SportFishing and Charters Forum - gulf coucil apointments red alert

hey guys i got this off another site, thought ya'll might be interested




Gov Crist's appointments office has come up with a list of four candidates for Florida's At-Large representative to the GMFMC Gulf Council, for consideration by the Secretary of Commerce and Director of NMFS. This list is on its way to the Sec Commerce as we speak.

Martin Fisher - a commercial guy who owns three boats. I did some checking around and I hear that he's a west coast version of Tony Iarocci. Tony is a commercial fisherman who is on the South Atlantic Council. If you look at his voting pattern, he has consistently voted no on regs that will hurt recreational fishermen. I've known Tony since 2001 and he's a good guy. If Martin Fisher is anything like Tony Iarocci, we can work with this guy to curtail the non-stop outpouring of harmful regs from the Gulf Council that are based on fiction.

Larry Abele - a scientist/ professor at FSU. He is the #1 choice of Bob Zales, a fellow recreatioinal angler that many of us know and respect. Some would say that as a scientist, Abele could demolish the fictional "science" coming from the Gummint scientist careerists working for the Gulf Council.

Jerry Smalley - he admits he is an Enviro.

Colecchio - Folks, don't forget for one minute that this guy is desperate. He will say anything and do anything to get appointed by Gov Crist to the Gulf Council so that he can lord it over us peasants.

Let me ask you this - do you want someone like Colecchio who is out of touch with offshore recreational fishermen's concerns to represent you on the Council? Do you want someone who is a meatpuppet dancing to the tune of the Florida Guides Association and the CCA to represent you? Both FGA and CCA do a great job with backbay inshore issues but both are out of touch with offshore issues. The RFA is the nationwide leader for offshore recreational fishermen's rights. Every time CCA gets involved with offshore issues, they invariably come out in favor of the Council amendment that will do the most harm to recreational fishermen. Do you want an out-of-touch guy who is a backbay, flyfishing, catch & release, flatsboat tarpon guide to represent your offshore bottomfishing & pelagic interests? . Not only that, but Colecchio has a decade-long pattern of abusive, personal attacks against anyone who disagrees with him. We need someone on the Council who can work well with others and be effective. Even if Colecchio was omniscient and all-knowing (which he is not), his toxic, abrasive personality guarantees that the other Council members will turn a deaf ear to him.

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If you want to see the right person selected for the Gulf Council, it's vital to contact the Secretary of Commerce, the Director of NMFS, the NMFS Assistant Administrator for Fisheries and the Florida Governor's Appointments Office. Here is the contact info you need to make your voice heard.

US Dept Commerce, Secretary Gary Locke, 1401 Consitution Ave NW, Washington DC 20230 fax 202-482-5685

cc: NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, Director Jane Lubchenco, 1315 E. West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910

cc: NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, Asst Administrator for Fisheries Eric Schwaab, 1315 E. West Hwy, Silver Spring, MD 20910

cc: Florida Governor's Appointments Office, Mavis Knight, Capitol Building, Room 705, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001 Mavis.Knight@EOG.MyFlorida.com

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Thanks for getting involved. I hope I've given you enough information that you can make an informed decision and voice your opinion to the federal & state people I've listed above.

Are you talking about Gary Colecchio?

Yes

http://forums.floridasportsman.com/forum/conservation-front/gary-c-nominated-gulf-council-needs-support

Just found that myself.

If you didn't read that other thread here is a post Colecchio made stating his case.




The seat is technically an "other" seat. So yes, Dr. Abele qualifies.

I also qualified as an "other" position twice before in my nominations because of my academic training and my work in environmental sciences and experience in regulatory rulemaking. What surprised me is that and my recreational qualifications were over looked in favor of "charter fishing", which is not a category at all.

It is important to understand that although Dr. Abele has better academic credentials than I do, he is after all, an academic. Just like Ms. Morris, the current “other” seat holder is an academic.

The problem we experience with academics is that the only work related experiences they bring is through academic exercise, (Mad Scientist excepted , of course. ;) ) and we have seen where Ms. Morris's voting has brought us during her term. And we cannot afford to continue to substitute unsound methodologies and theory as best available science.

Then we have the USF connection. This is where Felicia Coleman is enabled to declare that grouper should be afforded federal protections because they excavate “complex 3- dimensional structures” (read holes). Lastly and importantly , where does FSU's funding for fisheries research come from?

That's right, NMFS. Do you honestly believe that a school administrator will put federal grant funding at risk by taking positions opposing NMFS staff?

Unlike Dr. Abele I've got no potential for conflict of interests at all. My income is not tied to federal grants.

It doesn’t depend upon selling fish like Martin Fisher.

And I hope it’s obvious to all by now that I'm not crusading for an idealistic environmental cause like Mr. Smalley .

I hold no federal permits, so I can't take advantage of any regulatory rule changes. And my chartering is restricted to my corporate clients. I'm a recreational fisherman, who just wants reasonable regulations and access to fisheries. Just like you.

Guys, we recreational fishermen have finally got the attention of lawmakers and bureaucrats. We need a strong recreational advocate on that council now, who can talk the talk, walk the walk, understand the science AND politics and do what's right. Unfortunately for those who are personally put off by my sometimes brash style, I'm that guy.

Selecting someone else on this list squanders the current opportunity to be heard by those in authority which took us so long to get.

If there was someone more capable or experienced, I'd gladly point to him as our best shot. But there isn't.

Abele is status quo.

I'm change.

That's our choice. I know what I’m going to do. What will you?

Thanks I recommend everyone gets involved in some way shape of form.

He sounds like a reasonable guy to me! ;)

The guy who made that post supports a commercial fisheries candidate; a longliner. Commercial guys are not well known for their advocacy of recreational fishermen.

He discribes himself in his own words as having " developed a meaningful dialog between the fishey council and the built in roads between the commercial fishing community NMFS.

I don't expect to be very popular with commercial fishermen, because I support concepts like :

THERE SHOULD BE NO COMMERCIAL FISHING ALLOWED FOR ANY SPECIES THAT IS CONSIDERED OVERFISHED.

The only thing I can promise you is fairness and objectivity in sector planning by validaing science before is it used to make law.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Gary is a good guy and a good candidate, doesn't catch much and keeps nothing = more for us - has trouble with kayak anchoring so I've heard but would be excellent on the council