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Speaker 1: From Meat Eaters World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This

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Speaker 1: is Col's Week Interview with Ryan cow Klan. Here's Cal. Hey,

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Speaker 1: they're friends and neighbors.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to the Col's Week Interview, part podcast, part of

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Speaker 2: the Cow of the Wild podcast network. We're a network

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Speaker 2: within a network. I'm still figuring out how to properly

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Speaker 2: pitch this thing, but you're with us regardless, so you're

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Speaker 2: going to learn something this week. Our special interview session

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Speaker 2: is with the Congressional Sportsman's Foundation, specifically with Taylor Schmiz

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Speaker 2: and Chris Horton. If you have not heard of the

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Speaker 2: Congressional Sportsman's Foundation, that's one of the things you're going

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Speaker 2: to learn today, and then we're going to dig in

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Speaker 2: to some of the things that they're talking about. So

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Speaker 2: first off, we'll let these guys introduce themselves properly. Taylor,

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Speaker 2: why don't you go ahead? What do you do with

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Speaker 2: Congressional Sportsman's Foundation.

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Speaker 3: Sure, thank you, Cal, and appreciate you having us on today. So,

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Speaker 3: as you mentioned, my name is Taylor Schmidts. I serve

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Speaker 3: as the director of Federal Relations for the Congressional Sportsman's Foundation.

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Speaker 3: I'm based out of Washington, d C. At least in

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Speaker 3: my professional capacity, but my personal capacity, I live in Maryland,

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Speaker 3: which is an important distinction in my mind because I

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Speaker 3: can at least get out hunting and fishing on the

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Speaker 3: weekends and spend time doing the things that I love.

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Speaker 3: So my role at the Congressional Sportsman's Foundation, I work

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Speaker 3: on our federal policy issues and specifically I work with

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Speaker 3: the bipartisan, bi cameral Congressional Sportsman's Caucus, which is nothing

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Speaker 3: more to say than a group of like minded individuals

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Speaker 3: that are elected from across the country to serve in

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Speaker 3: both the House and the Senate that work to address

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Speaker 3: issues facing sportsmen and women and fish wildlife across the country.

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Speaker 3: I also currently serve as the chairman of the American

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Speaker 3: Wildlife Conservation Partners, which is a coalition of fifty one

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Speaker 3: of the nation's leading hunting, wildlife, conservation, and recreacial shooting

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Speaker 3: organizations who work under the same umbrella to develop consensus

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Speaker 3: around the issues facing sportsman and weemen conservation. So that's

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Speaker 3: something that I'm really passionate about and happy to be

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Speaker 3: leading here at CSF.

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Speaker 2: Awesome, happy to have you and you're well traveled, ma'am.

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Speaker 2: I'm on the road far too often, and I see

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Speaker 2: you most places, at most things. So Chris, what about yourself?

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Speaker 2: What do you do over there?

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Speaker 4: Yeah? Thanks Kyle. My name is Chris Horton.

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Speaker 5: I'm the senior director of Fisheries Policy for the Congressional

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Speaker 5: Sportsman's Foundation. I work on all things fish policy, both

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Speaker 5: the federals in the state level, work with Taylor a

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Speaker 5: lot on our federal policy issues, and then our network

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Speaker 5: of state program team staff around the country that work

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Speaker 5: with state legislative sportss caucuses in their states on supportions

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Speaker 5: issues and particularly those that deal with fisheries and aquatic resources.

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Speaker 5: I started my career as a fisheries biologists many years ago,

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Speaker 5: and I loved it. Didn't think I'd ever do anything different,

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Speaker 5: But it didn't take me long to realize that if

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Speaker 5: you really want to make a difference in fisheries management,

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Speaker 5: you really have to get involved with the politics of

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Speaker 5: it sometimes.

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Speaker 4: So now I found myself working in the political right now.

