The short of it is that the NW salmon and steelhead runs are on the brink and the Coastal Conservation Association is a national organization that has the ability to do politically what we as sportfishers have been failing to do for decades, and that is make the national lawmakers consistently choose long term conservation over short term economic gain.

For a little more detail, read on...

What is the CCA?

CCA stands for the Coastal Concervation Association. It's a national marine fisheries advocacy group--the largest of its kind. From an organizational standpoint, it is a central administrative office based in Texas with local chapters in most coastal states. Their mission is is best summarized by words cut-n-pasted from their webpage (http://www.joincca.org/index.html)

"Through broad-based recreational angler support, a strong legal and legislative presence, more than 30 years of experience and an unwavering vision for the future of U.S. and global marine resources, CCA will continue to battle for the health and longevity of our coastal fisheries and for recreational anglers’ interests in them."


Why should I care?

If you are a fisherman of Salmon and Steelhead or even just fond of our NW iconic fish, you're probably aware that the health of our fish runs is challenged to the point where many runs and strains area already extinct and several others are on the brink. In fact, healthy runs are the exception--not the rule. Several local and regional advocacy and conservation groups have made huge strides and donated enormous man-hours of effort to habitat restoration and hatchery improvement. We've also spent collectively as taxpayers and hydroelectric consumers billions of dollars in updates and techno-fixes for our hydro system in an attempt to minimize their impact. But I think recent history has shown that we can't quite fix the problem locally or without a political entity. The other piece of the puzzle is Harvest and locally, our hands are tied to do anything about it (at least the most significant form of harvest which takes place commercially out at sea). For the harvest issue, and any other that requires some unity on the part of the sportfisher, what is needed is a strong central organization with a national presence, legal and financial backing, and a proven track record. In comes the CCA, and Gary Loomis of G. Loomis rods is pushing for the CCA. He has fought the battle on the ground through long hours of habitat and hatchery work only to see the returns dwindle and his assertion is that the fish are getting decimated by the commercial harvest. In essence, no matter how nicely you take care of the chicken coop and how many eggs you lay, it won't make any difference if the fox is slaughtering them all out in the yard. Anyway, Loomis is making real traction, and there are CCA chapters sprouting up all over the NW. For the first time I've ever seen, the doom and gloom is gradually giving way to hope and excitement. I've benefited from a lifetime of salmon/steelhead fishing; the reward in being on the stream in pursuit of an anadromous fish is immeasureable, and I hope to give that gift to my kids, but of course we need the fish to make it happen.

For even more info, there's a great discussion going on at ifish.net: www.ifish.net/board/sh...ost1791869