Tag Archives: CCA
NCFA Weekly Update for June 10, 2024
Mandatory Harvest Reporting, Why and How? SAFMC Meets This Week This Week. As you know, in 2023 legislation was approved that places new “mandatory reporting” requirements on both recreational anglers and commercial fishermen who participate in North Carolinas coastal fisheries. As usual, this has led to a lot of comments, complaints, and misinformation which, quite frankly, is what started the mandatory reporting conversation in the first place. As one of the primary supporters of “mandatory reporting” we feel it’s important for the NCFA to explain exactly why and how this legislation came to be. more, >>CLICK TO READ<<– 18:18
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update September 12, 2022
For decades now, the CCA has done their best to turn “bycatch” into a four-letter word, especially commercial bycatch. They’ve used the term “bycatch” to justify their failed attempts to enact net bans and gamefish bills! They’ve used the term “bycatch” to justify banning shrimp trawling in North Carolina! They’ve used the term “bycatch” to justify almost every current restriction on commercial fishermen and commercial fishing gear! >click to read<. To read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here< 09:18
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update August 29, 2022
At the August Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) meeting, Amendment 2 to the Striped Bass FMP and the unjustified net ban in the upper Neuse and Pamlico Rivers was on the agenda once again. Amendment 2 was up for final approval by the MFC, which we strongly opposed as long as the continuation of the net ban in the upper Neuse and Pamlico Rivers is incorporated into the Amendment. The Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) of NC, on the other hand, seemed to support the final approval of Amendment 2, only if the net ban remains part of the FMP. Surprised? Probably not, after all for decades the CCA has pushed for a net ban and, for decades, the NCFA has opposed this extreme agenda, making the gill net debate a constant source of friction at virtually every fisheries meeting. Another constant through the years has been the CCAs willingness to misinform and misuse data to support their agenda and the August MFC meeting was no exception. >click to continue reading< 18:49
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for July 11, 2022
We cannot emphasize enough how important it is for commercial fishermen and others associated with the seafood industry to take an active interest in the November general election. Find out who the candidates are and where they stand on the issues that are important to you. If you need to know who is on the ballot this November for the NC Senate and House in your district, let us know and we’ll get that information to you. Candidates need your support by your vote and financially. >Click here to read the Weekly Update<, to read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here< 09:26
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for May 16, 2022
NCWF…Sounds a lot like the CCA’s approach to messaging. Doesn’t it? A couple of weeks ago I had a call from a friend who is not a fisherman, recreational or commercial, but has taken an interest in fisheries management. He reached out to ask me about the North Carolina Wildlife Federation (NCWF), as he had seen them mentioned in several of our weekly newsletters but was having trouble finding their fisheries positions on the NCWF website. >click to read<. To read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here< 09:41
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for May 02, 2022
The “Rule of Law” is the political philosophy that all citizens are accountable for the same laws. This philosophy helped fuel the American revolution and was a key principle considered, by our founding fathers, when drafting the U.S Constitution. The Rule of Law ensures, that in a true democracy, the powerful, wealthy, or majority can’t use the law to oppress or control the minority. When it comes to regulating our coastal fisheries both the government and our state seem to struggle with this relatively simple concept. Simply put, it doesn’t matter whether you fish for food, profit, or pleasure, your impacts are similar and therefore you must be treated similarly under the law! Perhaps it’s time for another revolution! >click to read< to read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here< 18:43
Be careful What you wish for … especially in fisheries management
I attended the NCMFC meeting on 2/23-2/25. The first evening was public comment. The majority of the speakers were CCA members, guides and individuals, who basically repeated the same script that was obviously authored by someone else and read over and over.,, In all my years as a recreational angler living in eastern NC. I have NEVER, and I mean NEVER, seen the hate and disgust shown by a select group of anglers pushing the rhetoric of the CCA and other groups against commercial fishing. I do not believe this is the average angler, but a group of self-centered, agenda driven, individuals, who stand to gain politically and monetarily from the closing of commercial fishing. I get asked all the time how can I champion a sector that has gill nets and trawls? I don’t think of it that way. by Easton Edwards, >click to read< 09:08
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for April 04, 2022