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Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that's new. On the BHA side of things,

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Speaker 2: We've been talking a lot about the adversity to politics

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Speaker 2: that a lot of folks who love being outside have

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Speaker 2: don't want anything to do with politics, and then when

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Speaker 2: you start working more and more, there were volunteering more

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Speaker 2: and more, you know, the ideas that you're going to

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Speaker 2: influence the policy because we want to see policy changes

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Speaker 2: or sometimes policies stay the same regarding the things that

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Speaker 2: we like to do outside. And the question is is like,

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Speaker 2: can you avoid the politics and work on policy.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that's exactly right, cal I think.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Just a very recent example of this was that the

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Speaker 3: Delta Waterfalic but as we can where we saw each

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Speaker 3: other and there's a luncheon and roughly one hundred people

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Speaker 3: or so in the room, and there's a question asks

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Speaker 3: raise your hand if you love politics, and I think

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Speaker 3: probably five to eight people in the room answered. They

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Speaker 3: raise their hand, And then the next question was how

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Speaker 3: many people in the room get frustrated when government says,

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Speaker 3: you know, you can or cannot hunt this specific area,

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Speaker 3: And every single person raised their hand. So it's you know,

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Speaker 3: unfortunately sometimes the politics gets up in the policy and

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Speaker 3: vice versa, but they do go hand in hand together.

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Speaker 2: And it's interesting in your intro there, Taylor, you're saying

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Speaker 2: you're trying to find consensus. Can you explain that a

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Speaker 2: little bit from theF CSF perspective.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, happy to. And I'll really frame it up from

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Speaker 3: the American Wildlife Conservation Partners, which is going on its

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Speaker 3: twenty fifth year as an entity, and really AWCP for short.

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Speaker 3: We use a lot of acronyms in this community, so

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Speaker 3: I'll try to limit them. But AWCP is an easy one.

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Speaker 3: Was founded because you had all these individual organizations, whether

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Speaker 3: it was policy specific, interest specific, critter specific, habitat specific,

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Speaker 3: all of them working and trying to move things for

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Speaker 3: the greater good for sportsmen and women. But nobody was

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Speaker 3: organized right, and nobody was saying, and how can we

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Speaker 3: leverage these individual organizations that some organizations have seven hundred

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Speaker 3: thousand plus members, How can we leverage all of this

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Speaker 3: to advance the greater good for conservation and access? So

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Speaker 3: AWCP was founded. Really, what we try to do is

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Speaker 3: say what are our top priorities that we are trying

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Speaker 3: to put forward to get policy makers to address in

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Speaker 3: the very near future. That's not to say that some

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Speaker 3: policies aren't aren't important, but what do we view as

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Speaker 3: the most likely to get done, and what are some

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Speaker 3: new initiatives that we would like Congress or the presidential

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Speaker 3: administration to address, But really it is just trying to

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Speaker 3: get you know, fifty one organizations growing in the same direction,

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Speaker 3: saying that these are community wide priorities and that we

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Speaker 3: all should be behind this and we should all be

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Speaker 3: working towards the greater good for the community.

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Speaker 2: And we know right now or you know as a

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Speaker 2: not too long ago, that we are going to have

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Speaker 2: a new administration here in January, I suppose. So where

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Speaker 2: does CSF fit in there? Like, what's the job of

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Speaker 2: the organization right now?

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Speaker 3: So one of the things that we are working on

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Speaker 3: through a to ECP actually is a document called Wildlife

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Speaker 3: for the twenty first Century, and it's nearly a thirty

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Speaker 3: page document that lets the entire community's priorities. So we

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Speaker 3: are nearing the final stages of that right now. Once

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Speaker 3: we get it finalized, we will give it to both

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Speaker 3: presidential candidates and say here are our priorities. We'd love

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Speaker 3: to sit down and talk with you all about what

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Speaker 3: this looks like in terms of things that you all

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Speaker 3: can work on and that we can help you work

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Speaker 3: on together. But where we fit in there at CSF

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Speaker 3: is really being the boots on the ground organization here

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Speaker 3: in DC and knowing a lot of these folks on

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Speaker 3: both sides of the aisle and making sure that conservation

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Speaker 3: and access continue to remain the nonpartisan issues that they are.

