CLTFA Meeting Minutes
September 5th, 2024 4PM - Zoom/In-Person Hybrid Meeting
Attendees: Chris Dabney, Matt Diamond, Jaime Diamond, Jason Diamond, Ray Kennedy, Chris Voss, Travis Vaughan, Travis Weber, Chris Smith, Devin Grace, John Hoadley, Miles Wallace, Rodger Healy, Zach Greenfield, Vitaly Sviridov, Tony Luna, Brian Aresco, Cameron Cribben, Josh Hernandez, Bryan Kiyohara, Tom Pearson, Craig Jacobs, Ryan McGaffin
Notes: Ava Schulenberg
Agenda:
Introduction
MPA Proposals
SB 9/3 MPA Collaborative Meeting Recap
Website Feedback
Social Media
Merchandise
Board Elections/Port Representatives
Domoic Acid
Grants
CDFW OSPR Opportunity, due 9/11
VIMS Grant Application, submitted May 2024
Open Discussion
Ray Starts the meeting at 4:03 PM on Thursday, September 5th.
*All meetings/minutes are taken using Robert’s Rules of Order (written in past tense)*
Agenda:
Introduction
Ray welcomed everyone and introduced himself as the Interim President of CLTFA
Ray introduced Ava to the group as well, CLTFA Secretary
Ray pointed out that we are facing a lot of things right now and have a lot of things coming down the pike but emphasized that there’s strength in numbers and we have to continue to band together
Ray thanked the guys who came up to Santa Barbara this week for an impromptu meeting (Cameron, Rodger, Travis W., Brian K.)
These guys offered to help with recruitment efforts in their respective ports (would be great if all members did that); Ava sent them the electronic application form (also available on the website) for them to print and distribute in their harbors
Ray said there are only a few guys from Santa Barbara who have not yet joined - Miles asked who they are but Ray did not disclose their names
MPA Proposals
SB 9/3 MPA Collaborative Meeting Recap
See Ava’s minutes here
There were over 100 people there and the majority of them were angry fishermen; Both sport and commercial fishermen united in opposition
Ray explained that we had a long and arduous meeting Wednesday that poorly presented certain MPA addition/expansion petitions that provided no scientific data and were very vague for justifications that are not well-thought-out
Ray confirmed that we will oppose every petition that threatens our industry during the public comment opportunity at the November 6th CA Fish & Game Commission/Marine Resources Committee Meeting that is designated as “MPA Day”
Tony asked Ava if there is a list of the Petitions and synopses that he could read through so we can give factual reasons why a petition does not make sense in front of the Commission
John H. directed Tony to allwaters.org where you can find a process document along with other educational resources
Miles said we need to be on their communication lists because they are likely the reason that so many people were there at the meeting; Ava signed up for emails and will coordinate with them when appropriate moving forward
Ava also said that you can reference the Draft Proposed Binning document from CDFW that outlines each petition in a table with a short description (pages 3, and 7-9)
John H. emphasized that the petitioners that are against us showed their hand in that meeting and clearly had nothing to support their egregious petitions; He said it’s important to see turnouts like that consistently going forward; This is a big opportunity for us to unite across ports and fight as one
Tony and John H. emphasized that we should be bombarding this whole process with individual and collective comments (when the opportunity for public comment begins) and Rodger agreed and pointed out the importance of killing them with facts; Kill this whole thing by presenting the facts
Rodger said Sonke taught us not to bite the hand that feeds us, meaning don’t attack the Commission, don’t attack CDFW, don’t attack the NGOs (even if they’re putting forth something against us), put a smile on your face, shake their hands, articulate yourself well, and get to common ground, don’t blow it and risk losing good standing for all fishermen
Rodger gave context about CDFW’s standpoint on the issue - He said they are wary of opening Pandora’s Box because the amount of infrastructure required to make these types of massive changes happen is more than they have right now; Rodger emphasized it’s a complete numbers game - He recommended writing as many letters as possible
Website Feedback
Website/Social Media
Most people have given me negative feedback on the idea of starting an Instagram/Facebook page specifically for CLTFA
Don’t want people to have the opportunity to bash us
Tony said there will always be haters, so maybe remove the ability to write comments
Ray emphasized that this organization and these meetings are not for the public; These meetings are not a public forum, so if we were to move forward with social media, we need to be very careful
It is a great opportunity for educating the public, connecting with other organizations that we work with, and for potential fundraising initiatives
Tony said we need to clarify what our goal is to determine what the decision should be
A consensus was not made on whether or not the marketplace should be public or private - Ava will send a follow up email about this or at the next meeting the new board can decide
Merchandise
Ray said that shirts/hats are for members only, but Ava said that’s a lost fundraising opportunity
