Posted by Dave Hurley
on 3/19/2009, 8:42 pm
76.20.97.22
Change of Course
Mike Aughney
There are some big changes and a whole new concept coming to USAFishing. Before I lay out our plans I want to thank all of our sponsors and readers for making us one of the most popular web destinations to gather Northern California fishing information. We started in 1995 with some humble beginnings and new ideas and have grown into one of the most popular Nor Cal fishing sites by producing honest, up to date fishing reports and news. We are looking to continue the trend of being an innovative website in the California sportfishing community. To accomplish this we must change course and we are asking all of our readers for their support.
For the past 14 years we have done our best to provide our readers with accurate fishing reports at no charge. As you are too well aware our fisheries and related businesses are all suffering. We have witnessed the demise of our salmon fishery and are seeing rapid declines in nearly every fishery across the state.
The largest factor of this decline has been a huge increase in water diversion out of the Delta. We have seen our salmon fisheries destroyed and anti-fishing / pro-water diversion groups out lobby us on every front. We are fighting some very well funded and organized groups who's biggest priorities are to get us off the water, close down large areas of the coast to fishing or lobby the state and federal government in sending all our water "wealth" south.
We literally have State and the Feds agencies pumping the life blood out of our salmon, striper and sturgeon fisheries, an inept Fish and Game department that has stopped or been forced to cut back funding for hatcheries, environmentalists funding the efforts to close down large sections of our coast and stop the planting of trout under the guise that they are "non natives" and the list goes on and on and on.
Over the years we have asked our readers to sign petitions, attend F&G and PFMC meetings and support many great conservation groups, and we have won a few battles. One recent example that stands out is the "Water4Fish" petition drive last year when over 30,000 of our readers climbed on the W4F bandwagon. This made a huge difference and water managers and politicians took notice. It was a battle won but we are losing the "war".
It's time for us to change our business model from free fishing reports to free fishing reports with a strong SUPPORT conservation message.
We need you, the individual angler to sign on with us in this undertaking. There are many deserving fishery groups that are in need of support. The one that stands out and has been on the forefront of fishery water right issues is the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance or CSPA.
For the past two plus decades this dedicated group has fought countless court cases that have resulted in some of the most important decisions regarding water diversion & fishery issues. CSPA recently filed a landmark case against the State Water Board for their failure to protect the Bay-Delta estuary fisheries from excessive water export that annually destroys millions of fish including salmon, striped bass, steelhead and other important fisheries. If they can win this case it would turn the ebb tide that our fisheries have experienced for decades. The fight for water is only going to escalate and without CSPA we will continue to lose our fisheries.
We are asking all our regular readers to support CSPA so they can continue their work fighting for OUR FISHERIES. If we are successful with this effort it will be expanded so we can support other worthy groups but we need success with this first effort to prove "the model".
Bottom Line
From our regular readers all we are asking for is an annual tax deductible donation to CSPA in return for our regular fishing reports. USAFishing readers will continue to receive fishing reports here for free and a tax write-off to boat. (pun intended). Just click on their website and fill out their easy on-line donation form and your'e doing your part to help protect our fisheries. It's only $30 for an individual CSPA membership and they spend every dollar of it protecting our fisheries.
Goal
If we can get our regular readers to support this effort we could raise over $500,000 annually for CSPA to fight back for us, for fish, for a future.
The last thing the water lobby wants to hear is that sport anglers are organizing under and supporting CSPA. For years the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance has been known as the tenacious under-funded underdog, but with a big boost in support would become a junk yard Doberman with lawyers and 50,000 USAFishing readers for backup. That would send quite a message to those intent on destroying our fisheries.
Click HERE to donate and learn more about why the CSPA deserves your support
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