JCAA - Story of the bunker boats

[DarkSkies]

The tiny group that fought the Goliath of the seas and won!

That's how I felt after talking to Ron Sickler, one of the original members of the JCAA whom I met this weekend.

As a guy who has gotten myself involved in fishermen access issues from Hatteras to Mass, I honestly have gotten discouraged at times. There are many other committed anglers like me working for the future of fishing. I am only one small voice. The only difference with me is I don't give up once I believe in something.

However, I've had my moments of doubt. In fighting for access at Brookhaven, there were times when I began to get sick of all the driving up there, to protest a closure at a place I will probably never fish. In that case, you might say I wouldn't directly benefit, so why bother? That's a reasonable question to ask. In fact so many fishermen ask themselves that question "Why bother?" to me it has become a credo of apathy that indicates why it is so easy for politicians and environmentalists to put forth campaigns that encroach on our rights.....

We are so apatheric that even though we like to rant on the internet, for the most part a good number of fishermen will not protest unless its affecting them directly, for the fishing they're going to do in the next 24 hours.

Don't get me wrong, there are hundreds of guys out there who WILL fight for fishermens rights, have done way more than I have, and will not let us be pushed around. But it's the same 100 guys you see at every meeting, the same 100 guys who are always passing the petitions around and posting the online threads trying to raise awareness.

Yes, we are busy with our busy lives, and we do have priorities. What happens in the near future if we lose some of the things that are our rights, and they are turned into priveleges that not everyone can enjoy? What would you say to increasing your involvement then?

I didn't mean to go off on a participation tirade, so I will just say that after hearing the story from Ron Sickler, I was re-energized in commitment to fight for what is right for fishermen.

I'm less likely to get discouraged when I hear that Ron, Finchaser, Joe Melillo, and the JCAA fought for 11 years!
before they had any measure of success.

[DarkSkies]

If ya see only a few words, it means I didn't have enough time. I would appreciate the input from anyone who has more knowledge on this than I have. thanks

[DarkSkies]

The details from this were as related from Ron, who gave me permission to paraphrase his words. Any corrections, feel free. My brain ain't what it used to be.


Remember that this happened about 20 years ago, way before cell phones and the enhanced communication we have today.

The way it was outlined to me is that Ron and others from the Monmouth Beach car-toppers were out in the ocean one day fishing in different boats. The bunker boats weren't happy, and surrounded these boats with their nets to intimidate them and indicate they "could" sink them.

Ron made a movement to cut a net to gain their freedom. The Capn of one of the bunker boats made a movement like he would shoot Ron and his Dad. His Dad was the wiser of the 2 and talked him down. It was an intense standoff for a while. No one was sure exactly how it would go down.

They finally opened the nets, and let these cartoppers go back to port.

Ron made a beeline for the marine police, and filed a formal criminal complaint against the Captain of the bunker boat. The marine police Sergeant came to Ron's house, and assured him justice would be served. Unfortunately, according to Ron, the Command at that time was allegedly allied somehow with the bunker boats, and the complaint got swept under the rug.

There is another series of threads on the internet right now about how complaints allegedly get ignored, and the possible reasons for it. In documenting this I wonder if any will see any similarities.

Ron wasn't the kind of guy to accept officials ignoring him. The JCAA and he set forth to fight the access of the bunker boats and set up tighter restrictions they used.

Their weapons?

Logic... they explained to legislators that while the permit for a NJ bunker license is approx $1500/yr, the anglers and their families bring in millions into the state's economy when they come into our state to fish.

Are you listening, Gov Corzine????

Anglers spend more money than netters in this state, AND they can vote unfavorable candidates out of office when pushed around too much.

[DarkSkies]

I'm hoping others can chime in and add to this, but for now realize that these groups fought for 11 years!

They must have gotten discouraged at one point, but they didn't give up, they kept up the pressure. They let the politicians know they wouldn't go away, or let the issues fade with the new electorate. They kept pushing.

They finally got the legislation to limit boats from netting within 1 mile or something like that.

That allegedly has been appealed and as of today they have access to within 3/10 of a mile. That still stands for something. And all from a group of guys who had the stamina to battle our politicians, corrupt cronyism agreements, and entrenched commercial fishing gov't lobbyists, until they got what they wanted.

So the reason for the great Srring bass blasts at the NJ jettylines and near shore areas is directly affected by the hard pioneering work of the JCAA.

The next time ya catch a 50 in the spring, without Ron and the guys you might not have had that chance.

I would appreciate the perspectives from anyone who also had personal experience at that time with the bunker boats. I know there are those who feel that maybe it shouldn't have happened that way because more bass are killed now, but it is what it is because of the law allowing possession without a slot limit. If you're not happy with that - contact the politicians and let's get a serious dialogue going.

