President's Report

The first thing I want to say to you is Happy New Year and may it be a healthy and prosperous one for you and your family members!

Not only did 2017 go by fast – it flew! During this year, the JCAA had a nice fluke tournament and especially the Awards Ceremony that I wrote about earlier in this newsletter. We also had an enjoyable Sportsperson of the Year Dinner that honored our fellow anglers who contributed and still continue to support this sport we all love in so many ways.

There will continue to be challenges to our fisheries in 2018. Every year there seems to be some drama over fluke fishing and 2017 was a whopper with even our country’s Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, getting involved with it. Is that crazy or what? Our country’s Commerce Secretary weighing in on our state’s fluke season! In my personal file cabinet, I have files going back a number of years over fluke issues with meetings I attended held in Baltimore, Galloway Township, Philadelphia and other locations. This fishery always seems to be so contentious! While we have issues with fluke, sea bass is even worse with fishing managers telling us this stock is completely rebuilt (some 230%), yet we always experience cutbacks in our fluke quotas year after year.

Hopefully in 2018 things will be better. Our JCAA committee member, Paul Hertel, was present at the joint meeting of the ASMFC/MAMFC in Annapolis, Maryland for two days to cover the fluke and sea bass hearings for us. From what Paul heard, Paul thinks we will have a better fluke season in 2018. That remains to be seen. The sea bass fishery always seems to be a problem. See Paul’s report on the Annapolis meetings in this newsletter.

There will be a public hearing scheduled in New Jersey by the ASMFC to hear what we have to say about fluke and sea bass. The date and time has not been scheduled yet, but we will keep you informed about it. You need to show up at this public hearing to make your comments heard!

At the November New Jersey Outdoor Alliance (NJOA) meeting, New Jersey Beach Buggy Association’s member (NJBBA), Paul Harris, made a recommendation that a letter should be written to Governor Chris Christie asking him to approve 19 positions for New Jersey’s Bureau of Marine Fisheries that have been already funded ($1.3 million), but need new job titles. We want him to approve these positions before he leaves office. I wrote a letter to the Governor on NJOA letterhead that is posted in this newsletter. I am happy to report that our Governor has signed off on these new positions and people are being hired right now for jobs that desperately need to be filled. The JCAA and the NJOA have always advocated for more funding for our state’s Bureau of Marine Fisheries and while we would like to see more funding and staff hired, at least we are off to a good start for it in 2018! This letter additionally covers a hunting issue and it also asks the Governor to appoint two new members to New Jersey’s Fish & Game Council. There is concern that the incoming administration would fill these two positions with individuals who do not have adequate fishing and hunting backgrounds. It can take almost a year or more for F&G candidates to receive approval to be on it. At the time of my writing this article, one candidate has already received approval in less than two months and the other candidate is just about ready to be approved for this important Council by the Governor.

Both Ken Warchal and I recently listened to a 4-hour webinar hosted by the Bureau of Energy Management (BOEM) on sand mining issues – how they do it, issue contracts, etc. The point made, especially by Ken, is that we do not want the Manasquan Ridge touched by the Army Corps of Engineers to take sand from this ridge for the beaches. I commented that it cannot be touched! There were about 40-50 people on the call list and the BOEM facilitator always asked what organization you represent when you make comments. So, the JCAA was represented and made a strong case that the Manasquan Ridge is a prime fishing area and we do not want its sand placed on beaches and then see this sand inevitably wash away in time.

As you can see from my report that JCAA staff is always trying to improve our fisheries. We are all volunteers, with the exception of our Office Manager who has to be in our office a lot to handle many administrative duties. We are trying to do the best we can for our JCAA members and also for everybody who fishes in our state.

Finally, I want to THANK YOU for the support you have given me during my presidency! I am asking you to give the same support you have given me to JCAA’s new President in 2018, Mark Taylor!

It is getting that time to take inventory of your tackle and dream about your next trip on the water. Jersey Coast Anglers Association will be at two shows in 2018 which are run by National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA). This is great origination that works hard for you. So show support to them by attending the shows they run.