As you sit down to read this, you have just five days to get your thoughts organized and get your public comments on Draft Amendment 7 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Striped Bass sent in to the ASMFC. These comments need to be in to the ASMFC on or before April 15. The public comments are intended to act like a poll, to take the temperature of the leanings of the fishing public.
If you’ve sat in on any of the recent meetings, as I have, then you are aware of the fact that the subject of striped bass management is a source of spirited (yeah, that puts a positive spin on it) debate. And because we are living in an ‘all or nothing’ these stalwart debates make it really hard to get things done.
I am of the belief that we need opposing views to find our way to the best solutions. Making a compromise is not losing, somehow that concept has completely gone out the window, especially in any matter that has even the lingering stench of politics. Somehow, our belief system has changed and we now see concessions as a weakness.
But a willingness to concede is actually a great strength, compromise is how things get done. This is why I implore you to get your comments in so that the clearest possible picture is shown to the decision makers at the ASMFC. I don’t care if your feelings are completely at odds with mine, I respect your opinion and I believe that your opinion needs to be heard.
Your comments should be short and should be laid out so that your options are easy to see, read and count. Save the long-winded diatribe for your Facebook feed. What the ASMFC wants to see are your suggested options for the proposed management triggers that have been outlined in THIS DOCUMENT (please link to http://www.asmfc.org/files/PublicInput/AtlStripedBassDraftAm7forPublicComment_Feb2022.pdf) scroll down to page 44 and read through all of these options, if you want a summarized version, skip down to page 55.
Somewhere in your letter there should be a list of the sub-options that you support, and I would strongly urge you to lay them out in a vertical list, not sequentially in one line of your letter. You have to think of this like writing a letter to Santa Clause, you want that all important list to be front and center so you can get what you want, but Santa is a busy guy so the rest might fall into the latter category. But if you hide your choices somewhere in your three pages of carefully crafted paragraphs, I’d say there’s a very good chance your letter might get ‘lost in cyberspace’ (read: ignored.) because they can’t be reading every word of each of the thousands of letters they are going to receive—so make it easy.
To get your comments in, you can email them to [email protected], make sure your subject line is: Draft Amendment 7. If you still have a fax machine and actually remember how to use it, you can fax your letter to 703-842-0741. If you prefer to send your letters through the mail, get them out ASAP and send them to:
Emilie Franke
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
1050 N. Highland St, Suite 200 A-N
Arlington, VA 22201
Sitting down to read 10 pages and send an email shouldn’t take more than 45 minutes, it’s your duty and fisherman and your right as an American citizen to have your opinion counted among the rest. I’m going to do my part and I’m asking you to join me by doing yours.