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Speaker 3: So to your point, Ryan, we will. We will certainly

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Speaker 3: have a different president next year, regardless of what happens

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Speaker 3: over the next few months. But the beauty of our issues,

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Speaker 3: as I mentioned, is that conservation access are nonpartisan issues,

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Speaker 3: and I think everybody can see themselves in these issues,

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Speaker 3: and that's something that we are really really happy and

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Speaker 3: fortunate to UH to to work on.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, and similar on the on the fishery side, I'm

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Speaker 5: working with the American Sport Fishing Association and some other

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Speaker 5: fishing conservation organizations to to do the same thing, to

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Speaker 5: develop those list of priorities for that that transition document

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Speaker 5: so that no matter who comes in, you know, we

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Speaker 5: we can present what are what are our priorities from

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Speaker 5: the recreational fishing and fisheries conservation perspectives, and we want

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Speaker 5: to regardless of who it is, we're ready to work

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Speaker 5: with you on those because again, Finn Thurn feathers should

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Speaker 5: transcend party lines.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, well, well said the The colors in the House

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Speaker 2: may change, but we're still going to be hunting and

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Speaker 2: angling no matter what.

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Speaker 4: Right right, exactly right.

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Speaker 2: And to just take a quick step back if you

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Speaker 2: had to like sum it up, Congressional Sportsman's Foundation. Is

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Speaker 2: that a who's a part of that? Is that a

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Speaker 2: membership organization or a coalition?

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Speaker 4: How?

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Speaker 2: How does it work?

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Speaker 3: So we are very different here at the Congressional Sports

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Speaker 3: Foundation than most organizations in the conservation community. We are,

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Speaker 3: by and large and not a member based organizations. That's

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Speaker 3: not to say that we don't have individual donors, but

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Speaker 3: we are not an organization where you pay thirty five

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Speaker 3: dollars and receive a sticker or anything like that. Are

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Speaker 3: our members, for lack of a better term, or really

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Speaker 3: policymakers across the country at the federal and state level.

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Speaker 3: So the way that we work, which is very different

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Speaker 3: than every single organization in our space, is that we

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Speaker 3: work with sportsman's caucuses across the country. I mentioned the

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Speaker 3: Congressional Sports and Caucus, which is the largest bipartisan bi

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Speaker 3: cameral caucus on Capitol Hill with nearly two hundred and

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Speaker 3: fifty members from all fifty states, Republicans, Democrats, independents. Everybody

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Speaker 3: really is a member of that. Then we go down

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Speaker 3: to the state level with the National Assembly of Sports

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Speaker 3: and Caucuses, which is the umbrella for all fifty state

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Speaker 3: legislative Sports and caucuses. Roughly twenty three hundred or so

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Speaker 3: state legislators across the country are members of that, and

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Speaker 3: then we also have a Governor's Sports AND's Caucus, so

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Speaker 3: roughly thirty governors across the country. Again, everything is bipartisan

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Speaker 3: across the board. We are the nonpartisan education information arm

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Speaker 3: for those three different caucuses. And when you boil all

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Speaker 3: that down cal it really is roughly a third of

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Speaker 3: all elected legislators and governors across the country are a

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Speaker 3: member of one of our caucuses. So we really serve

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Speaker 3: as the legislator and governor's information education arm on all

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Speaker 3: issues related to hunting and fishing, trapping and recreacial shooting.

