Below is the email I sent to Senator Michael L. Fair, R-06 Greenville, and his quick reply.
Warren,
I am not a fisherman but have read much since this matter became a public
concern.You offer the most cogent argument representing your position on the
matter.
I respect your opinion and your position and will support you.
Mike
Sir, I am a conservative republican that believes in limited government restriction on its citizens except where the regulations serve as a benefit. I believe that S.1194 does not serve the good of
the citizens of SC and would like to meet with you to discuss my concerns.
Not only do I bring this concern as a SC resident and angler, I am president of the Greenville Striper Kings, a large group of South Carolinians who specifically target striped bass. Striper Kings have worked with the SC striped bass hatchery since 1991 completing several projects that have benefited our SC striped bass fishery for all SC residents and out of state visiters alike. Additionally, I am president of the Striped Bass Conservation Coalition which represents striped bass anglers across many states.
Since the number of fish in our SC fishery are managed by creel limits, I am very interested to know why Senator Gregory is proposing a limit on the number of fishing devices used by people in a boat.
This proposal would only serve as a method to restrict and reduce business and tax revenue.
As an angler, I use a technique called cut bait fishing for striped bass. I have purchased a large number of rods and reels all from SC businesses. I have two partners that fish with me and each of them also own dozens of rods. Every year we end up replacing some of this equipment. This brings revenue into SC. If I can only use 6-rod in my boat or even 6-rods per person, I probably will never need to purchase another rod and reel and I bet this will be
I have not gotten a reply from Senator Gregory but here is the boiler plate reply 2 of my friends got!
---- Sen. Gregory’s response -----
Fishermen -
I introduced this bill at the urging of local crappie fishermen who contend that folks using “spider rigging” are wiping out crappie beds on the Catawba. I also spoke to some Santee guides before introducing it and they said it would have no effect on how they operate. Obviously, you feel differently.
My intention is not to infringe on anyone’s capacity to lawfully fish, but to try to preserve the resource. Obviously, there are vagaries in the laws and some good points were raised regarding this. As we know, the number of shore based rods is limited, but trot line hooks are not. I think that it is valid to question these discrepancies.
Points on a couple of other matters: Some content that the legislation is not necessary because of creel limits. However, DNR is down roughly from 300 officers to 200, so they are spread thin. Some counties have only one local officer. The constituents who ask me to introduce this bill know of spider riggers who are catching multiples of the limit and selling the fish w/o consequences.
Another point is that the bill may not be clear on the number of rods allowed. It is 6 per person, not 6 per boat. Perhaps that needs to be further clarified in the bill.
Anyway, I’ve been in the Senate long enough to know when a bill has a chance and when it doesn’t. It is doubtful this bill will go any farther than a sub-committee hearing; much less the seven steps needed to become law. Nevertheless, I believe some spider-riggers - though not you - are the equivalent of market hunters from a century ago. If this bill isn’t the best way to stop rouge fishermen then I would be interested in your ideas as to how to do so.
Greg Gregory
SC Senate
---- end of response ----
You can contact Sen. Greg Gregory at:
Business Phone (803) 212-6024 or (803) 289-6211
Email Form: Gregory, Chauncey K.
Warren,
I received the same reply from sen. Gregory. The thing that confuses me if there are not enough officers to keep creel limits in check then how can someone regulate how many rods a person is using?!! This is just another example of poor politics!!
Just a few minutes ago I finally got the same reply as everyone else.
Notice the comparison to the fairness to bank fishermen who have a limited number of rods and even the incorrect comment about trotlines hooks not being limited.
He said that he was urged by local crappie fishermen and he asked some Santee guides. The SCDNR are the experts, so lets do what we can to get the legislators to depend on them.
If you dont have enough personel to check the creel limits how are they going to check for spider rigs, Just make it a BIG fine per fish over the creel if they want to stop it.
Guys…don’t miss the most important point Sen. Gregory made. The bill needs clarification. His intent was 6 rods per PERSON, not per boat as was a big concern. Thus, 4 in the boat = 24 rods. However, it is still an infringement in that cut bait anglers regularly fish with way more than 6 rods if alone. I, for one, am glad he acknowledged 1. who urged him to sponsor the bill, 2. that the bill has little chance of passage, and 3. that he encourages us to assist in helping find ways to police natural resource sports.
