Action Alert
 

ACTION ALERT… HEARING NOTICE

In preparation for our up-coming Committee Hearing to be held on Nov. 6th at 1:00 PM for HD717 and HD716 in meeting room A-2 State House, Boston, Stripers Forever will be meeting with members of the House and Senate Committee on Natural Resources, the Environment and Agriculture during the week of 10/28 - 10/31. Below find meetings that have already been set up. As more meetings are confirmed, we will update this list. Your participation will be welcomed.

The purpose of this notification is to afford you the opportunity to attend one of the meetings if you live in the town or district of the Representative or Senator or if you have a personal relationship with them. Please be aware that meeting may end up being with the legislator’s staff since the schedule can be unpredictable during session. You will meet with our lobbyist (Henri Rauschenbach) 15 minutes beforehand to go over the strategy for the meeting. If you want to attend a meeting contact Henri as soon as possible at henri.rauschenbach@gmail.com.
The meetings scheduled so far are:
Sen. Michael Rush (D-Boston)(Room 504) - Tuesday 10/29 at 2PM
Sen. Dan Wolf (D - Cape & Islands) (Room511-B) - Thursday 10/31 at 1:30PM
Sen. Ben Downing (D-Berkshires) (Room 413-F) (with aide) - Thursday 10/31 at 2:30PM
Rep. Anne Gobi (D - Spencer) (Room 473-F) - Monday 11/4 at 4:30PM
Rep. Paul Mark (D - Hancock) (Room 472) -Wednesday 10/30 at 1:00PM
Rep. Matt Beaton (D-Shrewsbury) (Room 167) - Wednesday 10/30 at 2:00PM
If you cannot attend a meeting we urge you to contact legislators on the committee and ask them to support HD 717 and 716 which will in effect remove recreational anglers from the commercial fishery and reduce the quota correspondingly, and will sunset the entire fishery by 2025. The second bill will require that striped bass tagged by commercial fishermen be tagged immediately at the point of capture. The message should be short and direct. Something like this:
“My name is XXXX and I live in TOWN, MASSACHUSETTS. Striped bass are important to me. The fishery has declined greatly, and stripers need to be better managed. I urge you to vote for HD717 and 716.
Here is a list of committee members and their contact information. Please let them know that you want striped bass to be conserved.

Sen. Marc Pacheco (D) Chair
617-722-1551
Marc.Pacheco@masenate.gov
Taunton
Sen. Michael Rush (D) Vice Chair
617-722-1348
Mike.Rush@masenate.gov
Boston
Sen. William Brownsberger (D)
617-722-1280
William.Brownsberger@masenate.gov
Belmont
Sen. Dan Wolf (D)
617-722-1570
Daniel.Wolf@masenate.gov
Harwich
Sen. Ben Downing (D)
617-722-1625
Benjamin.Downing@masenate.gov
Pittsfield
Sen. Robert Hedlund ®
617-722-1646
Robert.Hedlund@masenate.gov
Weymouth
HOUSE MEMBERS
Rep. Anne Gobi (D) Chair
617-722-2210
Anne.Gobi@mahouse.gov
Spencer
Rep. Paul Schmid(D) Vice Chair
617-722-2210
Paul.Schmid@mahouse.gov
Westport
Rep. Robert Koczera (D)
617-722-2582
Robert.Koczera@mahouse.gov
New Bedford
Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante (D)
617-722-2210
Ann-Margaret.Ferrante@mahouse.gov
Gloucester
Rep. Paul Mark (D)
617-722-2013
Paul.Mark@mahouse.gov
Hancock
Rep. Mary Keefe (D)
617-722-2210
Mary.Keefe@mahouse.gov
Worcester
Rep. Carolyn Dykema (D)
617-722-2210
Carolyn.Dykema@mahouse.gov
Holliston
Rep. Gailanne Cariddi (D)
617-722-2130
Gailanne.Cariddi@mahouse.gov
North Adams
Rep. Christopher Markey (D)
617-722-2450
Christopher.Markey@mahouse.gov
Dartmouth
Rep. Matthew Beaton (R )
617-722-2230
Matthew.Beaton@mahouse.gov
Shrewsbury
Rep. Susan Williams Gifford (R )
617-722-2976
Susan.Gifford@mahouse.gov
Wareham

Hopefully these bills get blown out once again as they have in the past. And the Maine based sf will quit wasting the tax dollars and time of the Massachusetts state house.
Those links can be used to show your opposition to these bills and your support to keep the commercial striped bass fishery open.
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Done.
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