COLUMN: A united fishermen's front makes a difference (with TRAVELOGUE AND PHOTOS)

In a historic first-time event, recreational and commercial fishermen, families, supporting business owners and community leaders joined together at the steps of our nation’s Capitol on Feb. 24. As you have read and heard, many people from Destin, Panama City and Mexico Beach rode a bus to D.C. and back to join and support this historical effort.

Many good and much-needed actions by our legislative delegations to help with the overly restrictive federal regulations will now be forthcoming as senators and representatives from many coastal states are now working together to help. The more than 5,000 people in attendance are seeking immediate congressional hearings to reform the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

There are several other actions being considered and we are looking forward to changes soon.

As president of the Panama City Boatmen Association and executive director of the Conservation Cooperative of Gulf Fishermen, on behalf of the many people I represent, I want to express much-appreciated thanks for all the support we have received from our local communities, the Bay County Commission, all the city commissions within Northwest Florida, our state representatives and senators from the Panhandle, Bay County and other local chambers of commerce, the Panhandle TDCs, and everyone who supports our cause that I may have left out.

The support from everyone in our communities has been fantastic and because of this continued support and effort, we will be working together with all the individuals and organizations that are working together to put common sense into fishery management.

Along with the above, I wish to express our thanks to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for its efforts of support and concern for the human resource of Florida.

Our thanks continue to Sen. George LeMieux, who has been working tirelessly to help. We thank Sen. Bill Nelson for requesting hearings before the Commerce Committee and for the two bills he has introduced.

We thank Congressman Allen Boyd for his work by introducing his bill in the House. Many other Florida representatives from other parts of the state have also introduced bills and some are co-sponsoring other bills that will help.

We would like to recognize those people and companies who helped sponsor the bus for the people from the Panhandle to attend the historic event: Greg Abrams (Abrams Seafood), Tom Putnam (Half Hitch Tackle), Clair Pease (Grand Panama Resort), Chuck Guilford (Charisma Charters), Scott Burt (North Lagoon Partners and St. Joe Bay Point Marina), Mike Miller (Miller Marine), Destin Charter Boat Association, and Panama City Boatmen Association.

The bus was provided by Coastal Coaches at a special rate for the trip. Without the support from these people and businesses many people could not have made the trip. We highly recommend that you show your support by visiting and recommending these businesses.

Because so many have supported and helped with our efforts, I suspect I may have missed some who have provided that much-needed support for help to keep us fishing so we can enjoy our resources and provide for our families and communities while our resource improves. From us to everyone who is helping and supporting, a great big THANK YOU!

Bob Zales II is a Panama City charter fishing captain.

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BUCK ON THE BUS

Log Managing Editor Tina Harbuck was on the charter bus that made its way to Washington, D.C., for the "United We Fish" march on the Capitol. She is provided this travelogue from her trip. CLICK HERE.

For more than 100 photos from the protest, click here.

For a photo gallery of Destin captains boarding the bus, click here.

For a photo gallery from the hotel, click here.

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