Some thoughts from Wendy... - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

Saba Slayer · 06-26-2016, 07:08 PM

Wendy had this on the CCA Facebook page and I thought I'd share it.....

"For those of you in California who are worried about our fishing rights and who keep complaining about CCA.
Please honestly ask yourself....What have you done to help?
I personally have been fighting for our (yours too) right to fish while going through a divorce, having a daughter who was very sick and in and out of the hospital during the whole So Cal MPLA process. I made all but 1 SCRSG meeting and made it to almost every Blue Ribbon Task Force meeting, Science Advisory meetings as well as our Fish And Game Commission meetings, our Fin/Fic meetings (commercial & recreational MLPA) and helped organize protests while working my full time job. Instead of taking a day off to go fishing I took days off to fight for us, sport fishermen, commercial fishermen, free divers, kayakers and coastal cities preserving our access to the coast. To this day I still have not seen very many of you at any of these important meetings. These meetings will never stop and we all need to be pro active if we want to preserve what we have left.
This past Wednesday there was an important Fish and Game Commission meeting in Bakersfield at 8:30 am. I left the house at 5:00 am, drove myself to the meeting and stood up a whole 3 minutes to talk about the MPA's and adding artificial reefs. Joe Exline from Oceanside, Wayne Kotow from CCA, George Osborne from CSL, Greg from Ventura Sportfishing, Josh a commercial lobster fishermen, Jim Salazar representing recreational lobster fishermen Mike Mc Corkel a commercial fisherman were all the usually guys who took the time to attend.
CCA is a new organization for California with only one paid position the rest is all taken care of by volunteers. If CCA CAL is to succeed we need everyone who enjoys our coast to pitch in, volunteer and join.
It's all up to us and it's all on us to make a difference!
Join a CCA chapter and be a part of the solution.
In California we really need members to join our CCA CAL government relations committees to help keep an eye on what's going on and to help us stay engaged.
CCA CAL's Executive Director, Wayne Kotow is only one person, he can't be everywhere.
So stop whining, make the time to make a difference.
Again, we need your help!
Protect your right to fish,
Wendy Tochihara
Recreational Angler
CCA CAL Board member
CCA CAL Artificial Reef Committee Chair Person
IGFA Southern California Rep
President Chuck Byron Youth Art Foundation"

Baja_Traveler · 06-27-2016, 07:12 AM

Unfortunately - as is typical with all things, only a very few people like yourself and Wendy actually put in the days and hours and mileage to try to make a difference.
The rest of us watch from a distance (I count me in this group right now, but truth be told I spent 10 years doing it volunteering on the board and as president of the San Diego Oceans Foundation).
Then there is always those who do nothing but complain about how YOU are not doing anything and how you are either trying to just take money from people or are just wasting every ones time. 10 years of that crap finally broke me so took the "life's too short" attitude and gave up. I fully understand Wendy's frustration as I've been there...
I pay my CCA dues though, and I don't even fish in this god-forsaken State anymore.

06-26-2016, 07:08 PM	#1
Saba Slayer Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Palos Verdes Posts: 1,857	Some thoughts from Wendy... Wendy had this on the CCA Facebook page and I thought I'd share it..... "For those of you in California who are worried about our fishing rights and who keep complaining about CCA. Please honestly ask yourself....What have you done to help? I personally have been fighting for our (yours too) right to fish while going through a divorce, having a daughter who was very sick and in and out of the hospital during the whole So Cal MPLA process. I made all but 1 SCRSG meeting and made it to almost every Blue Ribbon Task Force meeting, Science Advisory meetings as well as our Fish And Game Commission meetings, our Fin/Fic meetings (commercial & recreational MLPA) and helped organize protests while working my full time job. Instead of taking a day off to go fishing I took days off to fight for us, sport fishermen, commercial fishermen, free divers, kayakers and coastal cities preserving our access to the coast. To this day I still have not seen very many of you at any of these important meetings. These meetings will never stop and we all need to be pro active if we want to preserve what we have left. This past Wednesday there was an important Fish and Game Commission meeting in Bakersfield at 8:30 am. I left the house at 5:00 am, drove myself to the meeting and stood up a whole 3 minutes to talk about the MPA's and adding artificial reefs. Joe Exline from Oceanside, Wayne Kotow from CCA, George Osborne from CSL, Greg from Ventura Sportfishing, Josh a commercial lobster fishermen, Jim Salazar representing recreational lobster fishermen Mike Mc Corkel a commercial fisherman were all the usually guys who took the time to attend. CCA is a new organization for California with only one paid position the rest is all taken care of by volunteers. If CCA CAL is to succeed we need everyone who enjoys our coast to pitch in, volunteer and join. It's all up to us and it's all on us to make a difference! Join a CCA chapter and be a part of the solution. In California we really need members to join our CCA CAL government relations committees to help keep an eye on what's going on and to help us stay engaged. CCA CAL's Executive Director, Wayne Kotow is only one person, he can't be everywhere. So stop whining, make the time to make a difference. Again, we need your help! Protect your right to fish, Wendy Tochihara Recreational Angler CCA CAL Board member CCA CAL Artificial Reef Committee Chair Person IGFA Southern California Rep President Chuck Byron Youth Art Foundation" __________________ Jim / Saba Slayer

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06-27-2016, 07:12 AM	#2
Baja_Traveler Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Table 17, Bay Park Fish Co. Posts: 943	Unfortunately - as is typical with all things, only a very few people like yourself and Wendy actually put in the days and hours and mileage to try to make a difference. The rest of us watch from a distance (I count me in this group right now, but truth be told I spent 10 years doing it volunteering on the board and as president of the San Diego Oceans Foundation). Then there is always those who do nothing but complain about how YOU are not doing anything and how you are either trying to just take money from people or are just wasting every ones time. 10 years of that crap finally broke me so took the "life's too short" attitude and gave up. I fully understand Wendy's frustration as I've been there... I pay my CCA dues though, and I don't even fish in this god-forsaken State anymore.