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Sportsmen’s Bills Reemerge in the Senate
Alexandria, VA –
November 7, 2013 - Two bills have been introduced in the U.S.
Senate that includes numerous legislative measures beneficial to anglers and
hunters across the nation. In large part they pick up the measures contained
in the Sportsmen’s Act that failed to pass at the end of the 112th Congress.
Sens. Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Thune (R-S.D.) introduced the first bill, S
1335, on July 18, 2013. Sen. Hagan (D-N.C.) introduced the Sportsmen’s and
Public Outdoor Recreation Traditions Act or SPORT Act on November 6, 2013.
Collectively the two bills contain 18 measures that will benefit our nation’s
sportsmen and women by providing increased access to our public lands and
waters, habitat conservation, improving fish and wildlife management and
protecting the use of traditional fishing tackle. It is anticipated that
additional sought-after provisions will be added to the SPORT bill. If passed
it would be the most significant angler and hunter legislation in decades.
Sportfishing industry urges Congress to advance bipartisan legislation to benefit fisheries conservation and access “We thank Sens. Murkowski and Hagan for taking the initiative to introduce their bills,” said Gordon Robertson, vice president of the American Sportfishing Association (ASA). “These two bills contain provisions that the sportsmen’s community has sought for several years and their passage would be momentous for the resources and to sportsmen and women. Fortunately, when you look at the bills together, each package contains an almost equal number of Democratic and Republican sponsors. This is extraordinary in today's hyper-partisan climate and is a testament to how non-partisan, sportsmen-oriented conservation measures can be achieved.” Robertson further said, “We encourage Sens. Murkowski and Hagan to reach across the aisle and join forces to pass these measures. It is our hope, and expectation, that this important legislation will not be dragged down in partisan Senate bickering as was last year’s bill.” “Bipartisan action would greatly enhance the opportunity for passage,” noted Robertson. “Cooperation would also demonstrate to sportsmen and women that fish and wildlife and fishing and hunting issues are bipartisan issues. Bipartisan bills would reenergize support from last year’s large and diverse coalition of national conservation, fishing, hunting and public land advocacy groups.” In response to the bill’s introduction, the American Sportfishing Association, the Boone and Crockett Club, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, the Mule Deer Foundation, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Pheasants Forever, Quail Forever and the Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Partnership released a statement citing the importance of the bills and urging bipartisan action by the Senate. “Recreational fishing supports 828,000 jobs and contributes $115 billion to the economy annually, both are critical economic areas these monumental bill packages will enhance,” said Robertson. “We encourage anglers and hunters to reach out to their Senators and ask them to become co-sponsors as well as urge the sponsors of these two important bills to join forces.” Robertson stated, “Anglers and hunters can take action by going to www.KeepAmericaFishing.org and send a message to their Senators urging them to do the right thing on behalf of our nation’s natural resources and the men and women who enjoy fishing and hunting. There is also a description of the bills’ components.” 
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The American Sportfishing Association (ASA) is the
sportfishing industry’s trade association committed to representing the
interests of the entire sportfishing community. We give the industry a
unified voice, speaking out on behalf of sportfishing and boating industries,
state and federal natural resource agencies, conservation organizations,
angler advocacy groups and outdoor journalists when emerging laws and
policies could significantly affect sportfishing business or sportfishing
itself. ASA invests in long-term ventures to ensure the industry will remain
strong and prosperous, as well as safeguard and promote the enduring social,
economic and conservation values of sportfishing in America. ASA also gives
America's 60 million anglers a voice in policy decisions that affect their
ability to sustainably fish on our nation's waterways through KeepAmericaFishing™, our angler advocacy campaign.
America’s anglers generate over $48 billion in retail sales with a $115
billion impact on the nation’s economy creating employment for more than
828,000 people. |
POINT LOMA
— Back when Sarah and Andy Saraspe opened their Five Star Fish
Processing plant on May 15, 2003 in Point Loma at the urging of their
friends Tim Ekstrom and Randy Toussaint of the Royal Star sport boat,
they figured they had a business that couldn’t fail.
