WE NEED TO TAKE ACTION !

[size=12pt]
These 30 fish are a two days’ legal catch from the canal taken to the pier to clean. I wasn’t there but I hope he bagged up all the remains and took ‘em home with him in accordance with the law. Surely the remains weren’t tossed over the rail.
I guess one could pay $2 and roll their cooler to the cleaning tables and have at it, or wait till the pier house closes and do it free. Probably wouldn’t have to worry about the boys in blue that late in the day.
A wheeled cooler might be a good investment for tourist condo/rental dwellers.
A better idea would be for The Great State of Alabama to revise the current incoherent laws to be considerate of tourism/recreational fishing. Tourism/Recreational Fishing is a multi-million dollar income generator for Alabama.

http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/...ies1-15-12.png
[/size]

IT IS LITTLE MORE THAN A WEEK before the Advisory Board meeting.We can show how stupid this regulation is by its very language.We have a very good proposal to make the 500ft rule apply to pier,and if there are others?; now is the time.But we need it put into a proposal in legal terms.This needs to submitted in a** Patition For Adoption of Rules **;we can ask to REPEAL,or AMEND this Rule;along with the request in writing,show that we are substantially affected by the rule,the facts to support the request,shows an actual question or controversy.These are the things we need to submit as per The Administrative Code.We need to have our pelicans in a row,so we don't get white washed.I need some help with this.

I have seen 3 guys roll out 3 coolers of RED Snapper, and clean them at the South cleaning station and throw the carcasse overboard at the pier, during this past snapper season.

ON TODAYS POST ABOUT THE LAW AND WHAT CHANGES WE WANT.I WOULD HAVE IT BE LIKE THEY HAVE IN FLORIDA; WITH CLEANING STATIONS WHERE PEOPLE FISH,(AT SABASTIAN INLET) THERE ARE TWO,ONE AT THE BASE OF THE NORTH JETTY AND ONE ON THE SOUTH SIDE JUST ACROSS FROM THE CAMP GROUND.WITH THE LAW WRITTEN THIS WAY THERE WILL NEVER BE CLEANING STATIONS AT AL.POINT,FL.POINT,FORT MORGAN OR LITTLE LAGOON INLET.

That's a great post Rich. Very well said. I've got the day off and possibly interested in going if someone has an extra seat to carpool up there. I'll pitch for gas, I just hate to spend the whole day up there if its not needed. I sure could use a day fishing.

[quote author=tofer link=topic=328.msg5088#msg5088 date=1328118065]
That's a great post Rich. Very well said. I've got the day off and possibly interested in going if someone has an extra seat to carpool up there. I'll pitch for gas, I just hate to spend the whole day up there if its not needed. I sure could use a day fishing.
[/quote]
PM Pescador, he may have room.

Well chris pack a rod because I have a few spots around the montgomery area where we could wet a line, as well as on lake jordon.

[size=12pt]
Well we went and had our say in Montgomery this morning. I have to say that Jeb, Jim, and Adam did an excellent job of presenting our case to resolve the fish cleaning/disposal debacle. The board was obviously already very much aware of issue, but not so aware of a solution.
Thanks to Jim for all his efforts in pulling together all the documentation, and submitting a formal change request regarding the laws causing this problem.
In attendance were, Jim, Jeb, Adam, Emily and meself.
Jim brought a bucket of dead fish and other really smelly un-refrigerated seafood items and sat right up front with the bucket under his seat! The folks around him were really glad when he took it with him when he was called to the microphone for his presentation.
I had to leave after our presentations to attendant my grandson’s Tae Kwon Do test and belt presentation ceremony.
I’m sure the others will report in soon in case I missed anything. I am interested to know how long that stinky gut bucket was allowed to remain in the building. Jim told them he had to bring it because the current laws say we can’t dispose of the remains.

[/size]

:headbang:

I bet that got their attention! :D

Thanks for carrying the banner folks! :bow:

Haha that's awesome Fin. I hope it gave them a little perspective. Thanks to all you guys who made it up there. Look forward to seeing what solutions are came up with, hope they come up with something everyone can agree on. Jeb told me a little bit about the meeting earlier but I look forward to hearing the full story.

Thanks Guys for going to the meeting, I wish we could have been there, we do apprciate your efforts.