Zach suggested we have a separate shirt design for non-members that can be sold to the public for fundraising while maintaining our members-only exclusive long-sleeve shirts that we already have
Rodger said he sees no problem with shirts/hats being sold to the public because it’s good advertising for the organization, but he is wary of allowing people to join that aren’t lobster fishermen because they could potentially stack the deck against us so it would get a little risky allowing others in, even in a tiered system; Ray and Miles agreed with that
Board Elections/Port Representatives
Ray clarified that he was not an elected President and would happily hand over the position to someone else now or in the future
John Hoadley expressed interest in potentially having this role down the line, with training from Ray
Ray said we have almost 70 members at this point, not all of them were at the meeting, but Ray let everyone know that we needed to elect a President, Vice President, Treasurer, and at least four other board members to form a quorum - Once we have an established board, we are able to make decisions
Ray emphasized that this is not a “Santa Barbara only” operation and we want to see representation across all Southern CA ports within the board because everyone has regional issues that we may not know about
Tom nominated Rodger for VP, Rodger responded with wanting to remain an “advisor” so to speak versus having any official kind of position
Rodger emphasized the importance of having fresher perspectives on the board and that having a board that’s comprised of diverse, newer fishermen in addition to some vets will appeal to the Fish & Game Commission so they’re not seeing the same faces over and over
Tony and Miles emphasized that they’ve never heard anything negative about him, if that’s the case it must have been just in the other ports south of SB
Cameron nominated himself for a board position because we are in an uphill battle
Ray seconded this motion
Travis V. nominated Cameron to be Vice President
Cameron said he has only been fishing for 12 years and has not had a position like this before but he wants to help
Craig seconds the motion
Miles said the fact that Cameron has fished for 12 years already at his age makes him a vet
Cameron said meeting with Sonke was really eye opening
Cameron accepts the nomination and is voted VP
Miles said he is good with someone nominating him because he wants to be of help; He said he has Starlink on the boat so he can make meetings whether he is physically there or not so he can consistently be pulling for the cause
Travis V. nominated himself and is willing to help however he can
Ray nominated himself to remain president
Tony said Ray’s doing great and we’ll impeach him if we need to
Miles nominated Ray, Chris S. seconded the motion, unanimous approval, Ray remains President
Zach nominated himself to the board; He is in Dana Point with proximity to Rodger and said he and him are frequently bouncing ideas off each other
Ray nominated Zach to be treasurer
Zach accepts the nomination and is voted Treasurer
Devin nominated himself as a Ventura-based board member given his experience with the pop-up gear, he will have important things to add to the group
John H. said he will do whichever role we need him to do and that he is happy to be nominated
Tony and Ray emphasized again that they don’t want the board to be too SB-centric
Brian A. volunteered to be a port representative or whatever we need
Craig nominated Chris Smith out of Newport
Chris introduced himself and said he’s happy to help how he can and accepts the nomination for the board seat
The new board consists of the following: President - Ray Kennedy, Vice President - Cameron Cribben, Treasurer - Zach Greenfield, Board Member - Miles Wallace (Alternate for Miles - John Hoadley), Board Member - Devin Grace, Board Member - Chris Smith, Board Member - Travis Vaughan
Ava let the new board members know that she will be in contact with them to get a photo and paragraph about themselves so she can make it official and post it on the website
Domoic Acid
Ray emphasized that no one should provide samples because it puts the industry at risk for closures
This happened last season in 2023 when a lobster fisherman provided samples voluntarily that tested positive for Domoic Acid at a level that triggered a closure down south
Ray said you have to look way back to Nova Scotia to find the only case of a human getting sick from Domoic Acid due to eating a bivalve; It’s never been documented for lobster
Rodger emphasized that Domoic Acid is an example of how our problems aren’t regional anymore; All the more reason for us to work together and fight what’s coming against us because it’s now collective
Grants
CDFW OSPR Opportunity, due 9/11
Might not submit due to the high minimum budget threshold, but if we do, Ava will submit a very similar application to the VIMS application
VIMS Grant Application, submitted May 2024
Ava submitted this application back in May and said we are supposed to find out if we received any funding in October, so fingers crossed we get something substantial to work with
Ava thanked those who helped volunteer themselves as points-of-contact in the application for their respective ports (Cameron, John G., Craig, Dan M.) - Ava was not familiar with what the cleanup process entailed in LA, OC, and SD, so she appreciated all the insight those guys provided.