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Speaker 2: And how often are those folks seeking that education versus

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Speaker 2: your role being to make sure they're aware of the

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Speaker 2: issues and the things happen, and whether looking they're looking

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Speaker 2: for it or not.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it certainly goes both ways. I say that we

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Speaker 3: at CSF try to be extremely proactive in getting information

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Speaker 3: up to Congress, up to state legislators in the governor's office,

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Speaker 3: so I'd like to think that we're doing a good

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Speaker 3: enough job where you know, legislators and governors aren't necessarily

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Speaker 3: reaching out to us. However, that certainly does happen. In

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Speaker 3: just an hour or so before we jumped on here,

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Speaker 3: I received a call from a congressional office and something

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Speaker 3: came up and the congressman was asking for clarity on

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Speaker 3: it and some additional background information, and it did help

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Speaker 3: clear the room a little bit, which was good. So

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Speaker 3: it certainly goes both ways.

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Speaker 2: And are there it is it literally the entire gamut

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Speaker 2: of issues that CSF could be interested in and working on,

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Speaker 2: or there's some kind of mast Head mission statement type

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Speaker 2: of things that that CSF really pays attention to.

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Speaker 3: So for us, anything that fits into that hunting, fishing,

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Speaker 3: recreational shooting and trapping bucket, whether that's access to federal

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Speaker 3: public lands, whether that's access to voluntary private lands on

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Speaker 3: the hunting side, shooting range construction, access to fisheries and

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Speaker 3: making sure there's healthy habitats for fisheries, which Chris can

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Speaker 3: speak to. We cover the whole gamut. We really pride

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Speaker 3: ourselves and the fact that we have our hands and

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Speaker 3: virtually every single policy being considered at the federal and

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Speaker 3: state level that impacts sportsmen across the board.

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Speaker 2: And any topics kind of do or anything. What's the

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Speaker 2: fire that's knocking on our door right now?

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Speaker 3: So I'll start on the positive side. One thing that

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Speaker 3: I'm that I think everybody in the conservation community is

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Speaker 3: really excited about is an effort that just was introduced

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Speaker 3: in Congress about three weeks ago to conserve big game

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Speaker 3: migration corridors or migration corridors across the country, including big game,

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Speaker 3: but also other things like mountain, mountain, lion and waterfowl

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Speaker 3: and everything else that requires habitat connectivity for their lifespan.

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Speaker 3: And so we're really excited about that. In twenty eighteen,

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Speaker 3: then Secretary Zincy signed a Secretary Order it was really

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Speaker 3: a first of its kind to conserve big game migration corridors.

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Speaker 3: But the challenge has been coming up with funding for

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Speaker 3: that initiative. So this bill seeks to simply provide funding

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Speaker 3: for the efforts. Since twenty eighteen, and we talked about

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Speaker 3: how conservation is really that non partisan issue and typically

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Speaker 3: what happens when you have different presidencies is the new

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Speaker 3: administration comes in and gets rid of everything that the

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Speaker 3: previous administration did. But this migration corridors effort is something

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Speaker 3: that has withstood both administrations, being the Trump administration and

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Speaker 3: the Biden Harris administration, and then it's received a tremendous

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Speaker 3: amount of bipartisan support and has been a priority for

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Speaker 3: both administrations. But we need to get them the funding

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Speaker 3: that they need to make these migration corridors and our

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Speaker 3: efforts to conserve them successful. So that's just one right now.

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Speaker 3: We are working on some other big conservation packages and bills,

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Speaker 3: one recovering America's Wildlife fact which seeks to fun species

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Speaker 3: the greatest conservation need nearly twelve thousand of those species

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Speaker 3: across the country, and then a couple other here and there.

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Speaker 3: But one that we're really excited about that Chris is

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Speaker 3: the lead on is a program known as Rigs to Reefs.