This is clearly an open opportunity for us to follow through and “take the high road.” We can offer viable suggestions for, in effect, policing ourselves as well as others. We can (once again) use this near-fiasco to point out not only to Sen. Gregory, but to all SC legislators that they should NOT be involved in making these decisions on behalf of a few constituents…but rather give up that right and allow DNR to have statewide regulatory authority as do 48 of the other 49 states. It’s time to mount an effort to give DNR professionals the opportunity to do the jobs they were hired to do.
I have been told that Senator Gregory is a very reasonable person and will listen to our issues without a preformed bias. He has acknowledged that he is trying to address an issue brought to him by a few of his constituents. I am very concerned that our process in SC allows for the perception of a few to result in a regulation on us all. If there is an issue it needs to be addressed. Remember that perception is reality until the perception can be changed. How do we move forward to a process that requires vetting of fishery issues with the fishery experts?
That being said, below is the reply I got this afternoon from Senator Shane Martin from Spartanburg.
The real issue that needs to be addressed is that the politicians are establishing the rules and regulations, rather than the DRN biologists, who know what they are doing. But that issue isn’t on the table.
I don’t fish with more than 3 rods at a time. That’s about all I can handle when perch fishing. However, I do feel that other fishermen should have the right to use as many rods as they want, provided that they stay within the legal creel limits on their targeted fish. I also believe that the SCDNR fisheries biologists and other “trained and educated officers” should be the ones making the calls.
As a largemouth fisherman it really wouldn’t have an impact on me right now, but what if I decided to become a striper or crappie fisherman in the future? Then it would be an encumbrance on my fishing ability. If I were from another state and this bill passed I would bypass fishing here for stripers or crappie and take my tourism dollars to a more fisherman friendly state.
Just got a notice that there is a meeting tomorrow Thursday, March 1 on S.1194. Unfortunately I did not know in time and have a meetng with the navy tomorrow from 9-10AM. If someone else can attend and let us all know what happens it would be appreciated.
10:00 am – Gressette Room 307
Senate Fish, Game and Forestry Subcommittee on S.1194, S.1222, S.1231 and R.4234
Agenda Available
S.1194 - S 1194 General Bill, By Gregory
Summary: Fishing from a boat
A BILL TO AMEND SECTION 50-13-625, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE TAKING OF NONGAME FISH, THE USE OF GAME FISHING DEVICES, AND THE USE OF FISHING DEVICES BY A FISHERMAN FISHING FROM A BOAT, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT A FISHERMAN FISHING FROM A BOAT IS LIMITED TO USING SIX GAME FISHING DEVICES IF ALL PERSONS IN THE BOAT OLDER THAN SIXTEEN YEARS HAVE VALID FISHING LICENSES
Marc Danque of the Crappie Hole in Chapin, Richy Brensinger representing Warren’s and MSC’s interests and I representing MSC and Carolina Custom Angler attended the subcommittee hearing today regarding Senate Bill 1194. Senators McGill (acting chair), Williams and Gregory were representing the Senate Fish, Game and Forestry Committee. Marc and Richy did outstanding presentations on the reasons that we fish multiple rods and answered questions from the senators candidly. Senator Gregory acknowledged that he had been the main topic of conversation on crappie.com for the past week to his great surprise. Senator Gregory graciously stated that his intent was to curtail the poaching of crappie in his district and he felt that limiting the number of devices would be an effective means to that end. Due to the vast amount of opposition to his bill he stated that he would not forward it further and opened the floor to suggestions on ways to combat poaching and the sale of game fish. The sentiment shared by Marc, Richy and I was that there needs to be more enforcement officers, tougher fines for those that sell game fish as well as those who purchase it, magistrates that back the law enforcement officers and not reduce the number of citations or reduce fines and putting the funds raised by fines into a DNR pool of money instead of the general fund. I feel that the Senators truly appreciated our views and I hope that we have given them ideas to improve our resource.
Big Thank You to Marc, Richy, Warren, and Jim for representing our interests so well, and for all that wrote letters and emails in opposition. This type of issue is a classic example of why MSC needs to stay strong and involved, and supportive of our SCDNR.
We still need to remain vigilant on this issue. Until we get confirmation that the bill has been revoked officially, we can be more but not too comfortable.
Thank you Jim, Richly, and Mark for your work today as well as all that filled the inboxes and rang the phones. Let’s keep monitoring the situation.