CCA/Salty Dog Meeting

Shutup N Fish · 07-22-2008, 07:10 PM

Isn't someone going to report on the meeting in Woodburn? Searched with no results.

Captn · 07-22-2008, 08:21 PM

Very positive meeting, just got back home about 10 mins ago. I will let some of the members who were there give their impressions. There were a lot more there than anyone thought there would be. I'm guessing about 30 guys and a few ladies. A lot of concern expressed about Marine Reserves and general order of operation of the CCA organization. I'm sure there will be more said.
Mike G
Captn of Brite Eyes
Salem CCA Board Member

Bait O' Eggs · 07-22-2008, 08:32 PM

I might get to a report after I get a shower and get rid of the smoke smell and my eyes quit hurting.

Fatdad · 07-22-2008, 08:34 PM

Not being a CCA member I went to hear from the horses mouth on where the CCA stood and some of there policies. To be frank I was very impressed and am filling out my application now. The fishing community needs to be banned together and after what I heard tonight I belive the CCA can help bring us all together and make our voice heard. My

Irish Pennant · 07-22-2008, 08:46 PM

I went to hear what the CCA could do to help out in the fight against MR's and to hear about the details of forming a CCA SD chapter. I have no comment about what I came away with. It was good to see a lot of familiar faces. There is a lot of passion with the SDs when it comes to MRs.

Radius · 07-22-2008, 08:52 PM

I thought the meeting went well and was very positive. There is no longer any doubt about what the CCA stands for, and what the CCA wants to accomplish. The CCA wants what the members want. It was great to see so many passionate people attend and share their opinions.

Stephen

Pilar · 07-22-2008, 09:15 PM

Thanks to the CCA guys who came to present to our group. The meeting was good. Many ideas got out and questions were answered. If nothing else these guys seem passionate and sincere.

The marine reserve issue may be the thing that gets fishers of all stripes to work together against a common threat. Something that we have seen too little of .. working together.

I'm sleeping on it as I am tired. But I have an app and if I wake up the same way I went to sleep I'm filling it out.

The biggest thing I heard was that CCA wants to rebuild fish stocks. Not just stop the decline. And moreover that they are against over harvest of fish populations... by any user group. So like many others I heard talking tonight I am willing to give a year and see what we can accomplish.

G'night.

Chromaflage · 07-22-2008, 09:26 PM

What a turn out!!! Thanks to all who showed up. I didn't take an accurate head count, but I would guess it went 30+. I think we overwhelmed the lounge in Elmers...they seemed a little off guard when we filled the place.

I also want to extend a big thanks to Bruce Polley and all the CCA guys who took the time to come speak with us.

Here's my take - for what it's worth.

I kicked off the meeting with a short dissertation about why we were there and a summary of the marine reserve issue. Then we moved to the current status of marine reserves and RFAs past and present efforts followed by a description of what is needed at this point to support those efforts. Then I summarized one model of what a "salty dog" (for lack of a better term at this point) chapter would like like and how it might function. Then I turned it over to Bruce Polley with the question: "How would CCA fit into all of this at this point?"

There was much discussion and many questions and answers - too many to recap here.

The consensus, I believe, was that this could be done in an effective way. I liked much of what Bruce had to say and some of the concepts he presented. I wouldn't say that there was 100% buy-in, but enough support to seriously start looking at forming a chapter. CCA reps strongly advised forming a chapter, maintaining the saltwater fishing identity while educating geographical chapters.

I thought it was a good, productive meeting and some excellent discussion. I look forward to reading about what everyone else came away with.

Now on to the next step.....

Thanks again to all for taking the time, making the drive and contributing. It was quite a display of passion.

I have my app and, like John, I will likely be filling it out tomorrow.

Kerry

FisherJack · 07-22-2008, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Irish Pennant

I have no comment about what I came away with.

Not so, Irish Pennant, you have commented loudly and clearly. I came away with something much different.

For me, I came away with a resolve to get more involved with CCA and its causes. There is strength through numbers and activism. CCA may not be perfect, but it seems to be one of the best things going presently for the fish and the fishermen.

pearl · 07-22-2008, 09:44 PM

OK I'll give you my take aways.

I'm a die hard river fisherman and maybe hit the salt 4 or 5 times a year. I have put in an effort in on the river issues in recent years that effect the sports fisherman. My goal this evening was to attend and broaden my perspective and understand the issues that lie before the salt fisherman.

Being active in the T.V. Chapter of the CCA I believe it to be part of my responsibility to represent all sports anglers should the need arise and do it in an educated manor that satisfies the needs of the user group.

I learned a lot. Thanks for letting me sit in. I witnessed a group that has a passion and I'm sure will make a difference down the road.