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Speaker 3: So Chris, I'll let you jump in there.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 5: This is one of those you know, what's on fire

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Speaker 5: situations where at one point in time, we had somewhere

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Speaker 5: around seven thousand oil and gas platforms in the Gulf

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Speaker 5: of Mexico, and over time, when those platforms finished producing,

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Speaker 5: they have to be decommissioned or removed and we're down

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Speaker 5: to right at as of earlier today I checked, we're

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Speaker 5: down down the one thousand and seventy nine platforms that remain,

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Speaker 5: and unfortunately a bunch of those are about to come

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Speaker 5: out or should be getting decommissioning orders very soon. And

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Speaker 5: the significance of that is, if anybody that's ever fished

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Speaker 5: in the Gulf of Mexico, especially off of Louisiana, you've

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Speaker 5: probably fished around an oil and gas platform, because it

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Speaker 5: goes from fishing to catching because they're just loaded with life.

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Speaker 5: And any anybody it's ever dove one can tell you

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Speaker 5: it's they're just covered in coral and articles and fish.

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Speaker 5: They're just meccas in the middle of the ocean. So

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Speaker 5: we've created all these habitats that we that have become

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Speaker 5: incredibly important fishing destinations for recreational commercial fishermen, but they've

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Speaker 5: also contributed to biomass production in the Gulf uh and

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Speaker 5: we're losing them. So there is a program called rigster

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Speaker 5: reef where the platform owner can voluntarily enter into an

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Speaker 5: agreement with the state and the state can acquire the

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Speaker 5: ownership of that platform and refit. And there are some

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Speaker 5: challenges to that, and one of those is if it's

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Speaker 5: not in an established reef zone already that's been approved

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Speaker 5: by several federal agencies, then it has to be towed,

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Speaker 5: And if it has to be towed a very long distance,

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Speaker 5: then it's not economically feasible for for the platform owners

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Speaker 5: to donate to the Rigs to Reef. They'll just take

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Speaker 5: it ashore and scrap it and recoup some of their

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Speaker 5: costs there. So one of the things that we want

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Speaker 5: to do is is identify those platforms out there that

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Speaker 5: have had the most significant biomass and the most significant

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Speaker 5: reefish ecosystems around them, and let's work proactively to protect

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Speaker 5: those and keep those in so that when they come

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Speaker 5: offline or those that have already come offline, what can

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Speaker 5: we do to expeditte getting those into a state's Rigs

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Speaker 5: to Reef program. So, working with Congressman Graves and Congressman vc,

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Speaker 5: they introduced a bill called the Marine Fisheries Habitat Protection

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Speaker 5: Act late last year that would basically require NOAH to

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Speaker 5: do an assessment of the remaining structures and if there's

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Speaker 5: an identified reef fish community, then we can pause any

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Speaker 5: decommissioning for up to I think three years right now

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Speaker 5: and to allow that platform owner to have the opportunity

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Speaker 5: to work with a state to get it in the

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Speaker 5: rigs to reef program, because, as you know, I might

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Speaker 5: imagine then, the number of the permitting process is pretty cumbersome.

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Speaker 5: It takes anywhere from twenty four to forty eight months

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Speaker 5: to get one one platform into the rigs to reprogram,

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Speaker 5: and we have five hundred about to come out in

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Speaker 5: the next five years. So we're trying to figure out

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Speaker 5: a way to kind of stop the bleeding. Let's identify

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Speaker 5: where the most important habitats are and let's let's do

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Speaker 5: what we can to save those.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, it's a definitely like a jump for

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Speaker 2: the folks that you're talking about who haven't seen this

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Speaker 2: stuff firsthand, and especially if they're not anglers, because you know,

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Speaker 2: there is nothing in the Gulf outside of these man

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Speaker 2: made structures, right and you know, a rig sitting out

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Speaker 2: there isn't necessarily something that makes people think of a

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Speaker 2: healthy ecosystem, healthy habitat. So that's kind of an educational

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Speaker 2: piece out there for the general public as well.

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Speaker 4: Yeah. Absolutely, And the thing is it's not just a

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Speaker 4: Gulf coast issue.

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Speaker 5: I mean, these are in federal waters. This habitat belongs

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Speaker 5: to all of us. I mean, I know folks from

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Speaker 5: Alaska that come down to the fish out of Venice,

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Speaker 5: Louisiana and target oftentimes around oil rigs because it can

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Speaker 5: be refish, it can be pelagics, a yellow fin tuna.