Andy’s
background as a commercial fisherman taught him how to care for fish
and present his catch of the day in the best possible way for sale at
the market. Ekstrom and Toussaint were the first sport captains to use
refrigerated saltwater, or RSW, in fish holds to keep fish ocean-fresh
on long-range trips. Saraspe was a perfect match for the Royal Star duo
because he already was using RSW in his totes that held his commercial
catch. Saraspe began processing sport-caught fish that came out of the
Royal Star’s RSW wells, even though it had been caught days prior,
looking more like it had just been gaffed from the sea and taken off a
sport angler’s hook.
Soon,
Frank LoPreste, owner-captain of the Royal Polaris, asked to be let in
on the process for his boats, the Royal Polaris and the Shogun. That
meant the Saraspes were set with three of the top long-range
sportfishing boats in the fleet delivering their tuna, wahoo and other
exotic fish to them after every long-range fishing trip.
But
seven years later, after a series of events that has left Sarah Saraspe
deeply hurt and betrayed, it all started tumbling down to a trickle of
fish business for the Saraspes at the dock in 2010. That’s when
LoPreste, Ekstrom and even the Saraspes’ one-time great friend,
Toussaint, along with partner Sean Sebring decided to open their own
sport-caught fish processing plant, Fisherman’s Processing, at Liberty
Station in April of 2010. Today they not only are making thousands of
dollars from each angler on their boat, but they also are making
hundreds of dollars from every angler by charging them to process their
sport-caught fish. They take the whole fish, process it and then sell it
back to their anglers in the form of fillets, smoked fish or in cans.
Instead of just getting a percentage from the processors like they did
in the past, LoPreste, Ekstrom and Toussaint have, in many instances,
eliminated the middle man, the Saraspes and Ghio.
It
all has led to a lengthy lawsuit filed by Sarah Saraspe that names,
LoPreste, Ekstrom, Toussaint and Sebring, with a long manifest of
allegations that include violations of civil rights, sex discrimination,
unlawful business practices, fraudulent business practices, defamation
and slander, breach of contract and more. Sarah Saraspe claims in her
lawsuit that Five Star lost 95 percent of its Royal Star clients, 60
percent of her Royal Polaris customers, 50 percent of her anglers from
the Shogun and 40 percent of the Excel fishermen who used Five Star. She
figures her business is down more than $100,000 this year alone.
Calls
placed by U-T San Diego to the defendants, LoPreste, Ekstrom and
Toussaint, and a lawyer representing LoPreste, were not returned.
“It’s really been an emotional
battle, these last two years,” Sarah Saraspe said. “It has hurt my
family. It hurts my soul. This business has been my life for 10 years.
These people here who I service are my family and to not be able to have
that connection with them down at Fisherman’s Landing anymore, it’s
tough for me.
“They went
into business. They cut me and Mario out and their goal is to make sure
fishermen won’t have any choice where to go. One processor. And they’ll
charge anything they want. It will be a complete monopoly because they
own the boats, the landings, the fish processing, the parking lot, the
fuel and part of the bait.
“With
the economy the way it is, why would the big guy who is making all the
money, cut out the little guy who is working so damn hard for such a
little amount. The answer is LoPreste wants to be powerful and control
everything. He just wants to win, win at any cost.”
Sarah
Saraspe’s attorney, Scott Toothacre, said he soon will file for
injunctive relief and damages for the money Sarah Saraspe has lost.
Sarah has been banned from taking fish from Fisherman’s Landing’s end of
the dock. Toothacre wants to change that immediately.
Ghio
said he has had his own discussions with LoPreste about how unfair it
is for the captains on three long-range boats to have control over so
many returning fishermen. Saraspe’s lawsuit claims LoPreste, because of
his stature and multiple holdings in the fishing industry, has used that
influence on anglers and other captains to steer them away from Saraspe
and Ghio and to use his Fisherman’s Processing.
“I
still have some loyal customers who still come by, but they shanghaied a
lot of my old customers,” said Ghio, who has been processing
sport-caught fish for nearly 20 years. “Frank tells me he didn’t put a
gun to these guys’ heads, but the whole thing over there is a racket.
All those years I took care of them over there, and this is how they
treat me.”