If you read through the linked application above, you will see all the outlined details of the proposed “CA Coastal Trap Cleanup Initiative” and its supplementary files (letters of support, etc.)
Open Discussion
Fundraising
Ray brought up fundraising and how we need to be thinking about this because we will run out of funds once membership dues are depleted and we will need funding for legal purposes down the road; Ray said he wants to work with Mike Conroy to attempt to regain the 501(c)3 funds that the State took when CLTFA went dormant (~$17,000)
Ray said as of now we have approximately $13,000 in our account, but if we have to pay for a lawyer for anything (which we will), that will go in a heartbeat
There was a general consensus amongst everyone that the majority of our funds should be used for legal purposes; Legal fees will be well spent
Ray brought up the idea of working with Sonke Mastrup (former Executive Director of the CA Fish & Game Commission) as a consultant
Cameron thanked Rodger for introducing Sonke to some of the younger guys because he’s a very helpful resource
Travis said all the guys in this meeting are probably willing to support this but this isn’t the full group so it’s hard to say
Ray confirmed we would need to raise more funds if we wanted to bring in Sonke in an official capacity because we have limited resources at the moment, but it would certainly help to recover the funds the state has
Rodger said Sonke does not wanna be a manager or leader but in terms of the project side what he just did with the proposals that are in the process, he wrote proposals to expand area for urchin guys on behalf of the Sea Urchin Commission because he knows the ins and out of that process; Sonke is a valuable liaison between fishing associations and the Fish & Game Commission (they still ask him to do Pro Bono work); Rodger said he is a good friend of his and is a great tool to keep in our back pocket
Ray mentioned again potentially working with Mike Conroy when necessary, though he is open to the other options if people present them; Ray said he likes that Conroy has the context of Domoic Acid and already knows the back story
Rodger said Conroy will be more likely to work with us now that we have a board
The primary concern is getting those funds back from the state
Emails
Rodger suggested that we BCC everyone on emails due to a situation in the past where someone’s email was taken and put on an app inappropriately; Ava agreed to doing BCC only going forward
Miscellaneous
Cameron asked if the 140 permit figure includes guys with double permits, Ray confirmed it’s 140 total and permits are not lumped together by owner, they are categorized as individual permits
Ray said that some people have asked him what they get for paying their dues, and Ray said you get a group of people working together to protect your interests, which in today’s climate in our industry is imperative
Other
Rodger suggested that Ava send out a list of all the current members and their port, fishing status, etc. so everyone knows who’s who and where they fish out of (Ava will do this)
Note, for future meetings, we may abide by the CLTFA Constitution rules for Order of Business now that a board has been established (if the board chooses), or can continue with a different structure (e.g. the structure of this meeting with a general agenda, etc.):
Roll Call
Minutes of Last Meeting (Approval)
Report of President
Report of Secretary
Report of Treasurer
Report of Committees
Election of Officers and Board (at one annual meeting only)
Election of New Members
Unfinished Business
New Business
Adjournment
Ray ends the meeting at 5:56PM.