President's Report

(from Jersey Coast Anglers Association October 2008 Newsletter)

Fluke

It is a shame that the fluke season is over while we know that we still have good fluke fishing available. Hopefully, we will have a better season for 2009 with our increased fluke quota up to 18.45 million pounds from the 15.77 million pounds for 2008. It will be interesting to see how much fluke our management officials will say we caught during this season since this number will have a direct bearing on the length of our season, how many fish we can keep and their size limits for 2009. We won’t know this information until the latter part of this year, but we will keep you posted on the latest developments when we hear them.

New JCAA Position

With the exception of one paid staff member who handles mostly administrative duties, all JCAA staff contributes their time and effort strictly on a voluntary basis. With the increasing time needed for staff to attend legislative hearings, writing newsletter articles, press releases, position papers, attracting new members, running the annual fluke tournament and just a myriad of other things that need to be done on a timely basis, we are placing ads in the media advertising for a new Operations Manager who will join our staff on a full-time and paid basis. Your Board has worked on this issue for quite some time and we are now ready to go forward with this new position that we believe will strengthen the JCAA in its mission of protecting the rights of all anglers who fish in our state. You will start seeing this ad in various newspapers and fishing-related publications and if you know of any person who may meet the qualifications in this ad, please encourage him or her to apply. The entire description of this job appears at the end of my report. The JCAA has for too long relied on volunteer staff to meet its many responsibilities. Fishing issues are not getting any easier as I have indicated in my above reference to fluke, and the JCAA now needs a full-time and paid staff member to keep us better focused on what needs to be done to keep the JCAA on top of all of the issues that affect the sport that we all love. The resumes are due by October 25th and after the review process and the passing of the holiday seasons, we hope to have this new individual on JCAA staff by February 1st, 2009. We will keep you updated on the progress of this effort as it unfolds.

Dinner Dance

Fall is around the corner and that means our dinner dance will be coming up sooner that you think! The date is November 16th and it will be held at the Crystal Point Yacht Club in Point Pleasant starting at 4:00 p.m. There will be many prizes to be won, good food will be available and you will have a chance to talk to your fishing buddies and spin your wife (or significant other) out for a dance. The cost is $60 per ticket or $50 each for a table of 10. So be sure to mark your calendar for November 16th to have a good time at the Crystal Point Yacht Club. Our keynote speaker will be posted in our October bulletin.

Sportsperson of the Year Nomination

Your club should start to think about whom you want to nominate as Sportsperson of the Year. The person you nominate should have done something outstanding to promote the sport we all love. Your nomination should be in the format of one or two paragraphs. A long description of your nomination is unnecessary. We will hear nominations at our general meetings and take a final vote on this nomination at our October General meeting.

Election Time

There are presently two positions that need to be filled and they are President and First Vice President. Both positions are very important to the functioning of the JCAA and we need your assistance in filling both of these jobs. For too long a very dedicated Board has filled all of these positions, but new members to the Board will only strengthen it. So please give it some thought. You will be assisted by our Board members to guide you along the way. I can be reached at (732) 656-0139 or at tothjohn@verizon.net if you have any questions.

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