This is one of the reasons I announced my intentions to Test the
waters for US Senate FL., 2012 because The Presidents National Ocean
Councils and the appointed Czars under NOAA/NMFS are putting hard
working, law abiding citizens out of business in the name of United
Nations rules and laws. Even though the President of the United States
of America signed a treaty, without the 2/3 ratification of the US
Senate, nobody has enough grit to call it a treacherous Act of Treason,
to which it is! Now because of the treaty signage into law,
unconstitutionally,Anglers across the country are out of work and
countless millions of pounds of "Discards", dead fish, are dumped
overboard in the name of conservation; when actually it is in the name
of greed. If I were to be elected into the Senate, this Treaty would be
reviewed and nullified to under go the process it should have in the
first place but since The President did not trust the Senate or the
process was too slow, he bypassed the whole process. If the President is
still in the White House come next December, I will be screaming
impeachment or at least invoke the 25th Amendment, before he signs that
away too. The rules of conduct have not been applied here and thus the
rulings under "Best Available Science" are illegal to unconstitutional.
Why must we fisherman, too break the law? Until this is resolved
constitutionally, I would follow the rules to laws of our Country before
the signing of this document, LOST. If by going to jail is the order of
the day because I followed my countries rules & laws; then so be
it! I am an American and not a member of any standing to United Nations
rules to conventions as they ALL ARE UNCONSTITUTIONAL!
Below is one of our fellow anglers to which the thumb screws are
being applied by NOAA/NMFS, the Councils and backed by President Obama
and his National Ocean Council under the guise of Agenda 21.
My name is Chris McCaffity. I am a commercial snapper/grouper fisherman
who has been offering simple solutions that would mitigate many of the
SEVERE negative impacts associated with LAWS written by a bureaucrats
that violate the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Fishermen have been forced to
obey these laws through the barrel of a gun and threats of fines,
seizure of our property, or even imprisonment. We pay the price for our
obedience with our blood, treasure, and liberty. The gross incompetence
of the bureaucrats who claim to have mismanaged almost every stock they
control is rewarded with more money and power to rule us with an iron
fist and the full weight of the federal government behind them.
Roy Crabtree is the SE Regional Administrator for the National Marine
Fisheries Service and sits on the South Atlantic Fishery Management
Council. He told me that if I did not like the way our fisheries are
being managed, then I needed to take it up with Congress. I pray these
Public Comments will find their way to every member of Congress. I pray
these comments will soften the hearts of the fishery “managers” who seem
to feel absolved of any personal responsibility for their actions that
financially DEVASTATE our families, play key roles in the DEATHS of our
fellow fishermen, and cause TONS of perfectly edible fish to be TORTURED
to death and WASTED in the name of CONSERVATION! I PRAY the PUBLIC will
STAND with me against the environmental “charities” and their
bureaucrat puppets that threaten our God-given freedom.
I will be BOYCOTTING the December SAFMC meeting that will be held three
hours away from the closest saltwater. This appears to be an attempt to
disenfranchise a small minority group of American citizens. Many of us
cannot afford to travel and stay at an expensive hotel since our
businesses have been destroyed. I believe this is a passive aggressive
ploy to restrict our freedom of speech. Will Congress allow unelected
bureaucrats to violate our First Amendment Right to peacefully defend
our God-given Rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?
I previously mentioned how the laws written by unelected bureaucrats are
enforced through the barrel of a gun and threats of heavy fines,
seizure of property, or even imprisonment. The enforcement officers
VIOLATE our Fourth Amendment Constitutional Rights as they ILLEGALLY
search and seize our private property. A boat is considered a residence
if it has a head and bunk. The CURTILAGE of that residence includes the
ENTIRE vessel. Any WARRANT-LESS search or seizure of such vessels
associated with anything other than safety violations (as ruled by the
Supreme Court) is UNCONSTITUTIONAL!
EVERY member of Congress and EVERY unelected bureaucrat SWEARS an oath
to uphold and defend the US Constitution against enemies foreign and
domestic. Will Congress hold the domestic enemies of our Constitution
accountable for their actions? Will our Senators and Representatives
HONOR their oath?
The multiple layers of fishery bureaucracy are using tactics laid out in
UN Agenda 21 which Congress recognized as a threat to our Nation’s
sovereignty and to our Constitutional Rights. Congress refused to ratify
that attack on our individual Liberty. Environmental “charities” have
lobbied Congress and pressured bureaucrats to load environmental laws
with Agenda 21 mandates like the Precautionary Principal. Every
President that held office since Congress refused to ratify Agenda 21
has issued executive orders forcing these UN mandates on us. Will
Congress do anything about these Presidential and bureaucratic actions
that usurp their authority? Will the public realize what is happening
before we lose 51% of our freedom?
