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Club Meeting on January 15, 2019: Striped Bass Along the Cape Cod Canal by East End Eddie Doherty

Club Meetings & Seminars, Events

Striped Bass Along the Cape Cod Canal

by
East End Eddie Doherty

  • Striper Strategies
  • Canal Gear
  • First Light is Right
  • Canal Lures

East End Eddie Doherty of Mattapoisett, MA is a retired Massachusetts District Court Clerk-Magistrate and, more importantly, a recognized fishing authority.  He has written for On the Water, The Fisherman, Coastal Angler, the Boston Globe and Cape Cod magazine.  Eddie is the author of Seven Miles After Sundown: Surfcasting for Striped Bass Along the World Famous Cape Cod Canal.

Please join us on Tuesday, January 15, 2019 for another great angling seminar. Our monthly meetings are held on the third Tuesday of each month at PITA Hall on Plum Island (8 Plum Island Turnpike, Newbury, MA.) The doors open at 6:45 PM. Dinner is served at prices that will not break the bank.  The club meeting starts at 7:15 PM. After the meeting, we have a seminar by a featured angler. Seminars are free for club members; there is a $5.00 charge for non-members. Membership information is available here.

Find driving directions and information on parking here.

To receive notification of events like this by email, please send us your email address.

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Get Sewage Out of the Merrimack: Step 1: Require Public Notification of Sewage Release

Conservation, Merrimack River Watershed Council, Water Safety

The first step toward getting sewage out of the Merrimack is making the culprits own up when they do it. There is currently a bill (proposed law) in the Massachusetts legislature to require public notification of sewage releases. Please contact your representative asking them to pass the bill. All the information you need to identify your legislators and a sample letter to send is at this link and also reprinted below by permission of the Merrimack River Watershed Council.

A sample letter to send to your state senator, representative

Are you interested in helping pass a bill that will require wastewater treatment plants to alert the public whenever they dump sewage into the Merrimack River?

Currently there is a bill in the Massachusetts Legislature that would do just that. But it’s stuck in the House Ways and Means Committee, and without a push by the public it may die there.

How can you help?

Public pressure is a time-proven way to move legislation. Letters sent to your state senator and state representative can help them gauge public support and move the bill out of the Ways and Means Committee and onto the House floor for a vote (the bill has already passed the Senate).

This link will take you to a page where you can find out the name and address of your local senator and representative.  You also may want to write or call Robert A. DeLeo, the Speaker of the House, who ultimately will have significant authority for whether this bill passes this year.  The deadline is December 31, but don’t wait till then.  Speaker DeLeo can be reached at 617.722.2500 and Robert.DeLeo@mahouse.gov.

Below is a copy of a sample letter that you can fill out and send to your legislators. Feel free to modify it — particularly if you have a personal story or anecdote. (Btw, as of this November, the bill is known at S. 2617; you may want to refer to it this way if you call or write your state legislator.

SAMPLE LETTER

Dear ____,

As a resident of _________, I am very concerned about the discharge of raw sewage into the Merrimack River due to combined sewage overflows (CSOs). As the next state legislative session approaches, I am writing to urge you to support legislation that requires real-time public notification of CSO events.

As you may know, nearly 400 million gallons of raw sewage were dumped into the Merrimack during rainstorms in 2017. Based on the number of reported CSOs to date, this number is likely to be even higher in 2018. Unfortunately, since heavy rainstorms are expected to become more frequent in New England due to the changing climate, we are likely to see more CSOs in the future.

CSOs are a threat to the both environment and human health. Over 600,000 people in the Merrimack Valley get their drinking water from the Merrimack River, and many more use it for recreation, including boating, fishing, paddle-boarding and swimming. A 2015 study found a significant increase in people visiting Merrimack Valley hospital emergency rooms for gastrointestinal illnesses following CSO events. Raw sewage discharges also cause algae blooms, which deplete oxygen levels in the river and kill fish and other marine life, and can be harmful to humans as well. Despite this, wastewater treatment plants are not obligated to notify the public of CSO events.

Our larger goal should be to stop CSOs as soon as possible through coordinated federal, state and local action to fund updates to wastewater treatment facilities. In the near term, though, we need prompt notification of CSO events to safeguard human health.

Thank you for your consideration, and I hope that you will support legislation requiring timely public notice of CSOs in order to protect Merrimack Valley communities.

Sincerely,

 

Founded in 1976, Merrimack River Watershed Council (MRWC) is dedicated to promoting a clean and accessible Merrimack River and watershed. As “the voice of the Merrimack,” the Council’s mission is to protect, improve, and conserve the Merrimack River watershed for people and wildlife through education, recreation, advocacy, and science.

