Stellwagen Bank Charter Association Past Meetings info

Please be sure to take advantage of the special Sea Tow Commercial Membership rate for SBCBA members.

The attached application allows you to sign up for Sea Tow for a 1 year Membership with the special SBCBA Commercial Membership rate of $135. The application and your payment (check or credit card) should be sent directly to Sea Tow South Shore, PO Box 429, Green Harbor, MA 02041. You can also hand deliver the completed application to Ethan at our next SBCBA monthly meeting (Mar. 8, 2011).

The $135 special rate is designed to cover one Commercial vessel starting on the Association's start date (approximately the first week of April).

Ethan has offered to donate $150 to SBCBA for each ten members that join Sea Tow through this special offer.

Meeting Location: Marshfield Tavern
Officers Present: Steve James, President; Greg Sears, V.P., Dave Delory, Treasurer and Mike Pierdinock, Secretary
Total Attendance: 30 People Present (New - Doug Amarillo, Plymouth)

Steve James - There is presently no General Liability Insurance for the SBCBA as well as no insurance for the officers of the organization. Steve James obtained three estimates from insurance companies to obtain General Liability Insurance and Directors and Officers Liability Insurance at a cost of approximately $1,100 per year.

Motion to obtain General Liability Insurance and Directors and Officers Liability Insurance for the SBCBA not to exceed $1,100 was unanimously passed.

There was a discussion about the immediate need for writing bylaws, forming an official corporation or entity and appointing Board of Directors. The process to form and official entity requires further assessment and review that could cost between $1,000 to $2,000 to implement. Members voiced there concern that Board Members need to be appointed based upon an election process.

7:30 pm – The Secretary read the Meeting Minutes from December 14, 2010 and the Treasurer read the Treasure’s report for December 2010 (Revenue 12/10 = $802.52, Expenses $704.80 resulting in balance of $4,095.56 in the bank).

Motion to approve the December 14, 2010 Meeting Minutes and Treasurer Report was unanimously accepted and passed.

7:40 pm - Members were concerned that the annual membership fees were raised without a vote by the members. An increase is needed to cover the costs for insurance and to form an official organization or entity described above.

Motion to increase the cost of annual membership for Full Members ($50) and Associate Members ($25) to $60 and $30 respectively effective February 1, 2011 was unanimously passed.

The present expense reimbursement policy is that officers are reimbursed for travel expenses associated with official business pertaining to the SBCBA. Future Board of Directors will develop per diem and/or expense reimbursement policy.

There was discussion about no longer using the SBCBA mailbox and using a personal mailbox to save money. This would result in unacceptable personal liability to the individual and was therefore recommended that a personal mailbox not be used for official SBCBA business. The costs associated with the SBCBA mailbox is $90 per year.

There was discussion about changing the name of the SBCBA to Stellwagen Bank Fishing Alliance.

SBCBA officers and members spoke at and appeared at the hearing in December to voice there opposition to the proposed $125 annual fee to Charter Boats associated with the 2011 Saltwater Fishing License.

8:10 pm – Ralph Pratt provided a summary of the NOAA ESA Bluefin Tuna Meeting that took place at the Mariners house January 6th. The main points made at the meeting is that there are plenty of bluefin tuna and the CPUE stock assessment data only reflects what has been caught and does not reflect the true population of bluefin tuna. Aerial survey of bluefin tuna to assess the population present is recommended. NOAA also needs to consider appropriate limits on the food or prey that the bluefin tuna require to make sure that there is enough food to sustain a healthy population of bluefin tuna. Continued concern over herring trawlers significantly impacting a food source for bluefin tuna was also brought up by several captains at the NOAA meeting.

The deadline to submit comments to NOAA against the ESA bluefin tuna designation is January 18th. The SBCBA and many members have already submitted comments to NOAA. Recreational fisherman can also submit comments to NOAA via a form provided at www.savethebluefin.com

8:40 pm – The vessel Edna G., a former Eastern Rig Dragger was sunk in 1988 and is located in approximately 300 feet of water near the northwest corner of Stellwagen Bank. The vessel is presently proposed to be designated as a historic site. If designated as a historic site no fishing would be permitted within 1 square mile of the sunken vessel. The SBCBA has contacted a family member associated with the Captain of the former vessel recommending against the designation. The SBCBA is concerned that this will be a mechanism to forward an agenda similar to MPA’s, shutting down fishing in select areas.