As to Ron, Finchaser, Joe Melillo, and the JCAA, a special thanks from me for your hard work, and having the persistence to not give up. You definitely passed on some more inspiration to me when I begin to doubt if any of these complaints, investigations, or fighting for fishermens' rights are worth it.

[ledhead36]

Good read, you're right on that Dark. I think Tom Fote was one of the guys involved in that too. I remember reading his name in the paper back then.

[captnemo]

Len Fantasia did a lot of that work as well. I thought you guys might like to go back in time to 1999 to see what they were doing then. It really has changed for the better, at least I think so. They used to have spotter planes, and come in and scoop up all the bunker within hours. It would be a dead sea after that.


http://www.jcaa.org/JCNL9907/9907MENH.htm

http://www.jcaa.org/PPT/Menhaden/sld001.htm

[stripermania]

I knew they did stuff with Fluke but did not realize that they were that involved. Thanks for opening my eyes.

[DarkSkies]

Many times guys will ask me: "Well, ya know, how can I be certain that my letter will make a difference? won't it just get thrown away, or read by an aide?"

Those are good questions, and valid. There are times when it may seem not as productive to write letters, IMO if you want the attention of politicians here are the ways to do it, from the most effective to the least:

1. Granting, or withholding, campaign contributions.

2. Lobbyist contact attempts and meetings by lobbyists who represent a specific constituent group.

3. Personal protests and demonstrations. Nothing is more visually impressive than an organized protest. Politicians know they bring news coverage, and don't want any negative press connected with their names.

4. Q&A sessions where a politician is exposed to public questions. Politicians are very responsive to any public meeting they attend where they see a good number of citizens (ie potential voters) are galvanized for or against a particular issue.

5. Letter writing campaigns. Politicians know they have to pay attention if the volume is high. There are several categories within this:
a) Hand written letters - hand written letters are usually more effective, because almost no one does this anymore. If legible, carefully worded, and not too long, (that leaves me out!! ) these have the best chance of getting read by the actual politician. Only the best of the best letters have a chance of reaching this point.
b) Form letters or postcards - effective, but usually only to calculate the sheer number of voters that are pissed off about an issue.


6. E-mail campaigns and online petitions. Although it's easier for our generation to do this, the truth is most politicians don't read their e-mails. How can you expect them to if they get thousands of them? I would say if anyone wants to do this, if you don't have time to participate in any of the ways above, by all means you should send one. It can't hurt.

But also realize it's one of the least effective strategically. There's no consistent way to prove if a politician ever got or had the chance to read your e-mail, no matter how passionate it may sound.




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If you don't have the time, resources, or energy to get physically involved, that's OK. You can't expect everyone to feel the same way you do on any given issue. That's one of the reasons you'll notice here while this year I'll be trying to promote C&R more, I don't ever think it's fair to shove those views down someone's throat.

I like to eat fish I catch at times, and don't want anyone else to preach to me that I shouldn't. I'm sure many of you feel the same way.

So C&R, just like joining an organization and supporting them, should be a personal, voluntary choice. On the other hand, if someone does nothing to stand up for their fishing rights in any way, then they would not have any grounds to complain when those rights are arbitrarily taken away.

Also, if you really don't have the time to get involved, you can help to make a difference by contributing to the organization whose vision most fits yours.

Please realize I'm not necessarily pitching here for you so send money to the JCAA, RFA, SSFFF or whatever organization we're talking about at the moment.

These are all personal choices, whether we give something or not. I merely wanted to offer those who were concerned, an optional choice.

[DarkSkies]

"All about the little guys banding together"

"Can one person really make a difference?"

The past posts only tell the partial story of what happened, guys and girls.

What really needed to happen was for angler groups throughout the state to get organized en masse and begin a letter writing and Congressmen contacting campaign to let them know that their constituents were not happy.

The JCAA got the ball rolling and deserve the lion's share of the credit.

However, there were dozens of other fishing clubs, organizations, and groups of guys who had to be convinced to go along. The gravity of the bunker situation had to be explained to them, and they had to be convinced exactly why their help was needed.

So in the end, it was thousands of these "little guys", their letter writing, and constantly contacting their Congressmen, that changed fishing history.

I'm posting up some of these older letters someone sent me to maybe help people see that these battles aren't won overnight, and everyone who's interested can make a difference:

Bunker bill S-722 1999




NJ striped bass gamefish bill, letter from Matthew Rinaldo, 2-16-90




NJ striped bass gamefish bill, letter from Dean Gallo, HR- 3903, 2-22-90