Building a Pro-fishing consensus within NCKA

I think this poll is long overdue. I already have my list of the guys that were at the last meeting and know of many guys that went to other meetings. You guys are my heroes. I am ashamed of myself for waiting to get involved until I did, but I am even more ashamed at the continued apathy within NCKA when it comes to standing up for our right to fish. If you truly value being "nice" over your personal rights then have the courage to cast your vote and post up your reasons in this public forum so we all can see what you're made of. I'll take my rights over being nice anyday. jim

I hate politics. 

I love fishing. 

I hate PETA. 

I did not do enough in the past. 

-Brian G

I hate politics. 

I love fishing. 

I hate PETA. 

I did not do enough in the past. 

-Brian G

 I'm in this Boat, 

I appreciate the info and participation that others have done to battle these foes...

I've done what I can, Heavy Duty job and family take a toll,

 but will do more in the future to help....

 

I'd have to say I was/am...

I'm willing to declare my support here on NCKA.

But I am now willing to take it to the next level.

I'm willing to take some time to write letters, send emails, and declare my support here on NCKA.

And assuming I get a job in the near future. I could toss in some $'s if it can be explained to me how my few dollars will help against the millions and millions the other side offers up. This MLPA crap last week just proved what I already assumed. It was a done deal.  Protesting and speaking out at meetings falls on deaf ears. Don't get me wrong I think what others have done is fantastic and I am truly grateful. But it seemed like it was a foregone conclusion. Please go easy on the flames. Just giving you my 2 cents.

Happy to help the cause....
 

I'd have to say I was/am...

I'm willing to declare my support here on NCKA.

But I am now willing to take it to the next level.

I'm willing to take some time to write letters, send emails, and declare my support here on NCKA.

And assuming I get a job in the near future. I could toss in some $'s if it can be explained to me how my few dollars will help against the millions and millions the other side offers up. This MLPA crap last week just proved what I already assumed. It was a done deal.  Protesting and speaking out at meetings falls on deaf ears. Don't get me wrong I think what others have done is fantastic and I am truly grateful. But it seemed like it was a foregone conclusion. Please go easy on the flames. Just giving you my 2 cents.

Happy to help the cause....
 

No flames only props for you my friend. Each of us goes thru different stages of where we're at with this. I'm just trying to do now what I think is best to accomplish my part in keeping this whole kayakfishing thing going strong. Maybe I'm dead wrong about everything but I think doing & saying something is better than doing & saying nothing. Three years ago I was a clueless lurker and for sure I did not look at the fishing politics forum. I can't change the past but I can try harder in the future. jim

I have sent the e-mais and letters but i absolutely refused to go to the meetings because i have already stated my beliefs to them in the letters. dont they read the letters? why would i drive to sacramento to repeat myself to a bunch assholes that dont give a shit about me or my opinions. the beaurocrats are just going to continue to do what benefits themselves and the people who funnel in the money. to them, it is not about what is right or wrong or what is best for the people. it is about power and greed.  is it time for a revolution yet?

As frustrated with the process as many of us are - we can't give up the fight.

im willing to do quite a bit as long as we are organized and have a clear path we are going down which I think we already do generally speaking.  its been a rough year financially for me and a lot of others but I will scrape what i can towards the fight

the reality is that there will be differences of opinion in how we as fisherman go about the fight.  we cannot alienate each other and have pissing contests in a public forum.  there are many here qualified to lead the charge.  its up to the rest of us to support a unified message.

I anticipate our collective hatred of the MLPA process will fade over the next few years, as they move to the SoCal area. (Similar to how only a few of our members gave a crap about the S Central area in 05-07) If it doesn't affect us directly, it kinda has less meaning. And most of our members will be unaffected by the SoCal process because, well, we don't live/fish there.

Then these commies will set their sights on the SF Bay. And our desires to participate in the MLPA process will burn bright once again. Will our participation have an impact on the designation of marine reserves? Unfortunately, we still don't really know the answer to that one (or, at least it seems questionable in the minds of many here). But that shouldn't stop us from hoping common sense prevails and fighting to protect our rights.

If the goal is to fight the MLPA process, the North Coast is absolutely the place to make a stand.  ALL local interests, recreational and commercial fishermen, industry, government, and the tribes are aligned against implementation of closures.

I'm new to the board and new to kayaking, but not to fishing.  I haven't participated beyond letter writing in the past due to pressures on my time, but I am going to participate directly in the process here at the cost of time away from my other pursuits.

I have pretty thick skin and I don't tend to play well with others, so I anticipate being a giant pain in the ass to the process.  I am open to suggestions, and please PM me directly with dates, times, locations, public comment periods and all other happenings with the north coast MLPA process since I don't want to miss anything.

