by Rich Esposito
(from Jersey Coast Anglers Association February 2000 Newsletter)
Id
like to take this opportunity to give those of you who do not know me a brief summary of
my qualifications. Ive spent the last four years as an officer of the Fish Hawks
Saltwater Fishing Club, one as vice president and three as club president. I was also my
clubs representative to the JCAA for six years. During the last three years I stood
as 2nd vice president of the JCAA. I chaired this years Sportsman of the
Year Award Dinner / Dance and helped out with the Governors Fluke Tournament. And if
all that wasnt enough, I have been a member of the Berkley Striper Club for five
years. Needless to say, I feel I bring a great deal of experience to the table and am
smart enough to realize that what is needed here is a total team effort and not just to
rely on the same members to do the work year after year. I invite all the club reps to
step up and introduce yourselves to me. If
you cant attend the meetings, feel free to call me either at home or at the JCAA
office, and you can find both phone numbers in this publication. We need your support now.
There
are also two new officers this Year and one officer other officer has change his title. I
wish to thank Mark Taylor for staying on the JCAA Board as first 1st
Vice-President. I wish to welcome Tom Siciliano
as 2nd Vice-President and Paula Emond as Corresponding Secretary. I really have a great group of officers to help
this year and I am looking forward to it.
The
Outdoor Sportsman Show was held at the Raritan Center on Jan. 11th thru the 14th.
Id like to say a word of thanks to those members who donated their time with the
setup and manning of the booth during the four days. Special thanks go out to Mark Taylor
for all the effort he exerted in making this successful venture for us. We sold many of
the High Roller Raffle Tickets, as well as a good deal of hats and tee shirts. It is so
important to keep our organization visible to the recreational fisherman because we now
are a force to be reckoned with. Theres probably a minimum of one million or so
voters that fish, a number that surely will make the politicians sit up and take notice.
We
are looking for help manning the JCAA booth at the upcoming Atlantic City Sportsman Show.
Any member interested in donating some of his or her time, please call either Mark Taylor,
who again is coordinating the schedule, or leave a message at the office and someone will
get back to you. The show will be held on Jan. 26th thru the 28th at
the Atlantic City Convention Center.
The
High Roller Raffle got off to a flying start at the Raritan Show, thanks to the efforts of
Al Marantz, who was responsible for having the tickets printed. The drawing will be held
on April 24th, 2001 at the Brick Municipal Building at 8:00 pm. I would like
the club reps to make sure they obtain an ample supply of tickets to bring back to your
respective clubs and have your members make the effort to get these out to as many local
businesses and organizations. This years prize list totals $2995.00, and for two
bucks a ticket it certainly is a good value.
The
public hearing on the New Jersey Menhaden Regulations will be held on Feb. 20th,
2001 at 7:00 pm in Stockton Colleges A wing Lecture hall. It is of extreme
importance to have a good turnout for the meeting, as Im sure the commercials will,
to show your support for the changes to the regulations. Len Fantasia and his committee
has put forth a great deal of effort for many years to take measures to protect the bunker
stocks from over harvesting within our state waters, and this may be the final step. Lets
not have all that time and effort go to waste, so please make every effort to attend.
This was announced at the JCAA Board
Meeting
It is
important that the transition team in Washington focus their time and energy on candidates
who are seriously interested in new jobs. In
order to save them some time, Tom Fote has announced that he has not interest in
consideration for Director of the National Marine Fisheries Service or Director of Region
2 of EPA. Put your pens and pencils down. We dont need a groundswell of support. Mr. Fote commented that his commitments to JCAA
and the NJ State Federation of Sportsmens Clubs are so time consuming that he cannot
consider another appointment at this time.
Just who is Tom Fote? If youve ever wondered, please read the article reprinted below. Gary Caputi, a longtime JCAA member and an outdoor writer, wrote this article for the NJ Fisherman about Tom.