area that is now an MPA also. Where in stuart. 8 mile reef area. I fish out of SLI regularly, and lived in Stuart for 7 years before work took me south back to good ole Lake Worth where I was born. The Oculina Banks I can Understand the ban on trawling because of the fragile nature of the coral, and an anchor ban makes sense as well. But NO Fishing period cmon that is communist. Where I can see the benefit of limited no catching areas ie: Pennekamp, where you can fish, but you have to release, I am leary of the slippery slope thats being created. Rec
fishing is a 9 billion dollar industry in the state. Why are they even contemplating f*^#ing w/ such a goldmine in tax revenue. I could go on and on with this argument but I'm not trying to convince you. Were of similiar mindset. CCA is sucking wind. Maybe our meeting should be the first meeting of the PRFA. PISSED OFF RECREATIONAL FISHERMANS ASSOCIATION. There are lots of benefits to being a non profit org.
Something to think about.

[miamiangler1]

Hey guys ... I tired of some red- necks from South Carolina, telling us .. what we can catch and how many we can keep in Florida... they dont care about our 9 billion dollar industry... Hell I`ll just catch what I want ... no one checks anything in my area ... their to busy guarding the the ports of Miami and port Everglades ... and going after jet skiers :lol: :twisted:

[snooter]

dont be too quick to make that assumption!! i fished out of haulover for many years and trust me they are around and they do check... just ask the charter boats capt a mates if they check.. ps there has been alot of heat around those docks for a long while... pm me and ill fill you in..

[miamiangler1]

Originally Posted by snooter

dont be too quick to make that assumption!! i fished out of haulover for many years and trust me they are around and they do check... just ask the charter boats capt a mates if they check.. ps there has been alot of heat around those docks for a long while... pm me and ill fill you in..

I was just blowing off some steam ... I am sure they do , but I have never been asked what I have caught.. I am sure the charter boats get it more then most boaters ... on the weekend there are way to many to check ... I do follow the rules even if I dont like it ... just this one sucks !

[fish-n-dude]

Originally Posted by DIRTYFOOT2

Tortugas has a large area that is now an MPA also. Where in stuart. 8 mile reef area. I fish out of SLI regularly, and lived in Stuart for 7 years before work took me south back to good ole Lake Worth where I was born. The Oculina Banks I can Understand the ban on trawling because of the fragile nature of the coral, and an anchor ban makes sense as well. But NO Fishing period cmon that is communist. ....

Sea Bass Rocks is the area that will be closed next.

If ever fishing out of FP don't get caught in the Oculina Bank area with ANY bottom fish. Regardless of where you actually caught them.