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Speaker 4: That's one of.

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Speaker 5: The places they usually started, some of the far offshore

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Speaker 5: oil and gas platforms because of all the bait fish

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Speaker 5: that's around them. You often often find schools of tuna

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Speaker 5: there as well, So they are incredibly important. If folks

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Speaker 5: have never fished in the Gulf of Mexico, they should

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Speaker 5: be on their bucket list because you will probably be

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Speaker 5: fishing around an oil and gas platform. Can really appreciate it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and you know the snapper has for recreational fishing

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Speaker 2: versus commercial take has always been a huge conversation, certainly

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Speaker 2: in my lifetime, and those rigs are major destination for

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Speaker 2: recreational anglers to go out there and get their recreational

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Speaker 2: take for red snapper. But also if you're going to

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Speaker 2: burn the gas to go out there, you can encounter

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Speaker 2: kind of everything right like Kobea they get on o

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Speaker 2: Wahu out there, yellow fin tuna, some billfish, it's pretty

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Speaker 2: pretty wild.

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Speaker 4: Right everything.

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Speaker 5: I mean, you can you can literally catch almost every

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Speaker 5: species around on gas platforms at some point in the

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Speaker 5: in the year. I mean, from king mackerel, Spanish mackerel,

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Speaker 5: I mean, if you want to go catch those fish,

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Speaker 5: mainly off of the coast of Alabama, and we've got

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Speaker 5: several old gas platforms really close to the to the beach,

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Speaker 5: and you see folks out there all the time that

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Speaker 5: don't not really know that much about saltwater fishing interest

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Speaker 5: trying to get into it or just trolling plugs around

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Speaker 5: these old gas platforms and catching kingfish because they're there.

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Speaker 4: But yeah, they're just there. They have created.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, they are artificial, but they have contributed to a

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Speaker 5: vibrant marine ecosystem because the otherwise mud sand bottom that

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Speaker 5: the Gulf of Mexico predominantly is like ninety eight percent

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Speaker 5: of it is, was just devoid of this kind of

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Speaker 5: bottom structure and habitat that created all these fisheries. It's

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Speaker 5: not just fish, I mean it's corals as well, And

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Speaker 5: there's been some studies there are actually two corals found

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Speaker 5: in abundance in the northern Gulf of Mexico, and these

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Speaker 5: old gas platforms that are listed on the IUCN, the

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Speaker 5: International Union with the Conservation Nature. They're in dangered species

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Speaker 5: list and they're critically endangered elsewhere in the world. Yet

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Speaker 5: they're thriving on the northern Gulf of Mexico o gas platforms.

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Speaker 5: So what a great opportunity for some climate resiliency there

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Speaker 5: because we have these corals that aren't succumbing to the

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Speaker 5: warm temperatures and bleaching effects because they were growing at

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Speaker 5: different elevations along these and they can they can get

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Speaker 5: down for that thermal I mean, they're the ones that

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Speaker 5: are growing in that deeper water have that thermal refuge.

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Speaker 5: So that could be great donor colonies for for restoration

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Speaker 5: efforts around the world. So it's not just fish, it's

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Speaker 5: corals as well.

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Speaker 2: So the cost is always a factor. But the main

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Speaker 2: hurdle here would would be we see with something that

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Speaker 2: we see a lot in the in the conservation world,

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Speaker 2: it's like, well, it's it's kind of written down someplace,

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Speaker 2: like the agreement to go out and establish this structure

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Speaker 2: came with the sentences that that said it's going to

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Speaker 2: get cut off and made to look like it was

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Speaker 2: never there at some point.

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Speaker 4: YEP that's that's right.

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Speaker 5: Now they have to unless they enter it into a

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Speaker 5: register reprogram.

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Speaker 4: It has to be removed.