:headbang:
http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2..._advisory.html

Quote:

---

[size=14pt]Alabama Conservation Advisory Board hears fishing proposals[/size]
Published: Sunday, February 05, 2012, 6:30 AM
By Jeff Dute al.com

The meeting also dealt with concerns about dumping fish carcasses and leftover bait off the Gulf State Park Pier.

Fishermen are not permitted to clean their catches on the pier and throw the carcasses back into the Gulf, nor are they allowed to discard unused bait.

State Parks director Tim Wisham said state engineers are working on plans to build fish-cleaning stations in the parking lot and avenues to dispose of carcasses and bait on site.

Blankenship said the Alabama-Mississippi Sea Grant program is working to find a company to take the refuse and turn it into fish meal or use it for other purposes.

Jim Egbert, who regularly fishes the pier, said the current 25-year-old regulation prohibiting such discards was intended to prevent shrimping bycatch from washing up on Gulf beaches. The current regulation prohibits such discards within 3 miles of Gulf beaches and within 500 feet of inshore shorelines.

He asked that the regulation be clarified and changed to specifically take into account the impact current law may have on use of the pier, especially among tourists who mostly have no place to clean fish caught there.

"I appreciate the fact that Marine Resources and State Parks is seeking to find a remedy to this problem," Egbert said.

"We hope they make changes in the code that will make it easier for everybody to understand what is expected of them."

Egbert said pier prohibitions are further confusing because fishermen can dump fish pieces into the water as chum to attract sharks as long as they are at least 300 feet from the beach.

---

Also discussed:

Quote:

---

New sheepshead size and bag limits, the blackfish minimum size and declaring pompano a game fish were discussed at Saturday's Alabama Conservation Advisory Board meeting.

Alabama Marine Resources Division Director Chris Blankenship said his staff proposed a 12-inch minimum fork-length size and 10-fish recreational daily bag limit to address what have been decreasing sheepshead catches over the past few years.

"We don't think the sheepshead stocks are in trouble, we're just trying to be proactive to make sure it doesn't get imperiled," he said.

"With the 12-inch size limit, biology suggests this will give sheepshead the chance to spawn at least once before they're harvested."

He added that dockside surveys revealed that 10 percent of recreational and 15 percent of commercial sheepshead landings measured fewer than 12 inches.

Blankenship noted that annual recreational landings plummeted from more than 1 million pounds in 2007 and 2008 to 506,000 pounds in 2009. Landings actually increased during the oil-spill year of 2010 to nearly 600,000 pounds.

A large portion of that catch likely came during the late-winter to early-spring period when sheepshead move inshore to spawn.

Over that same period, commercial landings averaged 191,500 pounds in 2007 and 2008, then fell to 146,000 pounds in 2009. Commercial take increased slightly in 2010 to nearly 200,000 pounds.

Blankenship said the new daily bag was based on dockside surveys that showed roughly 3 percent of fishermen ever returned to port with more than 10 fish.

Commercial fishermen are not subject to the daily bag limit. Anyone who wants to keep more than 10 sheepshead a day can do so if they purchase a commercial hook-and-line license, Blankenship said.

District 1 member Dr. Bob Shipp, who is the head of marine sciences at the University of South Alabama, said declaring pompano a game fish will be a win-win for recreational and commercial fishermen.

"It's a no-brainer," he said. "It'll reduce the friction between gill netters and the public because the major frustration people have historically had is seeing a gill net on the front beaches.

"They'll be targeting Spanish mackerel off the beach and leaving pompano alone, and that can't help but improve surf fishing."

Shipp said he also plans to introduce a motion to increase the tripletail (blackfish) minimum size limit from 16 to 18 inches.

"Over the past several years, blackfish have become increasingly popular and fishing pressure has increased," he said.

"This increase will guarantee they will at least survive through one spawning season."

---

:yippee: :fishing:

[size=12pt]
When I told ‘em about Rich1 driving around like criminal trying to find a place to dump the remains, Bill Hatley (one of the board members) said he must have found the dumpster at the condo next to his house, cuz he was familiar with that smell.

[/size]

Thanks to all who went and thanks David for those articles. Glad to see they are at least talking about solutions.

[quote author=FinChaser link=topic=328.msg5245#msg5245 date=1328453666]
[size=12pt]
When I told ‘em about Rich1 driving around like criminal trying to find a place to dump the remains, Bill Hatley (one of the board members) said he must have found the dumpster at the condo next to his house, cuz he was familiar with that smell.