Steve

Mypursuit · 07-22-2008, 09:45 PM

Well it seems,

At this point, any additional resource that can be committed to fighting MR's is a good idea. I am already a CCA member but that was a gift.

My impression is that CCA will be as strong and as effective as the members choose to make it. Of course if they are all talk and no action then 1 year's membership is less than the cost of a daisy chain.

My opinion is we need to get involved or MR's will be a fact. Don't think for a minute that the MR supporters won't look to close stretches of freshwater next...(ok, off with the tin hat and time to sleep)

Grizzly II · 07-22-2008, 11:34 PM

I appreciated the opportunity to hear CCA present their program. That they are devoted to protecting fish populations is beyond question. I listened long and hard , am still processing a lot of it and at this point am not totally sold. If we start a Salty Dog Chapter I will join CCA. At this point they appear to be our best opportunity to get our message out. More later.
Rod

Bait O' Eggs · 07-23-2008, 06:15 AM

I think it boils down to one component

IT IS WHAT YOU MAKE OF IT

You can join and do nothing, your personal agenda may or may not get addressed. You can join and be active and you will have a voice for your agenda.

I heard lots of opinions about how best to fight MR's, (make it about access, make it about fishing, make it about ........) The CCA has already fought this battle in several states, they have learned plenty along the way. They know where they failed, and where they succeeded.

No organization will be everything to everybody. There will be members who disagree on some component of how an organization moves forward.

I agree with MarkMc's comments about not making the commercial fisherman the bad guy in the equation. The public has a right to buy fish, they dont all live next to a fisherman who can supply them free of charge on their schedule their fish needs. We can attack certain methods of fishing like gillnetting in the river, but the public has as much right to buy fish in the store as fishermen have to go fishing. Even fishermen buy herring, which come from a commercial fisherman.

There are a lot of organizations doing what they think is best to battle fish issues, from what I see the CCA is probably the strongest as long as you are willing to pick up a sword and fight.

skein · 07-23-2008, 06:34 AM

I have joined, and am commited to be active; not only in the local chapter, but in the Salty Dog / Saltwater outreach as well. There is tremendous strength in numbers (as we've seen from the MR contingent) and I think there is much to be gained from CCA's knowledge and experience.

Do we automatically have that knowledge and experience at the local levels? No. At least not yet, but we DO have enthusiasm and a first-hand grasp of what our fisheries/habitat needs, and the Salty Dog track record is to roll up our sleeves and get involved. I think that's all CCA is asking us to do. It's refreshing that they are not telling us what to do -- they are asking us what needs to be done!

I think CCA involvement will make a huge difference in the Northwest -- for the better.

Skein

Dan9113 · 07-23-2008, 06:44 AM

I agree with MarkMc's comments about not making the commercial fisherman the bad guy in the equation. The public has a right to buy fish, they dont all live next to a fisherman who can supply them free of charge on their schedule their fish needs. We can attack certain methods of fishing like gillnetting in the river, but the public has as much right to buy fish in the store as fishermen have to go fishing. Even fishermen buy herring, which come from a commercial fisherman.

I don't think most of us are anti "Commercial" to begin with. Banning gillnets from the Columbia isn't anti commercial. Obviously it impacts the commercials, but the fight is with the method which happens to be the only river commercial fishery for salmon.

Lower runs in the rivers obviously impact commercial harvest in the ocean so they have many common interests with the sport fisherman. There must be common ground on the MR's as well.

I thought it was a good meeting with a lot of passion from the salty dogs.

Dan

Bait O' Eggs · 07-23-2008, 06:59 AM

Do I dare say Bruce Polley is a common day William Wallace, .... with a little less hair?

Bruce didnt like how things were done, he is fighting to change things.

fyshndad · 07-23-2008, 07:57 AM

Sorry I could not make the meeting
A family crisis required my attention

I am pleased that you Salty Dogs had this meeting and that you now understand what CCA is all about

I will support the Salty Dog chapter in any way I can
Just let me know what you need done

stream · 07-23-2008, 08:09 AM

Well with bad spelling and punctuation I will give my thoughts on things.
I like the idea of CCA it will give us a group to rally against MR's but the fence question I have did we dissed to have a salty dog chapter or not please help me with this? I think it would work either way.

I would like to thank Bruce and his Wife for taking time to meet with us and all the other CCA members that showed up.

PS all meetings haft to be held in a smokeless area for BOE

ron m · 07-23-2008, 08:38 AM

I consider the meeting to have been worth the time and effort. I'm going to join CCA. I urge you to join also if you haven't already. I also urge you to join RFA/OA. Like many of you, I've been thinking about this a lot, especially since the OTC in Newport.

