Once upon a time in Texas we had a GOOD Coastal Conservation Association - as I remember correctly WE did some good things in the early eighties in Texas Coastal Bays.

Fast forward to 2011 - what does CCA now do? Run a yearly tourney and not too well at that

We have some SERIOUS fishery changing issues along the Gulf Coast and especially offshore Texas - that threatens fish stocks

WHERE ARE YOU GULF PRESERVATIONISTS?

The Dot Orgs are takin our donations and misappropriating funds !!!! !!!!

I am not going to say anything to get me in trouble. They sold me a redfish hat. What they do with the extra funds I do not know.

Well they got really big, went nationwide, then forgot about their base constituents...Fishermen.

I won a CCA hat in a raffle. I don't wear it in public.

CCA still does a lot of good. Unfortunately, they have bought into NOAA policies that don't reflect their base supporters. I have never found a group I fully support everything they do.

If you are seriously interested in what the CCA is doing, you can visit their website, joincca.org or here in Texas, ccatexas.org
Or better yet, get involved.

-Steve

This is a list of accomplishments I got off the CCA Texas website.

Did You Know?
�CCA Texas is one of the largest marine conservation organizations in the United States with 55 local chapters and tens of thousands of members, volunteers and supporters.
�CCA Texas contributed $100,000 to a Habitat program called Habitat Today for Fish Tomorrow (HTFT) designed to enhance and create coastal habitat.
�CCA Texas contributed $30,204 for flounder spawning equipment to Sea Center Texas Hatchery.
�CCA Texas contributed $25,000 to an artificial offshore reef project thru CCA�s Habitat Today for Fish Tomorrow (HTFT) program.
�CCA Texas has awarded more than $4,000,000 in college scholarships through its STAR tournament and graduate scholarship programs.
�UTSMI and CCA Texas celebrate the grand opening of the newly built 3,000 square-foot CCA Texas Laboratory for Marine Larviculture. The facility will enhance what is already one of the most advanced marine research facilities in the world.
�CCA Texas funded a $700,000 marine science laboratory building in Port Aransas called the CCA Texas Laboratory for Marine Larviculture. This building will provide a facility to study recreational fish species for hatchery restocking purposes.
�A project that has removed tons of debris and trash from Texas bays and beaches officially turned to gold when Coastal Conservation Association Texas� Bay Debris Cleanup program received the 2007 Sustainable Fisheries Leadership Award bestowed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).
�CCA Texas provided over &75,000 in funding for TPWD awareness and equipment in 2006.
�CCA Texas made a $200,000 commitment to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department bay an bait shrimp license buyback program resulting in healthier and more productive ecosystems.
�CCA Texas has contributed $700,000 to TPWD in the last five years for night vision and other much-needed enforcement and research needs.
�CCA Texas has five, fully endowed graduate-level marine science scholarships - Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi, College Station and Galveston and the University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas.
�The CCA/AEP Hatchery in Flour Bluff and Sea Center Texas in Lake Jackson continue to produce tens of millions of juvenile redfish, speckled trout and flounder for stocking Texas� bays and provide state-of-the-art research into important recreational species.
�CCA Texas contributes $60,000 for the Bahia Grande Dredging Project in 2005.
�CCA Texas sponsored over $17,300 in supporting Texas A&M Flounders study.
�CCA Texas exceeds $500,000 in funding for TPWD enforcement equipment and research.
�CCA Texas Big Bay Debris Cleanup Project I and II surpassed 1,150 tons of harmful debris removed from Aransas Pass to Baffin Bay, marking the largest and most successful initiative of its kind.
�CCA Texas has contributed $95,000 to the Bahia Grande marsh restoration project near Brownsville. This project restored over 10,000 acres of wetlands and is the largest project of its kind in the country.
�CCA Texas has spearheaded the coast-wide abandoned crab trap clean-ups in funding and volunteer manpower with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, resulting in the removal of over 20,000 derelict crab traps from Texas bays and estuaries in the last five years. CCA Texas has secured $60,000 in funding for the initiative.
�CCA Texas funds $20,000 for the Galbestion Marsh Restoration project.
�CCA Texas contributed $44,000 to the Galveston Bay Foundation to restore and protect 300 acres of marsh land in West Galveston Bay.
�CCA Texas contributed $40,000 to the University of Texas for a journalism scholarship in memory of Bob Brister, a Houston area journalist instrumental in the early success of the organization.
�CCA Texas funded $37,000 recreational fishing mortality study for red snapper.
�CCA Texas funded $32,000 to TPWD game wardens for the construction of a floating cabin to be placed in the land cut to help enforce this remote area.
�CCA Texas funded $32,000 for a Port Mansfield (East Cut) study to help determine the effects and benefits of this pass.
�CCA Texas funded $30,500 for a snook study at the CCA Texas Laboratory for Marine Larviculture in Port Aransas, to help explore the possibility of spawning snook for hatchery restocking purposes.
�CCA Texas funded $30,000 for a phase I and II of the spotted sea trout catch-and-release mortality study by Dr. Greg Stunz, Associate Professor at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
�CCA Texas contributed $25,000 to TPWD�s Goose Island State Park project to help restore 20 acres of eroded marsh land.
�CCA Texas funded $20,000 to the CCA/AEP Marine Development Center for Equipment to enhance fingerling production.
�CCA Texas funded $19,000 for lab equipment for the University of Texas Marine Science Institute-Port Aransas to further hatchery research into ling and other finfish production.
�CCA Texas provided $10,000 in funding for a crititcally important study on the viability of opening Cedar Bayou in Mesquite Bay.
�CCA Texas provided $5,000 in funding for the publication of research results of an international symposium on tarpon stock status and management.
�CCA Texas retains a water attorney in dealing with vital freshwater inflow issues.
�CCA Texas has funded two intern programs for the TPWD Corpus Christi field station for the past five years and recently initiated similar positions at the Dickinson and Rockport Labs to further TPWD�s local training efforts.
�CCA Texas continues to lead the charge to ensure sufficient freshwater inflows into Texas bays and estuaries on a legislative and legal level.
�In the May 2005 issue of Field & Stream, writer John Merwin selects 50 legends of fishing, choosing among writers, showmen, teachers, conservationists, innovators and tycoons. Under the section dedicated to The Conservationists, CCA National Chairman Walter Fondren heads the list for his part in the creation of the Gulf Coast Conservation Association in 1976 and in guiding its evolution into the national Coastal Conservation Association.
�CCA Texas produces an award-winning state newsletter, Currents, and also aides in the production of the nationally acclaimed magazine, TIDE.
�CCA Texas has two lobbyists to address conservation issues in Austin that impact the entire Texas coast.
�CCA Texas retains a fisheries consultant and federal lobbyist to enhance conservation efforts in Gulf fisheries issues and has representation at every Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council meeting, dealing with the management of red snapper, king mackerel and other important Gulf species.
�CCA Texas Big Bay Debris Cleanup I and II surpass 1,150 tons of debris removed bay systems from Aransas Pass to Baffin Bay in 2004.
�Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi scholarship funded, marking the fourth fully endowed CCA Texas graduate-level scholarship. The other three scholarships are awarded at Texas A&M University at Galveston, TAMU-College Station and the University of Texas Marine Science Institue in Port Aransas.
�CCA Texas State of Texas Anglers Rodeo exceeds $2 milion mark in college scholarships awarded in 2003.
�First-ever abandoned crab trap pick up removes more than 8,000 derelict traps from Texas bays, setting the stage for additional successful events in following years.
�CCA Texas successfully lobbied for the passage of SB 1410, which allows TPWD to establish a closed season for the use of crab traps in Texas public waters.
�Bycatch reduction devices become mandatory on shrimp trawls in Texas bays.
�CCA Texas successfully lobied for passage of SB 1303, granting authority to Texas Parks Wildlife Department to establish a limited-entry license management program.
�First comprehensive state water plan passes Texas Legislature.
�Use of bycatch reduction devices mandated in Gulf shrimp trawls.
�Sea Center Texas hatchery in Lake Jackson completed in 1996.
�Leading the charge to ensure sufficient freshwater inflows into Texas bays and esturaries.
�CCA Texas successfully lobbied for passage of SB 1303 banning the sale of naturally raised, wild redfish was singed into law. Law eliminates market for redfish, except those that are farm-raised.
�Commercial harvest of adult redfish halted in the Gulf of Mexico.
�Construction of the CCA/AEP Marine Development Center - Flour Bluff completed.
�CCA Texas in 1981 obtained gamefish status for redfish and speckled trout.
�Single-strand monofilament net outlawed in Texas waters.
�CCA Texas was founded in 1977 as GCCA, creating the now famous �Save the Redfish� campaign.


