President's Report

My first order of business is to thank Bruce Smith for guiding the JCAA for the two years of his presidency. Bruce has contributed much of his time and energy to JCAA issues. He has attended numerous management meetings where JCAA presence and opinions were needed. Of course, all of these JCAA efforts were done on his own time. Bruce has indicated that he will still help the JCAA on its many initiatives, especially the JCAA Fluke Tournament that is coming up soon. I will continue to ask Bruce for his guidance. Bruce has also reminded me to place in my report that at our last regular meeting members passed a motion that the JCAA send a letter to the Coast Guard in support of status quo for Loran C. Many anglers have fishing coordinates tied to this system and do not want to see it phased out by the Guard.

I enter the JCAA President’s Office at a time when there are many challenges facing us. We are at a time when our beloved sport seems to be under attack from all angles. We are facing dramatic cutbacks in our fluke quota and now even blackfish with a 28% quota reduction. We are facing a fishing management bureaucracy that seems tone deaf to the concerns of the recreational community and that not only includes anglers but also tackle shops and the party and charter boat industry. How many times have we told them that dogfish are decimating the fish stocks! We are also facing some elements in the environmental sector that do not understand the fishing industry but seem determined to continually reduce the amount of fish we can catch and come up with unrealistic fish quotas that we cannot possibly achieve. They exert tremendous influence in the political and fishing management circles that eventually determine what we can fish for.

Well, I do not want to throw away my fishing gear and take up the golf clubs just yet! The saying “If you snooze, you lose” is very applicable to all of us. We must continually be on guard to all of the latest developments affecting our sport and take appropriate action. For example, we are facing a 28% reduction in blackfish and the issue of illegal catches and the numerous pots and gear by commercial fishermen on the artificial reefs have not been addressed by fishing management when they came up with this reduced quota. With the assistance of JCAA staff, I have drafted a letter to Governor Corzine that addresses this issue and seeks the assistance of his Office to rectify this problem (the letter is in this newsletter). The JCAA will work with members of the recreational community, other fishing organizations, management staff and members of both political parties to address and resolve the blackfish issue and other issues that face us. We may lose some battles, but we do want to eventually win the war!

What can you do? You can support the JCAA by attending its monthly meetings to be informed on all of the issues that confront the recreational community so that you can bring this information back to your clubs. You can pay your club member dues in a timely fashion so that the JCAA not only has your financial support but can also count on your club as one who supports the goals of the JCAA to fishing management organizations. Remember, there is strength in numbers! The invoices for your JCAA dues and sponsorships have recently been mailed, so watch for them. Your support for the JCAA’s High Roller Raffle, its Fluke Tournament, Dinner Dance and other activities are other ways that your club can support the JCAA.

The purpose of the JCAA is to protect the rights of all anglers who fish in New Jersey. By helping the JCAA you are helping the JCAA to help you in protecting your fishing rights that are continually being challenged by a variety of forces.

The Garden State Preservation Trust (GSPT), the funding mechanism that has allowed New Jersey to save over 350,000 acres of parks, farmland, and natural and historic sites, will run out of money in 2007. The Outdoor Recreation Alliance (ORA) campaign to renew and strengthen this program has resulted in the introduction of two bipartisan bills, ACR 229 / SCR 131, to place a public referendum on the November 2007 ballot. You can help by encouraging your legislators to co-sponsor and/or support these bills. You can request your local and county governing bodies to pass a resolution in support of these bills. To date, approximately 25 resolutions have been passed. View a sample resolution at www.outdoorrecreationalliance.org or call Joanna Wolaver at 609-392-1181 for info.

Mark Taylor, Event Coordinator, was really excited about the JCAA member participation at the Atlantic City International Boat Show and the support of boaters and anglers of JCAA’s efforts to protect the marine resource and anglers’ rights. He said that our next event will be the Salt Water Fishing Expo in Somerset, March 16th thru 18th. Call Mark at 732-929-2591 to help out.

The Sunrise Bay Anglers have made application to become a member club of JCAA. If there is no objection their membership application will be approved at our next general membership meeting. 
 

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