AREA FISHERMEN TO MARCH ON D.C.

They protested on the streets in Fort Walton Beach, then on the harbor in Destin, now they are taking it straight to Washington D.C.

More than a dozen of Destin’s boat captains are making plans to join others from up and down the Gulf Coast and East Coast in a “United We Fish” march on the Capitol on Feb. 24.

The march is in protest of the “unintended impacts” of the Magnuson-Stevens Conservation and Management Act, the federal fisheries law that was revised in 2007.

“I personally think we ought to go,” Capt. Mike Eller of the Lady Em and co-chairman of the Destin Charter Boat Association told the 28 captains and wives gathered at the Destin Fishing and History Museum Wednesday evening.

“We started this ball rolling, I think we need to see it through,” said Capt. Bud Miller of the Melanie Dawn.

In early November of 2009, more than 100 boat captains, friends and family gathered along Perry Avenue in Fort Walton Beach with signs in protest of the closure of red snapper and amberjack imposed by federal regulators.

For photos from that protest, CLICK HERE.

Then a week later, a flotilla called “Rally for Recreational Fishermen” was held in Destin harbor where boats displayed signs in protest of the closures. For photos of that protest, CLICK HERE.

“The overly restrictive management requirements created by the RMSA (revised Magnuson Stevens Act) — based on non-scientific arbitrary deadlines — are forcing anglers off the water, eliminating commercial fishing, preventing consumers from purchasing locally-caught fresh seafood, destroying small family businesses, increasing unemployment, and adversely affecting coastal communities,” wrote event organizer Capt. Bob Zales, II of Conservation Cooperative of Gulf Fishermen, in a newsletter.

CCGF, of Orange Beach, Ala., along with Recreational Fishing Alliance, United Boatmen of New York, and United Boatmen of New Jersey are just some of the organizations that are coordinating the march on the Capitol.

Organizer Jim Donofrio, executive director of the RFA out of New Jersey, has been asked, “Why march on D.C. in the winter?” His response came in a news release: “We can’t let seasons stop the momentum, and if we wait any longer none of us will be fishing.”

Destin captains are looking at the possibility of renting a couple of 15-passenger vans or even chartering a bus for the 16-hour trip to the Capitol.

Although the mode of transportation wasn’t conclusive at the meeting, the need to have presence at the march was.

“We’ve got to do anything we can to open the fisheries,” Capt. Miller said.