I ask Congress to take these actions to help America’s fishermen and the seafood we harvest.
1. Give federal fishery permit holders the power to have final approval
of any new regulation effecting their fishery with a 2/3 majority vote.
2. Give federal fishery permit holders the power to access ALL documents
available to fishery “managers” and allow the permit holders to offer
alternate management measures that follow ALL of the guidelines in the
Magnuson-Stevens Act and use existing Total Allowable Catch numbers.
3. Set up an independent peer review panel to ensure that all past,
present, and future management measures offered by fishery “managers”
and permit holders abide by ALL of the Magnuson-Stevens Act mandates.
Allow permit holders to offer alternatives to the past management
measures that violate the MSA in any way or simply abolish them.
4. Give federal fishery permit holders the power to FIRE any fishery
“manager” involved in their fishery with a 2/3 majority vote of no
confidence and offer a replacement to be approved by the peer review
panel and a 2/3 majority vote of the permit holders.
5. Create a federal data collection permit for every recreational and
commercial fishery. Require all fishermen to purchase a twenty dollar
permit for each federal fishery they participate in. Allocate those
funds and 1% of the NMFS BILLION dollar annual budget to set up an
independent data collection center. Require every permit holder to
electronically report the fish they catch for each trip. The data
collected should be used in independent stock assessments to support or
refute the “Best Available Science” used by fishery “managers”. The data
should also be used to PROPERLY manage the quotas with possession
limits adjusted quarterly or after approximately 75% of a seasonal quota
has been caught to levels that will fill the quotas without any long
closures. The permit holders would have final approval of any
adjustments with a 2/3 majority vote.
6. Set up a secure way for federal permit holders to cast these 2/3
majority votes electronically. This secure site could also be used to
debate how we want to manage our fisheries. Any permit holder could
offer their own management measures. We could have an open and honest
debate and come to a compromise that follows ALL MSA mandates and can
pass a 2/3 majority vote of the permit holders in the effected fishery.
7. Begin a full Congressional investigation into all levels of federal
fishery bureaucracy. Their own stock assessments show they have grossly
mismanaged almost every fishery they have controlled for decades. The
evidence of corruption and abuse of power is mounting against the
multiple layers of fishery bureaucracy every day. Congress set up the
fishery bureaucracies to manage our fisheries for the benefit of all
Americans and to insure that those public resources are healthy and
sustainable for future generations. They have failed miserably. They
have destroyed countless jobs. They have caused the deaths of many
innocent fishermen. They have forced fishermen to discard millions of
dead and dying fish to go to waste in the name of conservation. They
have violated our Constitutional Rights as they force us to commit these
atrocities. They have used UN mandates to strike down the freedom our
Creator endowed us with and many brave American soldiers have defended
with their lives. We could achieve the goals we should all have of
healthy fisheries that can be responsibly harvested forever with very
little waste without all of the Regulatory Discards, financial ruin,
bloodshed, and loss of Liberty. We simply need to work together using
SOUND SCIENCE, the slightest bit of COMMON SENSE, and remember the
GOLDEN RULE.
The actions listed above would give fishermen a little more say in how
we do our jobs and how our fisheries are managed while following ALL of
the requirements Congress included in the reauthorized MSA. Roy Crabtree
had publicly stated that the management measures they pass do not have
to follow all of the mandates in the MSA. Will Congress allow these
unelected bureaucrats to get away with blatantly refusing to follow the
MSA mandates to limit waste, make efficient use of our resources, and
promote fisherman’s safety at sea?
Please consider what Edmond Burke said. “Enforcing stupid laws is the
essence or tyranny.” I argue that forcing fishermen to torture fish to
death and waste them in the name of conservation is a perfect example of
a STUPID law that promotes tyranny rather than liberty. Is the loss of
liberty any less tragic if it is taken with “good” intentions by fellow
Americans, rather than by foreign enemies? Will Congress allow unelected
bureaucrats to continue enforcing STUPID laws on American citizens
through the barrel of a gun and violations of our Constitutional Rights?
I have laid out plans in previous public statements about how we could
limit waste and enhance our resources with things like Artificial Reefs
that are the perfect union of aquaculture and commercially or
recreation-ally harvested wild seafood. An aggressive Artificial Reef
program would benefit the resource and fishermen while providing
millions of people with access to delicious and nutritious wild caught
seafood. I have also mentioned how the Saltonstall-Kennedy tax on
imported seafood should be used to enhance our fisheries and promote the
domestic supply of seafood. How are the funds being used now?
I would be happy to provide anyone reading this with copies of my
previous public comments. I would also be extremely happy to testify
before Congress during the investigation that I pray will begin before
it is too late for the few remaining commercial fishermen who have
suffered mightily as our fisheries have been grossly mismanaged.
