Executive Director's Report

 

I am thrilled to announce that we have hired a new employee at the MSSA office.  On March 10th we hired David Smith as our Associate Executive Director.  David comes to us with a background in politics and the legislative process.  Dave worked three years on Capitol Hill in Washington,  DC as an aid to a couple of Senators.

Dave will take on the duties as my assistant and will be responsible for  developing better communications with the press, MSSA membership and our major sponsors.  Dave is already assisting in redesigning the MSSA website, has distributed several press releases and has attended committee hearings in Annapolis.  Dave will be a great asset to the MSSA!

Although I am writing this message on the 10th of April, I am sure that our 25th Annual Spring Tournament will be a great success.  I am looking forward to attending the Captain’s Meetings and seeing the many friends that I have met over the years.  Boater’s World will have some great door prizes for our contestants.  I’m predicting that someone could walk away with over $75,000, if he enters all of the TWT’s.

On the legislative front, this year has been a fairly quiet year.  We monitored over a dozen bills and testified on several bills in both the House and Senate.  One particular bill that stood out and was very controversial was Senate Bill 673 – “Clammers- Clamming Appliance and  Income – Compensation”.  Approximately 50 watermen were in attendance to support the bill which would have given compensation to hydraulic clam dredgers who worked the back bays of the Atlantic Coast.  The bill would have compensated certain eligible clammers for equipment and diminished earnings.  MSSA opposed the bill since it did not state that clammers surrender the equipment for which they were being compensated.  Another flaw with the bill is that the compensation program was extended to clammers from September of 1994 to October 1, 2008.  MSSA suggested that the clammers only receive compensation if they have clammed the back bays of the Atlantic Coast for the past three years.  In addition, MSSA submitted an amendment stating that any equipment that the clammers were compensated for must be  surrendered to the Department.  The bill was defeated in Committee.

Remember to return your renewal notices within 30 days so that you can be eligible for the $250 gift certificate from Boater’s World.  The first drawing for 2008 will be on July 1st.  You could be the lucky winner.