Here are some reasons/thoughts why I will join and urge you to join too.
The NW chapter of CCA has about 7000 members in just over a year. So many new members that the national CCA was overwhelmed and they are having a difficult time processing new memberships in a timely fashion. That means we have about 7000 immediately available allies for our causes if we also support their causes.

One of my hesitations was over the gillnetting issue--but that issue is a double edge sword for me because I believe it's how they got 7000 members in a year. I didn't want to join an organizatrion that had that as their single issue. But all the CCA representatives present consistently said that CCA is a membership driven organization. I believe them. So if we want them to consider our issues, then we need to be members AND attend meetings, i.e., get involved. CCA is not going to do something for us, but if we join, then they very well may take up our issues too. That will happen only if enough of us are members to make our voices heard in all chapters. That means we'll have to attend the "local chapter" meetings to spread the word as well as attend the SD chapter meetings.

I agree with Mark, Roy, Dan and others that the commercial fishermen aren't the bad guys. There may be some folks that do consider them to be the bad guys, but if we don't want CCA to take that position, then we have to be there to tell them that, to convince at least a majority of members of our position. We need to help them understand the difference between gill nets and other methods used by commercial fishermen.

I rarely visit the main board, but a few of the times I have I've had the impression that a few of the folks there would be happy with totally banning all salmon fishing in the ocean. I would consider such a ban absurd, but again, if I don't want CCA to even consider it, then being members and voitng against it is the best strategy to achieve our goal.

Remember that it's possible to be a member of more than one organization. Join RFA/OA and KOF and any other organization supportive of fish and/or fishing.

Probably all fishermen are independent, but to venture out on the ocean takes an even larger amount of the independent spirit for which Oregonians are famous. As such I think we tend to be very individualistic and hesitant to "join" most anything too quickly. But if you want to keep the right to venture out there like we all love doing, then give "joining" serious consideration.

ron m

Pilar · 07-23-2008, 08:58 AM

It still makes sense today. I have started up organizations and joined some. So I'm filling out the form and mailing it.

It is up to the members of this new chapter to make it what we want it to be. I am visualizing an effort to get fishers working together. The numbers are the important part of this. 7000 people is alot to be knocking on doors and filling lobbies and hearings at the capitol. Just saying that you speak with the 7000 voices will get some long overdue attention from our government.

My only concern is the name 'Salty Dogs'. I percieve a certain sense of ownership by Ifish of that name. We had best consult user #2, Jennie to see how she feels about us using that name as our chapter.

Also I am still a little confused about whether we start a separate chapter or join the one near where each of us lives. Separate chapter gives us an identity. Joining the many chapters imbeds our voice across the state.

Sea Jypzee · 07-23-2008, 09:29 AM

OK, I just submitted my app online. I wanted to wait and see how I felt after sleeping on it overnight. I'm convinced that we can all accomplish more together than individually.

Mark Mc · 07-23-2008, 09:42 AM

Thanks for all the great comments. I think the #1 take-away point, like Roy and others have said, is:

"IT'S WHAT YOU MAKE IT."

Dan, I don't think it's "us" (saltwater fishers in general) who have a wholesale dislike of commercial fishing. Rather, it is a perception....a belief...that we see expressed by others outside our group.

Ron's post nicely captures some of the main points. His statement:

"....but if we don't want CCA to take that position (anti-commercial), then we have to be there to tell them that, to convince at least a majority of members of our position. We need to help them understand the difference between gill nets and other methods used by commercial fishermen."

feeds right into this concept of "it's what you make it."

I feel a little apologetic for putting Bruce in a hard spot regarding.... Gary Loomis (or ifish flaming) comments vs actual written CCA position statements. Maybe it took several attempts for me to "get it"....but like Ron says above, we need to be the ones to shape the CCA agenda and spread our understanding of the issues, including our viewpoints on the various commercial fisheries & methods, and how we can work with them & other organizations.

I also agree strongly with Ron's comment:

"Remember that it's possible to be a member of more than one organization. Join RFA/OA and KOF and any other organization supportive of fish and/or fishing."

As in the example I mentioned of the coalition in California working on the MR issue....it is a partnership of many organizations....multiple sport groups, and commercial groups...working together for a common goal...this is what I would envision for our involvement with CCA. It's CCA AND RFA.....AND the OCZMA....AND (xyz). It's not one or the other.

Regarding this question of "what chapter to join" or "where will our chapter be." I though that was pretty well covered last night. What I got out of it was:

1 - Send in your membership; from your zip code it will assign you to the closest local chapter. Let one of the state leaders (Ken Chambers - KCHookum on ifish) know you have signed up and are interested in the saltwater group.