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Club Meeting on November 20, 2018: “Fishing Crane Beach-Day and Night” by Brian O’Connor

Club Meetings & Seminars, Events

Fishing Crane Beach-Day and Night
covering both times and tides

by Brian O’Connor

Brian O’Connor is an authority on fishing the rocky shore of Cape Ann.  Come learn from one of the best with inside knowledge on our local fishing area.

Please join us on Tuesday, November 20, 2018 for another great angling seminar. Our monthly meetings are held on the third Tuesday of each month at PITA Hall on Plum Island (8 Plum Island Turnpike, Newbury, MA.) The doors open at 6:45 PM. Dinner is served at prices that will not break the bank.  The club meeting starts at 7:15 PM. After the meeting, we have a seminar by a featured angler. Seminars are free for club members; there is a $5.00 charge for non-members. Membership information is available here.

Find driving directions and information on parking here.

To receive notification of events like this by email, please send us your email address.

Yankee Swap on December 18, 2018

December is the month for our Annual Yankee Swap! This is our holiday celebration. No seminar or business meeting in December. Please bring a small wrapped gift ($10 to $15 cost suggested) and some holiday dessert to share. Coffee will be provided.

Last minute holiday gifts available!

We will have club merchandise available at our November meeting. This is your last chance to get stocking stuffers or that last minute gift for your favorite uncle Joe.

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WRWC: State of the River: Climate Change Workshop on December 7, 2018

Conservation, Merrimack River Watershed Council

From the Merrimack River Watershed Council–reprinted by permission.

Are you interested in taking a deeper dive into climate change-related issues that will affect the Merrimack in years to come?  Join us for our annual State of the Waters conference on Friday, December 7 at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge in Newburyport.

This day-long discussion will tackle the climate-related problems and solutions that face the river and all those who live in the Merrimack watershed — from the White Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean.  It should be of particular interest to public officials, river advocates, policymakers, land trusts, regional planners, emergency managers, and conservation commissions — among others.

This is a unique opportunity to hear from experts on pressing issues that are specific to the Merrimack watershed, and how we can work together cooperatively to identify optimal strategies to address this growing threat.

Seats are limited to 70, and free until November 16.  After that, we’ll charge $35.  Interested in learning more?  Check out our website

MRWC to host workshop on ‘Climate Change’s Impact on the Merrimack’ on Dec. 7

This will be the third year in which the Merrimack River Watershed Council sponsors a State of the Waters workshop.  State of the Waters is an opportunity for watershed advocates, public officials, land trusts, and others concerned about the health of the Merrimack to convene to discuss their common goals and varying challenges.

For 2018, MRWC is designing a workshop around the issue of climate change and how it is affecting (and will affect) the Merrimack River and its large watershed.  This year’s event will take place in Newburyport on Friday, December 7.  Admission is free; coffee and lunch provided.

Although playing the key role in organizing State of the Waters, MRWC is interested in teaming up with other groups who’d like to co-sponsor the program.  Also in the coming weeks, we plan to sign up local business and others as financial supporters.

As we have known for a while, climate change affects entire ecosystems, including those that shape our watersheds.  A river and its tributaries are not just visual signs of our interconnectedness; they of course also represent the very quality of interconnection that climate destabilization threatens to upset.

Still, we don’t often consider how land and water organizations, including the many that focus on just a portion of our bi-state watershed, see their world through the lens of climate dynamics and or discuss ways in which they can more effectively work together on issues linking the environment to climate change, and both to the prosperity and vitality of the region and perhaps its most prominent natural resource.

Please save the date (December 7, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Newburyport).  Invitations are coming very soon — if you’re interested, let us know right away.

Questions?  Contact Rusty Russell, MRWC’s executive director, at rrussell@merrimack.org.

 

State of the Waters: A Workshop for the Merrimack
Focus: Climate Change and the Watershed

Friday, December 7, 2018
9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Visitors Center, Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Newburyport, Mass.

9-9:30:             Coffee, tea, pastries and informal hellos
9:30-9:45:        Introduction:

Plan of the day
Key questions
Goals for the workshop

9:45-10:30:      Keynote Speaker
10:45-11:45:    Panel One — Key issues for the Merrimack watershed
11:45-12:30:    Keynote — Mayors and the municipal response
12:30:              Lunch (provided)
12:45-1:45:      Table Topics and Reports Out  (led by students participating in Climate Café program)
2-3:                  EPA Region 1’s proposed databank and the need for accessible data
3-4:                  Panel Two — Shoring Up the Advocacy Agenda
4-4:30:             Open Forum — Next Steps and New Approaches

 

Founded in 1976, Merrimack River Watershed Council (MRWC) is dedicated to promoting a clean and accessible Merrimack River and watershed. As “the voice of the Merrimack,” the Council’s mission is to protect, improve, and conserve the Merrimack River watershed for people and wildlife through education, recreation, advocacy, and science.

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