8:55 pm – There was discussion of the potential for the proposed spear fishing of striped bass in Mass. Additional information will be provided at the next meeting.

New Members: Two new full members (Dan Burns and Paul Cronin) and 5 new associate members: Dave Waltrip 3 – 1st mates, Paul Cronin and Mary Breen

9:30 pm – Equipment Raffle and $ Raffle (donated raffle gifts by Steve James)

Equipment raffle resulted in $120 for the SBCBA
Money raffle resulted in $165 for the SBCBA (Mike McNamara won and donated the money back to SBCBA)

December 14th 2010; We thank Bob Kliss from North Atlantic Traders the tuna buyer most of us use. Bob had some great advise how to dress your tuna in order to get the best price. This was a very good presentation.

President : Steve James, Vice President : Greg Sears, Secretary: Mike Pierdinock, Treasurer: Dave DeLory

November 9th 2010 This meeting was scheduled to discuss the implications of Limited Access control dates and Catch shares for fishing in New England. SBCBA has Ocean Marine Insurance as a new Sponsor for our website Thanks to Tim Stanton and his donation of $150

Ocean marine Insurance Sponsors Stellwagen Charter Boats . Com

Captain Greg Sears and Captain Bryan Sears members of SBCBA talked about their trip to PEI Canada. Participating in the Open Season for Bluefin Tuna. With The Bruce Brothers from Bruce brothers Charters out of North Lake Harbor Prince Edward Island. Their video of feeding 1000 pound tuna by hand and catching a 912 pounder was great. if you want to see the video or get information about charter fishing with Bruce Brothers Charters click here http://www.massbayguides.com/BruceBrotherscharters.html

A big thanks to Captain John Bunar for his great lecture on kite fishing and throwing cast nets. John is one of the top Giant Tuna fisherman in Massachusetts and he let out some of his secret weapons. A great lecture and we all learned a lot.

January 2010
Stellwagen Bank Charter Boat Association to kick off January 2010 Sport fishing meeting in Marshfield, with NOAA speaker. All invited to attend. VENUE CHANGE

DATELINE: MARSHFIELD, MASS…Stellwagen Bank Charter Boat Association (SBCBA) invites you to their next monthly meeting being held on Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 7PM at the restaurant MING DYNASTY , 752 Plain St Marshfield, MA 02050, (Rte 139 across from Enterprise Drive with a visible red MING DYNASTY sign).
SBCBA is a group of 60+ area USCG licensed charter boat captains and mates that operate on Stellwagen Bank and the Western Gulf of Maine, “and is open to anyone interested in salt water sport fishing to attend meetings or join the association”, said founding president Tom Depersia.
January’s speaker is Special Agent Chris Shoppmeyer for NOAA who has been in federal law enforcement for over 28 years, first as a Wildlife Inspector and Refuge Law Enforcement Officer for the US Fish & Wildlife Service. For the past 22 years he has served as a NOAA Fisheries Service Special Agent stationed in New Castle, NH and Chris’s entire career has been dedicated to conservation law enforcement. He holds two degrees: from Unity College, Maine, a degree in Conservation Law Enforcement, and from Daniel Webster College in NH, a degree in Organizational Management. During his career as a fisheries agent, Chris served a 10 month assignment as a Staff Assistant to a NH congressman, focusing on environmental issues. Chris has received numerous awards including the Chevron Conservation Award in the Citizen Volunteer category. As National Vice President of Agency Affairs, for the Federal Law Enforcement Officer's Association, Chris serves as the liaison for 65 federal law enforcement agencies. Please join us to hear Agent Shoppmeyer’s tales as well as the proposed way any new regs will impact us in the coming months.
Agenda: Updates on Game Fish rules / regulations, migrations, legislation and industry news. The group meets monthly to understand and assist where possible in the continued and proper strategic management of Cape Cod and MA Bay’s recreational fishing grounds. There is no fee to attend meetings. Annual membership for licensed captains is $50 and for non licensed attendees $25.00. New prospective members are welcome. Group meets the second Tuesday of the Month @ 1900 hrs.

