BigBendFishing.Net

Many of you know about CCA.
CCA is Coastal Conservation Association.
They are one of very few recreational fishermen friends. They lobby for your right to fish,catch and keep if you choose.
CCA needs every recreational fishermans' support.

Your $25 annual membership goes a long way towards catching fish.

Otherwise CCA may soon be known as Can't Catch Anything.

If you saltwater fish and enjoy saltwater fishing support CCA now so that we can continue to have a voice for the recreational fisherman.

P.S. Everyone who joins or renews membership in CCA in the next 90 days gets to fish all my holes FREE for 1 year.
JT51

Right on! CCA puts on a darn good banquet, too. When is it this year?

Thanks Jump trout. The banquet will be May 20th at the Tallahassee Car Museum.

Do not forget FRA and RFA! CCA is mediocre at best and continues to compromise rather than fight in many cases!!!

Remember, it was CCA that dreamed up (and is trying to sell) the idea of auctioning tags for Red Snapper. Anyone could buy them, rec or commercial, the number of tags would match the allotted quota, and no tag no keep. Great plan - NOT!

I belonged in FL and GA; not this year. When CCA aggressively takes on the feds and commercials, I'll be back.

For Immediate Release: Contact: Ted Venker
September 28, 2009 800-201-FISH



CCA FILES LAWSUIT TO STOP GULF GROUPER GIVEAWAY
“Fundamentally flawed” catch share program a threat to angling

HOUSTON, TX – Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) has filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Fort Myers, Florida, challenging the adoption and implementation of Amendment 29 to the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Management Plan approved by United States Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke on August 30. Amendment 29 gives away a majority share of Gulf grouper to the commercial fishing industry through a catch share program.

“CCA has stated from the beginning that this management action is fundamentally flawed,” said Chester Brewer, chairman of the CCA National Government Relations Committee. “In moving forward with Amendment 29, the federal government has disregarded multiple provisions in the Magnuson Stevens Act designed to govern the impacts of such action on other participants in the fishery. The only ones considered in this amendment are the commercial fishermen.”

Catch share systems bestow a percentage of a public fishery resource to a select group of commercial fishermen, based on their catch history, to harvest for their own personal gain. The commercial entities pay nothing back to the public for the permanent property right to harvest a public resource, but catch share systems are nonetheless being emphasized in federal fisheries as a way to reduce overcapacity and improve economic efficiency in the commercial sector. CCA has contended that in fisheries where there is a large and growing recreational sector, exclusive fishing rights proposals maximize benefits to the commercial fishing industry while ignoring the participation and beneficial economic impacts of recreational fishing.

“In more than 30 years of practice in fisheries law, I have not seen a more arbitrary action than this one,” said Robert G. Hayes, CCA general counsel. CCA has asked for an expedited hearing and expects the government to answer the lawsuit within the next 60 days. “We are going to proceed as quickly as the court will allow to prevent the implementation of this egregious decision.”

To see a copy of the official comments CCA submitted to the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council on Amendment 29 in June 2009, visit the Catch Share section of the CCA Newsroom at www.JoinCCA.org.

###

From its inception in Texas three decades ago through today, Coastal Conservation Association HAS taken on the feds mismanagement and the commercial industry dominance of public-owned resources. The organization's track record of success is undeniable, from game fish status for billfish, net bans across much of the nation, game fish status for redfish, to legal challenges for recreational rights, CCA has been in the trenches and continues to advocate for recreational anglers. I'm not going to knock other organizations; just look at the record and it's easy to see why a $25 CCA membership is the best investment you can make to ensure you and your kids will be able to enjoy this sport long into the future.