GULF COUNCIL RED SNAPPER ADVISORY PANEL MEMBER RESIGNS; "CHARADE"

[Mont]

News Release Labor Day, 2011 For Immediate Release
Contact: Captain Dale Perkins 850-982-1930

GULF COUNCIL RED SNAPPER ADVISORY PANEL MEMBER RESIGNS; CALLS THE PROCESS “A CHARADE"

Pensacola, FL
Citing emails from Steven Atran, Population Dynamics Statistician; Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; Red Snapper Advisory Panel member Captain Dale Perkins resigned on Labor Day. “The whole process is a charade as evidenced by the fact that they schedule meetings to take out input and then go ahead and make decisions without even holding the meetings. I am not going to lend false legitimacy to this charade by allowing my name to be used on a so called committee that has no input. No matter what the data shows, it is always interpreted as a need to reduce Total Allowable Catch. If we are catching to few fish, they say to reduce the quota. If we catch too many, reduce the quota. The fish are too big, reduce the quota. The fish are too small, reduce the quota.” Perkins has unsuccessfully called for a congressional investigation of the fisheries management process in the past. Perkins resignation coincides with a Fox News Business Labor Day special report on Federal Regulatory Strangulation of fishing families.

[hilton]

Mont,
Thanks for posting up. Does this echo your experience serving on an AP?

In addition to ignoring the APs' input, the NMFS/Gulf Council are stacking the APs with enviro-funded people to ensure the outcome is decided before the vote is taken.

There certainly needs to be an investigation into this charade but I'm afraid that won't happen until we get a change of leadership at the top of NOAA.

2012 can't come soon enough.

PERRY 2012.

I FISH / I VOTE.

Capt. Thomas J. Hilton

[Mont]

Tom, honestly, I have never seen anything that the RSAP sent up get put into practice in the fishery. Case in point, is the retarded way they word the opening and closing dates and times. You would think that they could have at least fixed that like we recommended. I believe Capt. Dale has a valid point as well, but beyond his point is the fact that not only are AP's ignored, public testimony is as well, including both written and verbal comments. The GC has so little options on what they can do (legally), that they too have fallen victim to this problem. All things pretty much seem to boil down to "ask legal what we can do" and that's what's being done. The process is broken from the top all the way down to the lowest levels, including AP's and public input. If they throw me off because I just posted this, then that's fine too. It is what it is. My comments are *not* directed at any one person, and certainly not Steven Atran, whom I have known for over a decade. He's just doing his job.

[capt4fish]

A great example of the Gulf Council/NMFS not doing what the public suggests is the Amberjack closure.
At the Orange Beach Meeting Crabtree said that "over whelming" comment from the public was to let the season run until finished. They could not believe it so they asked for additional comments, again, over whelming comment to let the season run.
So what do they do? Shut the season down in June and July.

Unfortunately this has been misrepresented by some SOS authors as "what the public wanted" which is another lie.

They ingore us completely.

This year I have seen more "state water" snapper limits coming in during any fishable day than ever before. This will continue.

The public has lost all confidence in NMFS and the puppet Gulf Council to be fair and honest and now is pushing back by ingnoring the NMFS's rediculous laws. This will also continue.

[MikeWilson]

Originally Posted by capt4fish

This year I have seen more "state water" snapper limits coming in during any fishable day than ever before. This will continue.

The public has lost all confidence in NMFS and the puppet Gulf Council to be fair and honest and now is pushing back by ingnoring the NMFS's rediculous laws. This will also continue.

Civil Disobedience (Resistance to Civil Government) is an essay by American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau that was first published in 1849. In it, Thoreau argues that individuals should not permit governments to overrule or atrophy their consciences, and that they have a duty to avoid allowing such acquiescence to enable the government to make them the agents of injustice.

[capt4fish]

Imagine that a Tea Party member back in 1849. He got it right also.