Coastal Conservation Association

[erpowers]

What can people tell me about the Coastal Conservation Association? I saw window decal with join cca on them and knew that they put on a fishing tournament every year. I went to the Texas website and saw a picture of President Bush. One part of the website said they wanted to try to keep water in a state that people fish in it. On of the cartoons on the site said "fight for your right to fish." I want to know if this group is a real conservation group or if they are a front group that wants to stop things like overfishing that might make the coast better?

[drthais]

1. the CCA

IS a conservation group
in past years (when the CCA was relatively new)
and you went fishing, leaving your truck and trailer at a boat ramp
your tires may very well get slashed
if you sported a CCA sticker

although thye have become more political in recent years
its a good coalition of people

[alarimer]

2. They are basically a fishing group

They do some good things. They sponsor beach cleanups and TPWD's Abandoned Crab Trap Removal Program. They put money into coastal hatchery (the jury is out on whether stock enhancement actually work however). They are very much pro-recreational fishing and anti-commercial fishing though. The second poster alluded to slashed tires; that probably occurred several years ago when the CCA (then called the GCCA) was working to ban nets here in Texas and other places. Also they were instrumental in getting spotted seatrout and red drum listed as game fish (which means they can't be commercially harvested- it has helped those species recover from overfishing). They are not a bad organization. They just have certain viewpoint (recreational fishing=good, commercial fishing=bad). They also have some very deep pockets. When it comes to fisheries, I believe that all interest groups (commercial, recreational, environmental, etc) have a place at the table. I work in the field and it is always a tradeoff among these interests. They don't always understand that.