Bring a friend to learn more about sport fishing in our area, for more info contact Secretary Tom King at 781-545-6287 or via email capt.tom@comcast.com or visit: www.stellwagencharterboats.com for the latest in meeting updates and venues.

Guest Speaker Capt. Ralph Pratt (ABTA) discussed the ICCAT meeting that was just held for bluefin tuna. He explained that ICCAT had made stricter rules and cut quotas for the eastern Atlantic. He also discussed the importance of sending letters against adding Bluefin tuna to the CITES listing for endangered species. Explaining that ICCAT is a better organization to oversee bluefin tuna. A big thanks from SBCBA to Ralph and everyone involved with the American Bluefin Tuna Association. http://theabta.com/CurrentActions.html

A business meeting was held regarding treasurer and secretary report. The dredging operation in Green harbor was discussed.

We had a great Meet and Greet with a bunch of new members. It will be customary from now on for our board members and new members attending to introduce themselves.

John Chisolm from the Mass division of marine fisheries gave a great talk regarding sharks in Massachusetts. John talked about how Sand Tiger Sharks have infiltrated some of our bays and estuaries in south eastern MA. He also talked about tagging great white sharks off of Monomoy. He explained the importance of our cooperation in donating to science the Largest "Male" Mako shark ever recorded in the world caught on Stellwagen Bank this year by Capt. Tom King and Capt. Taylor Sears members of SBCBA.

First meeting of the winter season attended by most of the founding members and board of governors to discuss meeting agenda for the winter season. We have some great recommendations for guest speakers. A logo is needed for SBCBA and any interested artist are needed to design a New Logo for the "Stellwagen Bank Charterboat Association'. A reminder to pay your dues this money is needed to support our interests in Recreational and Charter Fishing.

A discussion was held about the proposed tuna regulations. There are many issues regarding BFT and ICCAT please read and educate yourself and send letters to government officials expressing your thoughts and ideas.

Thanks to the Peck Family for their interesting discussion on Propeller Maintenance. They do all sorts of Balancing and repairs to all types and sizes of props and Shafts. All with Computerized machines. The Company is New England Propeller Inc. Toll free number is 1-800-635-9504 They are located in the Plymouth Industrial Park 9 Apollo Eleven Rd.

Stellwagen Bank Charter Boat Assoc kicks off January 2009 Sport fishing meeting in Marshfield and all invited to attend.

DATELINE: MARSHFIELD, MASS…Stellwagen Bank Charter Boat Association (SBCBA) invites you to their next monthly meeting being held on Tuesday, January 13, 2009 at 7PM at Hanabi restaurant in Marshfield. SBCBA is a group of 60+ area USCG licensed charter boat captains and mates that operate on Stellwagen Bank and the Western Gulf of Maine. “Meetings are open to anyone interested in salt water sport fishing and conservation and you can also join the association” said founding president Tom Depersia.

Agenda: Updates on Game Fish rules / regulations, migrations, legislation and industry news are all discussed. The group meets monthly to understand and assist where possible in the continued and proper strategic management of Cape Cod and MA Bay’s recreational fishing grounds. There is no fee to attend meetings. Annual membership for licensed captains is $50 and for non licensed attendees $25.00. New prospective members are always welcome. Group meets the second Tuesday of the Month at The Hanabi Restaurant Rt 139 Marshfield MA. 02050 at 1900 hrs. ~ SBCBA Accomplishments From Dues

Bring a friend to learn more about the “Captain’s Edge” in 2009 sport fishing tips, techniques and tactics in our area. For more info contact Secretary Tom King at 781-545-6287, email capt.tom@comcast.com or visit the groups website www.stellwagencharterboats.com for the latest updates and happenings.