[/size]

[/quote]

??? Oh well, I guess it had to be close to somebody's house.

Pescador is my new hero. LOL! Was anything more said about the bucket of guts?

I had a woman sitting next to me ask was that a real fish, I said yes She said '' well it stinks", and I replied, " that was kind of the point.

LOL :nyd:

Thats funny! I wish I could have seen that sight!

[size=12pt]
Jim had two or three more buckets full in his car in a cooler and no ice. I suspect if we had carried all of them in, we would have probably cleared everybody out of the auditorium. That stuff stunk.

[/size]

Meeting was a great success in getting the message across.

Jeb opened us up very nicely getting straight to the core points and issues at hand--great job! He basically summarized the entire scope in under 3 minutes, and then claimed he wasn't good at public speaking. Hah! Jeb was so convincing, he got the panel to keep him at the front an additional 10 minutes to discuss the details. :yippee:

Jim explained the intent and origins of the laws and how they were changed by way of misinterpretation recently, and declared there should be a difference in verbiage distinguishing between commercial industry and recreational fishermen. So thorough and delivered with precision! Special thanks to Jim for all his efforts and hard work in getting this put together and submitted in writing to the committee. :headbang:

Bob kept us entertained and the whole audience and panel was cracking up at his humor and ability to deliver the concern from the eyes of the recreational fisherman and the perspective of tourists. I loved his colorful and detailed speech so much, in fact, it made me completely forget what I was supposed to say when they immediately called me next to follow such a great public spokesman. :bow:

I haven't spoken at a public function of this style in years, and was severely out of practice--work kept me so busy as well, I didn't get much time to prepare. After stumbling around for the first minute, I finally remembered what I wanted to talk about. I pointed out that putting cleaning stations on the land was not a good idea, as it will attract animals and pests of all kinds, and would be very unattractive for one of our Gulf's most desired tourist attractions--the State Park Pier. My company actually manages random forms of environmental services, and sanitation of dumpsters is one of those avenues. We have had employees harmed by animals when opening waste containers. I told them we don't want stray cats, dogs, insects, racoons and "hyenas" jumping out of the cans! Of course, hyenas was an inside joke within my company--simply pointing out that you never know what will be lurking in the container guarding the discarded smelly fish waste. After the room finished laughing about the hyenas, I mentioned a simple solution would be getting industrialized grinders capable of breaking the carcasses down into chunks and then liquifying it to return the organic materials back to their origins--the Gulf.

My wife Emily came also, but the roster for speakers had filled; so she managed to get a lot accomplished during the recesses and speaking with certain individuals one on one.

With Jim's verbiage ideas and with a proper grinder (on the pier at the cleaning station), we could eliminate all of the issues at hand.

The assistant commissioner personally caught me afterward and wants to be given a price on a 2-stage grinder which could be installed at the pier. I will be working on this endeavor in coming weeks.

Meanwhile, we also spoke with Blankenship after the meeting, and he is aware of the issues and said his boys in blue will excerise field discretion when handling this sensitive matter.

I asked Dr Shipp about the deformed Bluefish. He said it was a deformed Bluefish. :boohoo: As suspected.

Asked FnG to enforce rules in other State Park areas for prevent people from feeding the Herons, Pelicans, etc., and to prevent googans from throwing cast nets near structures, jetties, rocks, etc. I have a feeling some DO NOT *.* signs will be going up soon--including the OB pass.

By the way, inside joke being one of our employees having a Work Comp claim against our company for $280K for placing waste in a receptical and was bit on the hand by an escaped hyena in the zoo where she was contractually employed. One of the deer hunters later joked and asked if a season for hunting hyena was going to be discussed. :wall: Brought the house down. Gonna have to change my name to Hyena Guy, lol.

All in all, we got their attention, and I believe they "got the point." They seemed really eager to find a solution and were friendly about the whole thing--all things considered.

Now it is a matter of working out solutions and being patient.

Last thing we need is for us to be pushed into a corner and take this matter to the press with the assistance and support of businesses, tourists, lobbyists, rental agencies and condo owners all along the Gulf. I'm not going to use both hands to win the arm wrestling match--instead, I am going get my allegorical bulldozer driver to run over the opposing arms and hold them in place while every supporter pours their buckets of symbolic cement. :mrt:

We will fight; we will WIN!

Unlike the NE Patriots... :'(