As far as consensus building at NCKA, I think that is really preaching to the choir.  Time to take the fight to the street in a place where there is strong public opinion against the MLPA closures.

I have sent the e-mais and letters but i absolutely refused to go to the meetings because i have already stated my beliefs to them in the letters. dont they read the letters? why would i drive to sacramento to repeat myself to a bunch assholes that dont give a shit about me or my opinions. the beaurocrats are just going to continue to do what benefits themselves and the people who funnel in the money. to them, it is not about what is right or wrong or what is best for the people. it is about power and greed.  is it time for a revolution yet?

Two of the five commisioners are pro-fishing for sure. They deserve our support and the other three deserve our very loud agonizingly painful protests. Over and over and over again. Until we find new ways to stem the tide and get things going our way. jim

I can and do all but the last one--my family and work responsibilities prevent me from going to sacramento easily from home Santa clara and a job in SF. Let remember that we are not just fighting zealous PETA and environmentalists about their ideology. Many fisheries are really collapsing--Bluefin Tuna may become extinct this next decade. and global warming, increasing pollution from sewage, esticides, fertilizers, and industrial chemicals; over-fishing; over-development; wet land losses, and more are real threats. And many people are supporting the tactic of scape-goating recreational fishers to relieve their guilt over those other real threats they are doing nothing about. Man has been slowly throttling the ocean and its inhabitants for a century and panic is setting in in a wider portion of the population. And with panic comes irrationality and over-reaction--and even misdirection of effort. Should we combat it? Yes. Will we win--perhaps sometimes, but mostly we are losing and will lose for a while. Rational people tried to stop Prohibition and the McCarthy Witch hunts--and failed for quite a while until reason once again prevailed. The tactics used by PETA and those who hate fishing are not unlike those being used to oppose health care reform--drowning out all who oppose them and preventing rational debate and compromise. It is hard to fight. We need some notable people to speak the truth  about recreational fishing and its real impact compared to the other fishery problems I listed above.

Here is an example of such truth speaking on health care in the Wash Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/21/AR2009082101778_pf.html
We need public figures of some note to speak for recreational fishing in that way.

Not all of us could possibly ever go to every single meeting but when the next meeting comes along well..... who knows you might somehow someway be able to make it. Never say never. You might end up with an opportunity to go. That last meeting was emotionally devastating and left me depressed for about a week. But on the other hand I have the positive memories of the two commisioners that were on our side and all of the other groups and individuals that spoke so passionately for 2XA. We lost that battle but the war continues and I for one learned a lot by carefully listening to every word spoken. It was a traumatic experience but I'm still glad I went. If we want to keep on fishing then this fight is one we've all got to participate in whether we can make a meeting or not. I think we should keep building consensus so we can be prepared when they try to shut down the SF Bay. jim

I guess I'll stick a toe into this fray. 

I selected the last option, but I don't completely agree with sentiment that unless you are at a meeting, you must be apathetic. I'm pretty sure that I'm not on Jim's list as a defender of the cause because I wasn't at the last meeting. I actually had very good intentions of being there though, (even had a ride lined up) but the evening before, ended up taking my wife to the hospital instead. I'm sure there are many others on this board who have very real reasons for not being there.

On the other hand, since I did get involved (which was entirely too late), I wrote literally dozens of posts, emails, and letters, and did my best to get others not in the NCKA to at least know and understand what was happening. It was the limit of what I was able to do at the time and under the circumstances.

And you know what? If I wasn't a fisherman, and lucky enough to be tolerated by the good folks in this organization, there is a *chance* that I would have voted for the IPA myself! They call it propaganda for a reason, and the Packards et al are very good at their craft. On the surface and without delving into the issues too deeply, what they are saying seems reasonable.

I like the idea of putting our heads together and coming up with a coherent set of positions - from an elevator pitch, to a deep discussion of the issues complete with footnoted references. We do need to sing from the same hymnbook, and while it is fine to deliver our message with passion, if there is no logic involved, we do face a strong chance of being written off as loonies.

The "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it!" approach can be effective as long as we can articulate why we're mad.

I guess I'll stick a toe into this fray. 

I selected the last option, but I don't completely agree with sentiment that unless you are at a meeting, you must be apathetic. I'm pretty sure that I'm not on Jim's list.

I like the idea of putting our heads together and coming up with a coherent set of positions - from an elevator pitch, to a deep discussion of the issues complete with footnoted references. We do need to sing from the same hymnbook, and while it is fine to deliver our message with passion, if there is no logic involved, we do face a strong chance of being written off as loonies.

The "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it!" approach can be effective as long as we can articulate why we're mad.

"The List" starts right here and now you're on it man. I like everybody's input. Everybody should post up and chime in. Next time we need to NCKA can and will represent bigger and badder than ever. No disrespect to anyone in the past. Let's all focus on the future. jim