Thanks to Ralph Pratt for his informative discussion on the tuna quotas discussed at the ICAT meeting. Concerns on how we could lose are quota of tuna to Canada if we do not catch our quota of tuna before 2010. A possibility of lowering the fork length limit to 65" would help increase the catch and bring us closer to our quota for the next two years. It seemed that most people where in favor of lowering the length limit. Thanks to Steve James for putting on a great raffle.

If you are interested in running for office please send me an e- mail or telephone me 781-545-6287

We usually vote at our December meeting.which is on TUESDAY December 9th, at the HaNaBi restaurant on rte 139 Marshfield

At this December meeting we are planning to have an informal Christmas party with some hors d'oeuvres.

Thanks to our guest speaker Brad McHale at the last meeting gave a great presentation on bluefin tuna trends. He discussed how the NMFS estimates the quotas for Bluefin tuna. This was a very interesting discusion.

Hey guys,
Below are two links to the presentation I gave. It was a little too big just to email. The first link gets you to the page it is listed on, you'll need to scroll down to Thur, April 17. The second link goes directly to the presentation. Feel free to share these with the other members. Appreciate you all having me. Brad.

Thanks to Chris Weiner from Choir Coalition for an outstanding presentation of the damages caused by large scale trawling to the Bait fish and hearing stocks in the western Atlantic. This is probably the number one reason for the decline of the giant tuna population and other species of marine life in our oceans today. Countries like Canada who have put in place laws regarding inshore fishing in large scale have had no decline in tuna stocks. While our country still allows and sometimes promotes large scale fishing is losing or has already lost its population of fish. Please support Chris and our crusade to stop non-discriminatory fishing practices.

The Division of Marine Fisheries (Marine Fisheries) will hold three public meetings the week of April 1st to gather comment on a public information document detailing proposed use of ground fish assistance funds. The 2008 Congressional Appropriations Conference Report set aside $13,395,000 to the Division of Marine Fisheries to alleviate economic impacts associated with Framework 42 regulations on the Massachusetts ground fish fishery.

The Division of Marine Fisheries (Marine Fisheries) is working with a state Drafting Group and an Industry Subcommittee to develop a final grant proposal for these funds. Preliminary recommendations for funding will be presented during the public meetings. A final grant proposal will be submitted to NOAA Fisheries by April 15^th.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008 (5:30PM)Whaler Banquet and Conference Center 500 Hathaway Road, New Bedford

Wednesday, April 2, 2008 (5:30PM)Radisson Hotel – Plymouth Harbor180Water St., Plymouth

Thursday, April 3, 2008 (5:30PM)Annisquam River Marine Fisheries Station 30 Emerson Ave., Gloucester

Discussion on the Twic card transportation workers card you must have before September of this year more information available at the website. US department of Homeland Security

Tom Depersia discussed the results of numerous fishing regulations proposed by NEMFS and other agency's. Tom is attending many meetings regarding the 2008 season and will be speaking about the results and our responses to the proposed issues. Congress OK's $13.4M in emergency fishing industry aid I would strongly encourage Massachusetts' party and charter operators, whose businesses have been negatively (and, frankly unfairly ) impacted by government restrictions on ground fish, to demand at least one-half ($6.52M) of the aid, given that we were excluded from all previous programs. (View this Article)

Dinner and beverages served during the meeting. Topics include new fishing regulations for Ground fish and Tuna. Bring your friends who are interested in the charter fishing industry Captains and Mates should attend, Raffle Held Every Meeting .

Thanks to Ralph Pratt for his informative Talk and awesome Tuna video of what it is like to harpoon Giant tuna. His concerns for the discards of Breading Giant Tuna that federally protected in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico are a real concern for the future of these big breading stock fish. We should rally behind Ralph if we want to preserve our fish stocks in New England. Non discriminatory fishing methods such as Long lines and Nets could be causing some real damage to the Eastern Atlantic Blue fin Tuna Stocks. We will be adding more information Regarding this topic soon.

~ SBCBA is Growing to Protect the Rights of Recreational and For Hire Fisherman! ~