Thread: YOUR action needed on proposed gill net legislation

This is from the Chairman of CCA Alabama:

To all:

Bill SB 462 is being referred to the Senate Agriculture. Conservation, and Natural Resources Committee that will allow commercial gill net permit holders to transfer their license. This bill will effectively reverse the bill CCA Alabama passed several years ago that stated no new commercial gill net licenses were to be issued nor could that license be transferred to anyone.

This bill has been introduced by Senator Bill Hightower from Mobile. If you believe in conserving our Speckled Trout and Redfish stocks, please contact Bill to let him know you are against this bill. His email is bill.hightower@alsenate.gov and his phone is 334-242-7882. His assistant is taking a count of those for and against this bill. It is imperative that we get as many people as possible to call to let them know we are opposed to this legislation.

Thanks for your support.

Palmer Whiting
State Chairman
CCA Alabama

Let's make that guy's phone ring off the hook until he is sick of it! This will be a huge step backwards if passed.
And let these other state legislators know it too, even if you aren't an Alabama resident!

Bill Hightower: bill.hightower@alsenate.gov, 334-242-7882
Chairman: Tom Whatley, tom.whatley@alsenate.gov , 334-242-7865 , Auburn, AL
Vice Chair: Rusty Glover, 251-402-3721 , Mobile, AL
Billy Beasley, 334-242-7868, Clayton, AL
Paul Bussman, 334-242-7855, Cullman , AL
Mark Keahey, SenatorKeahey@gmail.com, 334-242-7843, Grove Hill, AL
Shadrack McGill, shadrack.mcgill@alsenate.gov, 334-242-7858, Scottsboro, AL Paul Sanford, paul.sanford@alsenate.gov, 334-242-7867, Huntsville, AL
Clay Scofield, clay.scofield@alsenate.gov, 334-242-7876 Blount, Madison, Marshall
Bobby Singleton, bsingle164@yahoo.com, 334-242-7935, Greensboro, AL
Phil Williams, philw.williams@alsenate.gov Cherokee, Etowah

Letter sent. Thanks #r for letting us know.

Got a letter from Bill Hightower today that explains the bill merely allows for temporary transfer of the license to another should the license holder become disabled and no longer able to provide for his family. He did state the the response has been overwelmingly negative and he was suprised at the opposition. Also that the conservation enforcement people told him it would not have a negative impact on the fisheries. Go figure...they both work for the government!

Yeah, aparently Hightower sent a 'canned' response to the emails he got.

Thank you for your email to me regarding this bill. I have little familiarity with
this industry and have submitted this legislation in order to allow the public to see
and comment on its merit, before any action is taken. As I have only just completed
my 7th day in the legislature, I did not realize it was such a controversial topic
when I did so. So far, I have been overwhelmed by negative emails and opinions
regarding its practice. I actually welcome that, and believe the process was designed
for this very thing.

While I am not a champion of this type of fishing, I do represent a district - and
people - where this type of fishing is currently allowed under current law. I did not
submit a new law, but a modification to current law at the request of my constituents,
enabling people who make a living in this manner, to still do so when disabled by
having a substitute operator use the license temporarily. So, besides enabling the
process of public comment to occur by submitting these changes for consideration, I
actually saw this as an altruistic effort for families who might be adversely affected
by a disability.

The few things I had been told in advance were that no new licenses are being issued,
which contains the growth of this practice, and that people in charge of monitoring
our fisheries are not opposed to this change in current law. I knew little more than
this about this practice and believed that by giving these changes to current law a
public vetting, the truth would come out and the correct decision would be made.

This bill, in its current form, has many more challenges to overcome in the
approximately 10 remaining days of this year's session. It must come out of committee
and then be accepted through the House and Senate; not a quick process to conclude.
Additionally, the opposing party continues to filibuster any progress in the Senate,
so progress of any kind is quite slow.

Thank you, again, for your thoughts, and I encourage your future input on matters of
importance to you. I value your friendship and support. If you would like to speak
with me personally, I invite your call as I want to be responsive to those issues
important to you.

Best Regards,

Bill Hightower
Alabama Senate
District 35
(334) 242-7848

It was a form response, everyone got the same response.
Keep hammering them (CALL) and let them know you got a canned response and don't appreciate it and that you are serious in your opposition.

I received this reply from Mr. Hightower today:

Dear Richard,

I have received a significant amount of comments over the past few days regarding this legislation. Thank you for your thoughts on this.

Today I told the Agricultural Committee to remove this bill from its agenda for tomorrow. This Committee review would have been the next step to move the bill forward. I had the bill removed from the committee agenda because I do not feel the bill is ready in its present form. Even if it was submitted, it would not have had enough time to get through the legislative process for final passage, before the end of the session this year. A bill will "die" if it is not passed by the end of this session.

I wanted you to be aware of this development as you offered your thoughts on it in your recent email to me. I will continue work on this, as I believe there should be a reasonable, temporary way for the disabled license-holders to earn a living, if they unfortunately encounter a physical impairment. All the elements of the current law's changes need a more thorough vetting. I will assure you of my best efforts to do so.

If you have any questions please let me know.

Regards,

Bill Hightower
Senator, District 35

P.S. – If you don’t mind, I would be grateful for your forwarding this message on. I don't want people to make the trip to Montgomery tomorrow for a hearing that isn't going to take place.