Dont support the bay

[mdfish]

I may be one of the oldest students of this program having participated in camps at a young age (29 now). It was a great program for a youngster at the time and would have my children go if the oppurtunity exists when they are old enough. Problems with such 501c groups arise when the perception is more of the programs funds go to weekend trips at the Hyatt than to saving the bay. The defense that the use of funds was within the current law is not a good excuse. This is the defense of Enrons and Martha stewart and so on. Hey I would like to hunt on non profit land for free where can I sign up. 10 K a month to consult. I'll retire for that. Baby Boomers and entitlements. Three college grads working full time in the field could live on 10 K a month.

[twiskman]

Boy... you all really know how to Jack a guys thread. I do enjoy it though... and I try to remain objective, but its kind of hard. Is there any way for someone who wants to form his/her own opinion to get some hard evidence/facts? If so, I would suggest that everyone explore them before becoming bandwagoners. Im not accusing anyone here, but I do feel like there are a lot of people that make arguements, and maybe are not armed with the facts. Maybe a poll is in order. Post the facts, and start a poll...Something that we can submit to legislators as a voice of recreational watermen... just a thought. Our numbers here on TF are strong. I think we could have quite a voice. Again, this is just my opinion, but I think there are more constructive vehicles.

Tim

[Daddy Pirate]

I support CBF. May not agree with 'em 100%, but they're trying. I give them credit for that.

[wino]

I give this thread no hits no runs no errors.

[BILL H]

I give this thread no hits no runs no errors.

Wino,
I count 987 hits. Probably a fair number of errors of omission and comission as well. And its beginning to give me the runs!

[twiskman]

Wino,
I count 987 hits. Probably a fair number of errors of omission and comission as well. And its beginning to give me the runs!

That could get messy.....

[Ski]

At this point, none of the commercial, recreational or conservation associations is making a big enough impact on the Bay.

Incremental change will not change the state of the water in the Bay, the quality and quantity of finfish or shellfish in the Bay, or of the runoff into the Bay.

Everyone is arguing over the equivilant of clipping fingernails when the Bay needs massive surgery. The fisheries put just enough to support a limited commercial catch both in finfish and shellfish, and the recreational anglers are happy to catch bluefish, perch and rockfish for most of the year. As long as this status quo remains, there will be no governmental intrusion on a large scale level because it becomes too contentious on the political level. So, like most governmental organizations, no real change will occur until there is a a serious problem, like no oysters or no rockfish. Until that point, the tilting at windmills can and will continue, and the incremental changes that are being undertaken will be professed to be major victories by those who manage to get them through the political processes.

But in reality, the Bay is quite sick, but not sick enough to cause major concern. Once there is a dead zone for six months out of the year and all the crabs die off because of no oxygen, that will introduce the possibility of real change and reform. Even then it's only a possibility because there will undoubtedly be calls of "we need to see if this happens again!"

Picking on the CBF or any other organization isn't much of an answer. There are too many organizations and people who are quite content with how things are managed today.

[TDLewis]

If the CBF brings kids fishing, then that is money well spent. I may or may not agree with 100% of the things that CBF does, but it seems like they are the best thing going.

The government needs to put the right policies in place to encourage responsible land use (for homeowners, developers, industry, and farmers)..and maybe with the right pressure from groups like CBF we'll get there.

[Gerald]

Amen Ski.

[Gerald]

Why target kids? Get the kids, get the parents. Get the parents get the money.