For Immediate Release: Press Conference – January 19, 2015 AT 1 PM – LOCATION: THE FISHING VESSEL ‘PROVIDENCE’, COMMERCIAL DOCK
CAPTAIN REED, ONE ON THE MOST RESPECTED FISHEMEN IN SHINNECOCK, IS FACING A CRIMINAL RECORD, POSSIBLE JAIL AND THE LOSS OF THE ABILITY TO PROVIDE FOR HIS FAMILY BY THE LOSS OF VALUABLE FISHING PERMITS IF HE IS CONVICTED OF THIS CHARGE. HE INTENDS TO PLEAD NOT GUILTY ON MARCH 4, 2015 BEFORE THE HON. BARBARA WILSON, IN THE SOUTHAMPTON TOWN JUSTICE COURT AND DEMAND AN IMMEDIATE TRIAL TO PROVE HIS INNOCENCE. Read the rest here 20:00
This is sick. Actually it’s worse than sick. It’s another of the many examples of the regulatory regime we work under not taking into account the lives and well being of those who work in this profession.
Once again I call on ALL FISHERMEN to start a process where at a given date and time ALL VMS MACHINES ARE TURNED OFF as a protest to not only the idiotic regulations that threaten this industries viability, but also to the clear and present danger many of these regulations pose to the lives and property to those who are involved in this industry.
If we could organize thousands to get to DC for what seems to have been a waste of time and an opportunity for the useless politicians to come out of their ivory towers for a photo op we should be able to do this.
Only through civil disobedience will a dialog begin to right all the wrongs and expose those who have created this situation.
We have played by their rules for decades. We have done all that’s been asked for decades, and what do we have to show for it? Once vibrant fishing communities that produced jobs and food are now turning into ghost towns. Have they EVER LISTENED to the fishermen? Sure they have, but everything we have said has been considered anecdotal. Until we draw a line in the sand they won’t stop until there is nothing left but the crumbling infrastructure that once supported this honorable industry.
Start talking about it folks. WE HAVE THE VEHICLE HERE AT FISHERYNATION TO ORGANIZE THIS WITHOUT HAVING TO TRAVEL TO DC FOR ANOTHER DOG AND PONY SHOW.
WHAT SAY YOU FOLKS?
Joel….excellent response to what is the continued upside down bizarre world of fishery regulations.
We had a MRAC meeting here last week in NY, and it does not take a rocket scientist to see where this is all going….thankfully enough good men showed up.
We tried getting the fishermen together for the rallies and I was one of the organizers….not once but twice, and we even went so far to pay for the buses and food and we didn’t have the turnout from NY we should have. Yes, the money came out of our pockets for those events.
It is extremely hard for law abiding people like us to commit civil disobedience especially when you can be met out on the water or at the dock by men with badges and armed with guns. The legal implications….well we all know what can happen here.
The pressure has to be placed upon the local and state politicians, as well as fishermen going to the press and telling this story with the implications of what possibly could have happened….gone wrong, and then what, the questions afterwards.
It should be interesting how many fishermen will chime in here…and both of us know the few who do, but how many others….and Joel, that is what I am talking about. If we don’t support each other, how do we get the public behind us?
It is extremely hard for law abiding people like us to commit civil disobedience especially when you can be met out on the water or at the dock by men with badges and armed with guns. The legal implications….well we all know what can happen here.
Ec, I understand your concerns. That is why it is imperative that ALL FISHERMAN be involved in this action. At a time and date of our choosing we should publicize exactly what will happen and why it is happening. Our livelihoods are being outlawed and there is no end in sight. I believe the media will latch onto this much more than our past efforts. Civil disobedience is at the foundation of our democracy. One only needs to look to Ferguson Missouri, or to the Bundy Ranch in Nevada to see the impact it can have.
At this point do we even have another option? Nothing up till this point has worked.
This nation was founded through civil disobedience!
That being said I believe our founding fathers are rolling over in their graves when they see what the government and the radical left has done to this nation.