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Shellbank,
That's nice that you copied that info directly from the CCA website. If you look closely you'll see that everything they've done has been inshore, except for the $37,000 "fishing mortality study of the Red Snapper". Wow, $37K. That's it.

Where's the CCA when it comes to offshore angling and angler's interest? Grouper, Amberjack, Wahoo, Snapper, etc?

The CCA has done well with inshore fisheries and that's all well and good but that's not the only fishery on the gulf.

Offshore recreational fishing is under attack and the CCA is nowhere to be found. In the past few years we've seen our snapper seasoned shortened to the point of being nearly non-existent.

This year new regs were put in place that separated the snapper and amberjack seasons completely. Grouper is has been drastically cut and it's seasons moved so that it doesn't overlap with snapper or aj. All based on junk science from NOAA. Rec. fishing shares are being cut every year with larger chunks of the share given to the commercial fleets.

Where is the CCA in all of this? Have they funded any studies that might confirm or deny NOAA's studies? Have they fought for rec. fishing rights or stood up for the rec. fishermen in the GOM?

I'm not saying that CCA hasn't accomplished a lot with inshore fishing but the current battle is offshore. Show me where the CCA is doing something about it and I'll reconsider my position. Until then my money goes to the RFA.

Good Point!

The information was from the CCA Texas website, not CCA national.

-Steve