CCA FACTS

 A Few Facts about Costal Conservation Association

CCA has more than 206 chapters of organized anglers throughout 17 coastal states with a current combined membership of more than 102,000, the highest level ever.

CCA’s state and national staff members coordinate more than 400 chapter events and fundraisers each year.

CCA has more than 80 state and national committees, 150 national board directors, more than 900 board members – on local, state, and national levels – and tens of thousands of active volunteers contributing to the organizations daily development and growth.

CCA is recognized by fisheries managers as instrumental in the recovery of redfish, king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, speckled trout, striped bass, Gulf grouper, and Atlantic weakfish.

CCA helped establish game fish status for billfish and redfish, net bans in four states, and the prohibition of many destructive gear types. We have been instrumental in establishing far-reaching conservation legislation on both the state and federal levels.

CCA has a legal defense fund that has been used to defend net bans and bycatch reduction devices, support pro-fisheries legislation, and enforce existing regulations.

CCA has led the battle to protect recreational anglers’ freedom to fish. When it is adopted into law, the Freedom to Fish Act will provide reasonable guidelines for the use of Marine Protected Areas by fishery managers and restricts the use of no-fishing zones for recreational fishermen to instances where all other fishery management tools have failed to fix the problem.

CCA has a registered lobbyist in Washington D.C. and has been active in critical fisheries debates since 1984. We currently retain as many as 17 professional state and federal professional lobbyists.

CCA members include a former U.S. President, former Cabinet members, Congressmen, Senators, ICCAT Commissioners, Fishery Management Council members, Governors, State Legislators, and state and federal fisheries managers.

CCA makes decisions from the bottom up, involving our membership in all regional and national policy positions. We operate as a three-tiered organization – local, state and national.

CCA has an award-winning national publication, TIDE magazine, a special youth publication, Rising Tide and numerous state newsletters.

CCA has an annual audit and tax return prepared by a nationally recognized public accounting firm.

CCA has a proven methodology for tracking membership and a nationally recognized retention rate.

Your CCA North Carolina Has...

Supported the designation of Cape Lookout Jetty,  Masonboro Jetty, and Carolina Beach Turning Basin as net free areas (1994).

Won Federal District Court approval on flynet ban in North Carolina (1995).

Urged state Marine Fisheries Commission to ban flynets in the Atlantic Ocean south of Cape Hatteras to protect gray trout, other species (1995).

Pressed for three-year ban on sale of new commercial fishing licenses which led to the Fisheries Reform Act (1995).

Helped win passage of Fisheries Reform Act, the first comprehensive state fishery reform (1997).

Helped establish Marine Fisheries Commission. The function of the Marine Fisheries Commission as mandated by the North Carolina General Assembly (G.S. 143-B-289.3) is to manage, restore, develop, cultivate, conserve, protect, and regulate the marine and estuarine resources of the State of North Carolina (1998).

Was the primary proponent of a recreational saltwater license to provide an accurate count of recreational anglers in the state, give anglers a voice in fishery management decisions, and provide funding to fishery management programs and enforcement (1997-2004).

Requested the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission to cease harvest of river herring and conserve local striped bass stocks (2003).

Championed efforts to restore southern flounder stocks through harvest reductions, size and bag limits, license requirements and seasonal closures (2004).

Helped establish the first-ever hatchery for Southern flounder (2005).

Encouraged the closing of Primary nursery areas in the Neuse, Pamlico and Pungo rivers to shrimp trawls to prevent Southern flounder  bycatch (2006).

Supported stringent new regulations to help recover depleted striped bass populations in the central coastal area (Pamlico and Neuse Rivers) and in the southern coastal area (Cape Fear River) (2007).

Integrally involved in the Oyster Shell Recycling Program to improve water quality and create habitat for fish (2007).

Supported implementation of coastal stormwater runoff rules that will keep shellfish waters pristine, reduce aquifer depletion and prevent saltwater intrusion (2007-2008).

Supported a moratorium on river herring to allow near-collapsed stocks to recover (2007).

Supported ORV public access to beach recreational activities on Cape Hatteras Seashore (2008).

 Helped establish the Red Drum Management Plan which implemented small mesh gill net attendance, mandated the use of circle hooks at certain hours, retained the status quo for red drum, and required all unattended large mesh gill nets to be set a minimum of 10 feet from any shoreline from June to October(2008).

Supported legislation to approve the State of North Carolina taking control the Locks and Dams on the Cape Fear River allowing striped bass, shad and herring to swim upstream due to newly built “rock arch fish ramps” (2008).

Donated over 20 pair of binoculars to the North Carolina Marine Patrol for enforcement (2008).

Donated monies to help establish the Bayview Reef and Willis Reef in New Bern (2008).

Opposed the proposed expansion of bombing ranges by in the Pamlico Sound (2008).

Obtained gamefish status for marlin and sailfish. (CCA National)

Banned drift gill nets in the South Atlantic. (CCA National)

Had a petition granted by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) establishing blue and white marlin as overfished. Ten-year recovery plan mandated. (CCA National)

Defeated flawed NMFS management plan for highly migratory species. (CCA National)

Helped draft and introduce the first comprehensive longline management bill in the 106th Congress. (CCA National)

Sued NMFS in federal court to reduce excessive billfish, shark and turtle bycatch in Gulf and Atlantic longline operations. (CCA National)

CCA is working hard EVERYDAY to achieved much more!