Presidents Message
By Bill Degnan
(from Jersey Coast Anglers Association - April 1996 Newspaper)
The following letter was recently sent to the JCAA member clubs:
Dear members,
I am writing to you today regarding a matter of extreme urgency. This Association - Your Association - needs your help! I have pled this case a countless number of times in our newsletter, but have not seen much, if any, response.
Each month when I look out over those in attendance at our regular monthly meetings, it is the same sea of faces. It is always the same clubs, with the same men and women in attendance. I fully realize that towns like Cape May, Fortescue, High Point and West New York are not just around the corner from our headquarters in Toms River, or from our general meeting place in Brick Township, but this is where the important issues regarding your fishing future are addressed.
Not everything this Association is involved with gets coverage in the newsletter. Many issues are discussed in great detail at the regular meetings on the last Tuesday of each month, or during the executive meetings on the following Mondays. You are encouraged to send a representative to all J.C.A.A. regular monthly meetings. Your input matters, it's voices like yours that point us in the direction we go.
By now you should realize that your Association requires a lot of effort in order to assemble and send out the newsletter, organize the High Roller Raffle, manage and execute the Jersey Coast Annual Fluke Tournament, staff and support the Association booths at several outdoors and sports shows, etc., etc. I expect that you also realize that each of the J.C.A.A. Committees is headed up by people just like you and the other members of your club - that is, they have jobs, families, in some cases responsibilities with their own clubs, and so on and so on. In fact, many of our committees are a committee of one. We have the same cadre of members doing the regular business of the Association as well as shouldering everything else that needs attention. Surely, there is someone in your club with a passion for a particular issue or the survival of a specific species that could work on one of our Committees. In many cases, such support can be done by telephone or mail, and may only involve a few hours a year.
I will be writing to you in the near future to ask you and your club to take on various tasks that need to be attended to in order to insure our fishing future. In the mean time, please discuss this matter with your club and see if your club will get involved in one of our activities or committees.
I can’t stress enough to you and your club members the importance of getting actively involved. We need your Help! The fisheries need your Help! Any of your members can help. They don’t have to be a delegate to participate.
Please feel free to contact me with your thoughts or comments regarding this correspondence, or any J.C.A.A. matter. Our number is 908-506-6565 or you can fax us at 908-506-6975.
WHAT’S AN EEL WORTH
A few creeks in New Jersey are playing host to commercial fisherman from as far away as Maine and South Carolina. What brings these commercial fisherman here. "Anguilla Nostrata". Now, you are probably saying, "What is that"? Baby American Eels, less than an inch in size and less than one year old ! They carry a price tag of $280.00 plus, for a pound of these transparent baby eels. That’s what the Japanese buyers are paying for this delicacy so they can ship them to Japan. Since eels do not spawn in captivity, the Japanese buy them alive from American commercial fisherman and then raise them for about 4 years. They can sell them in the Japanese markets for hundreds of dollars a pound. Nice racket if you can get it.
The harvesting season for New Jersey runs from the end of February to April. This has been going on for about 3 years in New Jersey. Now the best part... there are no rules and regulations in New Jersey that govern where they can be taken, how they can be taken or how many can be taken ! It appears that another species of marine life could soon be depleted. What do you pay for an eel now to go striper fishing... $1.00... $1.50 ? What do you think the price will be in the near future if this keeps up? It's time to take action before its to late. A committee will be needed to research this issue so the netting of eels can be controlled and regulated.