The group, Great lakes Commercial Fishermen, LLC, was engineered by an Ohio commercial fisherman. The group is asking the courts for a restraining order probing implementation of Senate Bill 77 and rejecting the measure as federally unconstitutional. Frank Reynolds, founder of the group, the main aim to protest the new rules is to increase the group’s outreach to the rest of the Great Lakes commercial fishing community. The recreational fishermen call the protest frivolous.
Senate Bill 77 stipulates better records of fishing and makes the possession of GPS transmitting systems a must for all Ohio commercial fishing vessels for tracking by the Ohio Division of Wildlife. Reynolds said that the legislation (SB 77) is basically to lay the groundwork for the elimination of commercial fishermen. According to Reynolds the state first try to buy them out at 10 cents on the dollar after failing they’re trying to regulate the commercial fishermen out of business.
Reynolds said that the wildlife division should have requested that Gov. Ted Strickland to close the sport fishing season on perch once the quota was reached. He added the administration is playing double game which is a fraud and phony. He insisted that the wildlife division is only interested in helping the sport fishing industry.
The group’s attorney, Anthony Calamunci, said the new regulations have not done properly. He added that the new rules are not supported by science. Jack Shaner, spokesman for the Columbus-based Ohio Environmental Council, expressed that it is difficult to understand why fishermen group has problems with the new law. He also added that the legislatory clearly mention, ‘follow the law and you can fish forever.’
