A Report On The Hearings At The Massachusetts State House

I want to thank everyone that went to the hearing, especially Mike Spinney, Bob Ford and Ted Merchant who boldly testified on behalf of our Game Fish Bills.

The Hearing environment was a bit more welcoming than expected yet there remains, I think, a very strong allegiance to those commercial fishermen that the elected officials don’t want to hurt. Quoting the Chairman’s comments that he made after the official hearing was concluded, ” I have to look out for the commercial fishermen in my district.”

Sadly, there are probably 200 times more recreational fishermen in his district than commercial permit holders, but because recreational fishermen aren’t vocal and don’t write to or call their elected political officials the empathy of the representatives and senators continues to favor those that do speak up and are heard.

I don’t mean to scold; I’m just telling it as I see it. We need to beat the bushes and somehow motivate our membership into getting personally involved in advancing striped bass fishery causes that will directly effect the quality of their lives. These elected officials need to be impressed with the benefits of conserving these fish by designating them a game species.

Fred Jennings put together and presented some very enlightening numbers crunching. “Due to the downturn in the striped bass fishery and the 80% fewer trips taken to fish for them since 2007 (NOAA) the Commonwealth has lost almost $250 million in salaries and wages and MA sales, fuel and income taxes have fallen by $45 million.”

Even when presented with the opportunity to support recovering these lost monies -and more – by making wild stripers a game species, there remains great political reluctance to change what many refuse to see as being broken. It really defies rational thinking. I can only understand this apparent political myopia that is based on the dismissal of facts, in that it allows elected officials to justify avoiding change, especially change that might adversely effect someone “…..in my district”!

At the conclusion of the official hearing, Fred Jennings and I were invited to meet with the committee members that were still in attendance, and we were given a terrific opportunity to participate in an informal discourse centered on the evidence supporting game fish status for wild striped bass. Many questions were asked and answered, and much additional information to our testimony was shared. We left the meeting room with the feeling that we were granted more time and positive attention than ever before, and that we had made some of the inroads necessary to get this legislation passed.

The process of effecting change, especially to an entrenched and traditional “way of doing things”, is difficult and requires time. Towards that end I feel we have made significant progress. I’m confidant Stripers Forever’s efforts are increasing support in the Massachusetts Legislature for conserving these special fish.

The comment period is still open for these bills. It would help our game fish cause if you would write a brief comment in support of these bills based on your fishing experiences especially if you feel the striped bass fishery has been degraded under present management policies. Links to the email addresses of the committee members are all listed below. THANKS, it will really help and take just a minute. Make sure to send send your comments to every member listed below. The more they hear from us the more likely they are to value the importance of Striped Bass conservation.

Dean Clark, MA Co-Chair

For those that wish to read more, below are the two pieces that were written in response to Committee requests:

Representative- Rebuttal Response

Representative- Background Info

Massachusetts State House

189th General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
24 Beacon Street Boston, MA 01233

Senate Members
Anne Gobi – Senate Chair anne.gobi@masenate.gov – Rm 513
Michael Rush – Senate Vice Chair Mike.Rush@masenate.gov – Rm 511C
James Eldridge James.Eldridge@masenate.gov – Rm 218
James TImilty James.Timilty@masenate.gov – Rm 507
Thomas McGee Thomas.McGee@masenate.gov – Rm 109C
Robert Hedlund Robert.Hedlund@masenate.gov – Rm 313C

House Members
Paul Schmid – House Chair Paul.Schmid@mahouse.gov – Rm 473F
Brian Mannal – House Vice Chair Brian.Mannal@mahouse.gov – Rm 473F
Robert Koczera Robert.Koczera@mahouse.gov – Rm 448
Carolyn Dykema Carolyn.Dykema@mahouse.gov – Rm 127
Mary Keefe Mary.Keefe@mahouse.gov Rm 473F
Christine Barber Christine.Barber@mahouse.gov – Rm 236
Kames Kelcourse james.kelcourse@mahouse.gov – Rm 130
James Cantwell James.Cantwell@mahouse.gov – Rm 22
Josh Cutler Josh.Cutler@mahouse.gov – 473F
Jay Livingstone Jay.Livingstone@mahouse.gov – Rm 136
Donald Berthiaume Jr. Donald.Berthiaume@mahouse.gov – Rm 540

Please contact Dean Clark at seaflycapecod@gmail.com if you have any questions.