2 - Establishing an ocean-focused chapter: We should not use a general term like "salty dogs", not just for any potential confusion with ifish, but because it is not very business-like, and it does not convey to other target audiences what we are about. We should use something like "Central Oregon Coast" chapter of CCA. It can show up as being "based" in Newport, or wherever, but it should connote the chapter of CCA whose members have a primary focus on ocean issues. Note that we still want to support freshwater issues too (reciprocation).

As mentioned earlier, we need to have a presence at the existing local chapters in order to educate & spread our agenda. It would be a mistake to ONLY have a saltwater fishers chapter, with no ties to the other chapters. So it's BOTH.... join the local chapter & get to know them, AND form a saltwater / coastal chapter to allow us a venue to focus on our issues & hone our message (and meet, greet, have fun!).

That's my

Kerry thanks again for setting it up. Bruce, thanks for showing up & taking the arrows again

Captn · 07-23-2008, 10:18 AM

Mark Mc, you have hit the bulls eye. Your comments are exactly what needs to be done.
So when do we have our first organizational meeting? We just need to set a time and date, and get started on the Oregon salt water chapter.

skein · 07-23-2008, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Oregon salt water chapter

I really like the sound of that. Oregon Salt Water Chapter. Bingo!

I am a member of the Linn-Benton Chapter, and happy with that, but you can bet I"ll be keeping them apprised of the Salt Water Situation. And you can bet I won't be missing any of the Salt Water meetings either.

Skein

Grizzly II · 07-23-2008, 10:48 AM

After sleeping on it I will be sending in my membership. I spend more than that on ice.

IMO we need to form a new chapter and agree with Mark that it should be global. Even beyond Centeral Coast. Maybe that is the only area we draw from but the opportunity to belong should be open to anyone from Brookings to CR and named accordingly. We have a great core group with diverse talent already in place and I would not want to see that diluted.

I am not wild about being assigned to a chapter based on my zip code when I spend a lot of time on the Boat in Newport in the summer. (Or at least will if the ocean ever settles down) Having said that, it does make sense as we can begin to get our message out immediately while another chapter forms.

At my age my fishing time gets shorter every day but I am willing to give it a year to see what we can get done.

Just my .o2

Rod

Irish Pennant · 07-23-2008, 11:02 AM

When's the next meeting of the Willamette Falls Chapter?

Bill Monroe · 07-23-2008, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skein

I really like the sound of that. Oregon Salt Water Chapter. Bingo!

I am a member of the Linn-Benton Chapter, and happy with that, but you can bet I"ll be keeping them apprised of the Salt Water Situation. And you can bet I won't be missing any of the Salt Water meetings either.

Skein

What Mark says makes perfect sense and I, too, like the sound of a Salt Water Chapter.

I joined in late June (thanks Bruce) and was assigned to a local chapter which, like Jim, I'll track. But I'm more keen on staying tuned to the sea...as well as support or assist with freshwater issues.

jzell · 07-23-2008, 11:27 AM

Thanks to all you attended, interacted, learned, and joined.

I wished I could attend but work got in the way. I will attend one of your future meetings.

Your replies to this post are right on.

CCA Oregon needs the knowledge that you from the salt can bring to the table.

And as you saw, you are welcome at our table.

John Zell
Interim President, Portland Metro Chapter

PC Silver Streak · 07-23-2008, 12:00 PM

Thanks everybody for getting the "saltwater" movement rolling. I will soon be signing up for the local chapter of CCA and will sign up for the "Oregon saltwater" chapter too, in the near future.

ron m · 07-23-2008, 12:02 PM

another possible name for the salty dog chapter or the salt water chapter is
Pacific Chapter, it's a geographbical location, but not in any county!

fyshndad · 07-23-2008, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Irish Pennant

When's the next meeting of the Willamette Falls Chapter?

board meeting (all are welcome) on Aug 11th
general membership meeting Sept 8th

Fish'nDude · 07-23-2008, 01:37 PM

Link to CCA membership sign up:

http://www.ccamembership.org/

Just trying to be helpful.

Frank
CCA Oregon
Chapter & Membership Development

Ginny Ross · 07-23-2008, 04:03 PM

Thanks for your tireless efforts, Bruce. You are really making a difference! Good luck to all you Salty Dogs on getting a new CCA Oregon Salty Dog Chapter rolling. Good work, Gunrod!

Fast Water · 07-23-2008, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish'nDude

Link to CCA membership sign up:

http://www.ccamembership.org/

Just trying to be helpful.

Frank
CCA Oregon
Chapter & Membership Development

If you can, I suggest using the online form. This will help insure accuracy when processing you information. Zip codes and email addresses are sometimes transcribed incorrectly. It is the fastest method.