Background: The JCAA and other groups like the New Jersey Outdoor Alliance and the NJ Federation of Sportsmen Clubs have been lobbying legislators for many years to pass the HOFNOD bill (Hooked on Fishing and Not on Drugs) and it seems this year HOFNOD may yet receive a final OK from our legislators. The funding for HOFNOD ($200,000) comes from the Drug Enforcement and Demand Reduction Fund that is continually replenished from cars, monies and other items seized by police from people involved in the drug trade or from DWI. This fund has millions of dollars in it, perhaps as much as $30 million. Funding for HOFNOD comes directly from this fund and NOT from taxpayers. The purpose of HOFNOD is to get kids and young adults interested in fishing, especially from high crime city environments. Individuals are trained through this program to reach out to schools and community organizations to get kids on fishing trips and show them the benefits of getting in touch with the nature that is all around us. HOFNOD has already received approval from the Assembly. It needs Senate approval before it becomes law. However, the first step in the Senate approval process is that this bill has to be heard in a committee and HOFNOD (S-178) was scheduled for discussion in the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee chaired by Senator Paul Sarlo on June 7th.
Senate Budget Hearing- Rocky Start, But A Good Ending: There were nine bills scheduled to be heard in the large conference room and many of them were contentious according to Chairman Sarlo. Accordingly, he decided to have the HOFNOD bill up first for discussion since he thought that it would easily pass with little to no discussion. He asked if there was anyone opposed to it and about eight hands shot up! When Chairman Sarlo saw that, he remarked to his fellow committee members, “I thought that this was supposed to be easy.” Mostly animal rights activists testified against the bill claiming it would cause depletion of the fisheries, endanger the lives of fish and other animals, and stated it was a poor use of money. They also opposed the bill on the grounds that they are against the consumption of fish. They kept complaining that they did not want taxpayer money used to fund this program even though taxpayer money is not used for it. One of them used the argument that having these new kids fishing would result in more lead dropped in the ocean and the ocean would, therefore, become more polluted!
I was waiting in the audience along with Don Marantz to testify in support of HOFNOD. Both of us are JCAA Board members and also represent several fishing clubs. We were surprised to hear this type of testimony since HOFNOD is intended to get kids fishing and off the streets. What can be so wrong about that! It seems that when fishing and hunting issues are up for legislative approval, animal rights activists come to Trenton to oppose this legislation simply because they do not want any fish or animals killed for any reason. This narrow way of looking at legislation makes them look extreme in their testimony on HOFNOD or any issue affecting anglers and hunters.
Don Marantz testified how HOFNOD can help kids. Senator Beck followed Don and she gave a very good explanation of what HOFNOD is all about for the benefit of committee members. There was really not much for me to explain about HOFNOD with my following Senator Beck. So I recounted my club’s (Saltwater Anglers of Bergen County) taking out disadvantaged children on fishing trips for many years and the joy it brings to them. I told them about me seeing a girl about 12 years old and she looked not only sad but lacking in confidence. She quickly gave up on trying to catch fluke. I took her under my wing and in a short while she was hooking her own bait and catching a lot of fish. She asked me in earnest “Is this day going to end”! She enjoyed it so much that I kind of wished that the day would not end for her. This personal story about how kids can enjoy fishing hit home and I saw several legislators nodding in agreement. Sometimes a personal story can have more influence about what a bill means instead of discussing it in abstract terms with bill numbers, funding and hearing negative comments from people who want to be negative.
The HOFNOD bill was unanimously approved by the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee! The bill now needs to be passed by the full senate, and if it is approved it will go to the Governor for his signature. We are very close to getting this bill passed and let your senators know that you are in favor of this bill, as well as they should be. We may just win this one!