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Speaker 5: Uh, the well capped and removed and returned to the bottom,

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Speaker 5: a clear, clean bottom, just like it was whenever they

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Speaker 5: constructed it.

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Speaker 4: And that's that's the thing is.

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Speaker 5: That even I mean whether they are donating it to

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Speaker 5: the rigs a REEF program or they're taking it to shore,

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Speaker 5: the well still has to be capped and safely secured

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Speaker 5: in either either instance. And then another thing about when

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Speaker 5: when you talk about the cost, it really is a

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Speaker 5: win win because the oil and gas company they have

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Speaker 5: some cost savings, yes, but they donate they cut a

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Speaker 5: check to the state agencies that is accepting the platform

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Speaker 5: and the rigs to REEF for half of their cost

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Speaker 5: of savings. So it may be the state may get

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Speaker 5: get a million dollar check to take oil and gas

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Speaker 5: platform be used for the fisheries management, conservation and monitoring

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Speaker 5: those platforms.

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Speaker 4: So it truly is a truly is a win win.

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Speaker 5: So we're trying to find a way to make it

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Speaker 5: easier to transition as me and these into the state's

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Speaker 5: rigs brief programs.

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Speaker 2: We can and are the golf states that or is

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Speaker 2: this primary Louisiana or Texas, Alabama?

401
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Speaker 4: Is it?

402
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Speaker 5: It's primarily yeah, the four old producing states, although ironically

403
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Speaker 5: the first rigs to reef program was in the only

404
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Speaker 5: state in the golf that does not have oil produce

405
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Speaker 5: software shores. But but Florida received the first I think

406
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Speaker 5: two or three or four old gas platforms in the

407
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Speaker 5: rigs to reef program, And I guess it was much

408
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Speaker 5: cheaper back in the day when they first established that

409
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Speaker 5: back in the I think it was the late eighties

410
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Speaker 5: to be able to tow a platform all the way

411
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Speaker 5: over there. But yes, it's primarily from Texas to Alabama.

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Speaker 2: Okay. And then in that transfer process is liability at

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Speaker 2: a conversation here.

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Speaker 5: Yes, basically, the the the ol and gas producer will

415
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Speaker 5: always be liable for the well if that well to

416
00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:56,200
Speaker 5: ever start leaking again. The state never assumes liability for

417
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Speaker 5: that state assumes the liability for that platform. So say

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Speaker 5: it hurt or something breaks it up the old gas

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00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:06,280
Speaker 5: company once they transfer ownership to the state, then the

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Speaker 5: state would be the ones to assume the liability for that.

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Speaker 4: But uh, but to.

422
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Speaker 5: Date, of the some four hundred or five hundred platforms

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Speaker 5: that have been in the rixster reef program. There's not

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Speaker 5: been any any issues with with the need for concerns

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Speaker 5: about liability.

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Speaker 4: So the States will the States and the Gulf will.

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Speaker 5: Usually take as many of those platforms as they can

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Speaker 5: feasibly handle.

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Speaker 2: And and that's is that because of that those recreational

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Speaker 2: fishery dollars and those commercial fishery dollars.

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Speaker 5: Yes, I mean it's it's it's access and opportunity for

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Speaker 5: their anglers. I mean, they want to keep those platforms

433
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Speaker 5: out there because they're going to last decades, uh and

434
00:25:48,359 --> 00:25:51,680
Speaker 5: they're going to continue to provide good fisheries habitat. So yeah,

435
00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:55,840
Speaker 5: they're they want to provide their anglers with opportunities. Alabama

436
00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:58,800
Speaker 5: has a They don't have nearly as many onl GAS

437
00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:02,840
Speaker 5: platforms as as Louisiana, but many years ago they started

438
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Speaker 5: creating other artificial reefs. I mean it started off with

439
00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:10,320
Speaker 5: cars and old car bodies, and then it transitioned to

440
00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:16,000
Speaker 5: the Albama DC and R started using decommissioned military tanks

