Ladies and Gentlemen,
As you may or may not know, there has been a movement afoot by those already established in the groundfish party/charter boat industry to prohibit newcomers from accessing the same opportunities that they have enjoyed for decades.
I realize that for many of you, fishery managment isn't your "thing". That's totally understandable. Afterall, it's called "recreational" fishing for a reason. Some of you may even rely on supporting fishing organizations that you trust to make sense of it all and speak for you.
Unfortunately though, this topic has become a bit of a hot potato for for such organizations to stay objective when it comes to balancing the values of recreational fishermen but also the financial interests of their "industry" supporters in the "for-hire" fleet.
If you value a healthy and vibrant groundfish party/charter industry that offers competitive services, then please take a moment to read the following letter that I submitted yesterday to the NEFMC Groundfish Oversight Committee.
http://www.tidewise.com/issues/recre...s_20070531.pdf
The Committee will be meeting tomorrow and they will most likely be voting on whether or not to include "Limited Entry" in the party/charter fleet for inclusion in the next set of major groundfish regulations (Amendment 16).
If you are a member of the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA), then you can thank Don Swanson for being the lone voice on the NEFMC Recreational Advisory Panel who wants to see more competition in the groundfish party/charter fleet - not less.
On the other hand, if you are a member of the Recreational fishing Alliance (RFA), then you might want to ask them why their New England Regional Director, is championing the effort to ban new charter captains from freely entering the groundfish fleet.
Sincerely,
Mike Flaherty
P.S.
The NEFMC limited entry proposal referenced in my letter can be found at..
http://www.nefmc.org/nemulti/NEFMC%2...try%20Plan.pdf
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