Over the last couple of months, many NC anglers have reached out to the NCFA seeking to get a better understanding of what’s really going on in the world of fisheries management here in North Carolina. That said, there have been several anglers who have questioned our assessment of the CCA’s true agenda, which in our opinion is to reduce or even eliminate harvest of wild fish stocks in both the commercial and recreational sectors. I had an angler from Pamlico County tell me that the CCA had assured him that once the nets were gone recreational bag limits for Red Drum, Southern Flounder, and Speckled Trout would increase and nothing I write could convince him otherwise. This got me thinking that maybe he and other anglers would be more receptive to the truth if someone else wrote it. >click to read the attached article< 16:40
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for March 07, 2022
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for January 24, 2022
I hope everyone took the time to read the “Saga of Southern Flounder” article, from the North Carolina Wildlife Federation. If not please click the link below and read it for yourself before continuing to read my comments. After reading the Wildlife Federations article, I’m sure you were shocked by their strong claims of (mis)” management” bias towards the commercial fishery, failed commercial management, and harsh recreational reductions. Continue reading at the update. >Click here to read the Weekly Update<, to read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here< 09:25
North Carolina Fisheries Association Weekly Update for January 17, 2022
The issue of Southern Flounder management, or mismanagement as some have claimed, has been a hot topic lately. Claims that commercial overharvest, imminent stock collapse, failed commercial harvest reductions, and inaction by the state are to blame for declining catches of Southern flounder are rampant. But are they true? If you asked the CCA or NC Wildlife Federation the answer would be yes but if you asked me, I’d say their claims are absurd and not supported, by the numbers. Continue reading at the update. >Click here to read the Weekly Update<, to read all the updates >click here<, for older updates listed as NCFA >click here< 10:33
N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries: southern flounder ‘overfished’; harvest cuts in works
State fisheries managers have released a new overview of commercially important fish stocks, and a commercial fishing advocacy group and the state branch of a recreational fishing conservation nonprofit seem supportive of its results.,, fisheries managers are working on Amendment 2 to the Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan. This amendment, if the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission adopts it at its meeting Wednesday through Friday, Aug. 21-23 in Raleigh, would implement measures to reduce both the commercial and recreational harvest by 62-72%. N.C. Fisheries Association President and commercial fisherman Glenn Skinner said,,, <click to read< 09:39
A Forage Fish War – Canadian company targets critical forage fish in Atlantic and Gulf
The two U.S. menhaden fisheries are in the Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf,,, Omega Proteins, headquartered in Canada, has sought certification that the fishery is sustainable.,, Now it has sought the same certification in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a joint statement from the American Sportfishing Association, the Coastal Conservation Association, and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.,, “The ASA, Theodore Roosevelt , and CCA, have formally objected, That steep price (of MSC certification) caused Sport Fish Magazine writer Doug Olander to pen a satirical op-ed,,,That prompted a swift backlash by Omega Proteins, “According to the ASMFC [Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission], Striped Bass are overfi…>click to read<17:23
A key vote looms on commercial fishing in North Carolina
A high stakes meeting of the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC), set to begin today, includes a proposal that advocates say could devastate the state’s commercial fishing industry by redefining the requirements for a license. “This can change the whole ball game,” said Dare Commissioner Steve House, who is planning to attend the meeting and speak out against the proposal. “They’re working to obliterate an industry and a whole way of life. And it’s not just a battle anymore — it’s all-out war. And I’m ready to fight it.” >click to read< 08:30
Makeup of N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission board invites political intrigue
State law authorizes a Marine Fisheries Commission to set policies governing the harvest of the state’s fish stock. It also says the commission is supposed to treat commercial and recreational interests fairly. But the commission was designed in such a manner that a balancing act between the two competing interests on the board is all but impossible.The board’s makeup also lends itself to political intrigue in the appointment of members by the governor. The problem lies in how the nine seats are allocated. Read the rest here 08:11
Dirty Politics – High rollers, big names back CCA agenda across U.S. & N.C.
“The CCA has nothing to do with conservation unless you consider sport fishermen having all of a certain species allocated to themselves as conservation.” Those are the words of author Robert Fritchey, who wrote the definitive book tracing the history of the Coastal Conservation Association, titled “Wetland Riders”. The CCA traces its roots to Texas in 1977 and was originally founded by mostly wealthy anglers in Houston. Fritchey ticked off the names of those early leaders in the first chapter: Read the rest here 07:27
CCA Maryland: Don’t increase harvest of striped bass
“As you are undoubtedly aware, the 2013 striped bass stock assessment projects declines in the spawning stock biomass,” the letter read. “CCA Maryland is intensely concerned by these projections and uncertainties and find them particularly troubling in light of the fact that 2011 was the only relatively strong spawning year Maryland has recorded out of the last six.” more@somdnews 05:19
