Publisher's Angle: We Support the Jersey Coast Anglers Association!

When I first got into the fisheries management game back in the late 80’s, it was quite intimidating to get up and give my view of how things should be handled. In those days you were noticed at that these hearing because there were few people in attendance and fewer that actually had something to say.

There was this one guy who seemed to be a pro at this fisheries stuff, and he was at every hearing I attended. He was always advocating for angler rights and I found myself agreeing with much of his views. Eventually he and I would become acquainted, and today I consider him to be a very good friend. Tom Fote is one of the few people that is still involved in fisheries management since then, and he has been more involved in saltwater fisheries management then anyone on the coast. I have seen many come and go, but Tom has someone managed to persevere through the continuous beating being given to us by the management agencies. He was a founding member of the Jersey Coast Anglers Association, JCAA, and has given most of his life to supporting our right to fish. His state of New Jersey has better bags limits, size limits and seasons then any state in the northeast, but more on that later.

A few weeks ago I received a call from a friend telling me that the editor of The Fisherman magazine attacked the JCAA because of their affiliation with the Marine Fish Conservation Network. My first thought was “what is he nuts – JCAA?” and then my second thought was, “Yep, he’s got to be.” This guy, who has JCAA in his blood, has done more then anyone for his state of NJ, and has never had a bad thing to say, even to me about The Fisherman, is being attacked for what!

I would first like to point out that while Nor’east Saltwater and The Fisherman have butted heads over the years, they were very supportive of our family when my brother was battling cancer, and I will always be grateful for that. But Tom is a good friend and as I see it, this attack by their Executive Editor Jim Hutchinson, Jr., was unwarranted and potentially harmful to all recreational anglers in NJ.

First of all, the Marine Fish Conservation Network has over 200 member organizations from just about ever coastal state in the nation, including the International Game Fish Association, IGFA. It’s pretty much a given that not all of these groups agree with each and every position

Tom Fote and JCAA have a long list of accomplishments that other states could only dream of. At a time when we were being convinced to conserve everything, Tom had the foresight of knowing that we would continuously see reductions and he fought hard for every fish. That is why they get to fish an 18 ½ inch fluke while New Yorkers are on a 20 ½ fish. That’s what they get 3- striped bass, and a longer season, more weakfish, blackfish, and winter flounder. JCAA also spear-headed the drive to make the striped bass a game-fish in New Jersey and they had a representative at just about every ASMFC meeting for over 20-years! You can’t find another organization to make that claim.

The Jersey Coast Anglers Association has the unbridled support of Nor’east Saltwater, and our family of websites - Noreast.com, Stripers247.com, Allcoast.com and 2coolfishing.com. We are strong supporters of their fine fluke tournament, and we’re a newsletter sponsor, and most of all, we appreciate the great job they do in fighting for the rights of the New Jersey recreational angler. And you can count on us the be there

The only good thing that came from all of this is Nor’east Saltwater now has that great cover position advertisement on the JCAA Newsletter that The Fisherman gave up when they decided to no longer support them. Thanks Jim, I always wanted that spot.

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