441
00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:20,880
Speaker 5: and sinking tanks. They've used liberty ships obviously, They've been

442
00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:26,640
Speaker 5: really aggressive at creating artificial reefs and they actually now

443
00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:29,320
Speaker 5: their primary reef that they build is a fifteen foot

444
00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:33,240
Speaker 5: tall concrete pyramid and they'll set these out in a rage,

445
00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:36,240
Speaker 5: usually three together. But they've got a trolling corridor where

446
00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:38,879
Speaker 5: they have several hundred and a long line stretching a

447
00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:42,760
Speaker 5: couple of miles that you control over. But they have

448
00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:46,880
Speaker 5: somewhere between ten and I've heard doctor Bruce shup before

449
00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:49,800
Speaker 5: he passed away. He mentioned that we had about seventeen

450
00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:52,199
Speaker 5: thousand artificial reefs out there, because in addition to the

451
00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:55,400
Speaker 5: ones the States are putting in, you can get a

452
00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:59,920
Speaker 5: personal permit to create your own reef. I have approved material,

453
00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:02,159
Speaker 5: and as long as it's put in one of the

454
00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:04,520
Speaker 5: reef zones, and you don't even have to have it,

455
00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:06,239
Speaker 5: you don't have to publish it. So they don't know

456
00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:09,399
Speaker 5: exactly how many they got out there, but there's there's

457
00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:10,400
Speaker 5: thousands of them.

458
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:13,080
Speaker 2: So yeah, the next time you're out there with the

459
00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:17,359
Speaker 2: captain and they get real conscious about their waypoints on

460
00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:19,960
Speaker 2: their GPS, that may be what's going on. Right.

461
00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:21,480
Speaker 5: A lot of them when you get on the boat

462
00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:23,440
Speaker 5: will say I don't want to see anybody's phones out

463
00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:29,600
Speaker 5: except to take a picture. But yeah, I did some

464
00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:32,680
Speaker 5: calculations I worked with the Alabama DCNR and I said, okay,

465
00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:35,440
Speaker 5: so you'll create these fifteen foot pyramids.

466
00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:36,120
Speaker 4: We figured out the.

467
00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:39,800
Speaker 5: Cubic meters, and then we looked at just a four

468
00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:42,159
Speaker 5: legged pulled up a real example. Worked with an ol

469
00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:44,880
Speaker 5: gas company. Give me the specs on just a four

470
00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:47,359
Speaker 5: called a four piles. It has four legs oil and

471
00:27:47,359 --> 00:27:49,359
Speaker 5: gas platform that's in one hundred and thirty one feet

472
00:27:49,359 --> 00:27:52,040
Speaker 5: of water in Louisiana. It is going to be converted

473
00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:53,399
Speaker 5: to the rigs to reef program. But I wanted to

474
00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:55,159
Speaker 5: figure out, you know, how much would it cost or

475
00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:59,000
Speaker 5: replace the same volume of habitat with these pyramids, and

476
00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:02,440
Speaker 5: for that particular structure it would it would require three

477
00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:05,960
Speaker 5: hundred and ninety seven of those pyramids that cost five

478
00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:09,040
Speaker 5: hundred dollars per cubic meter to build, go on a

479
00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:13,800
Speaker 5: barge and transport out. So it's over almost around two

480
00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:17,480
Speaker 5: million dollars for that one platform if we replaced it

481
00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:22,800
Speaker 5: by having to build new artificial structure. So again that's

482
00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:24,919
Speaker 5: another way this whole programs will win win. We have

483
00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:27,080
Speaker 5: this free habits out out there. Not only is it free,

484
00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:29,480
Speaker 5: low and gas companies pay the states to take it,

485
00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:31,480
Speaker 5: and is there.

486
00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:34,480
Speaker 2: You know, for these rigs that would have to be

487
00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:39,880
Speaker 2: moved into a reef zone, is there an option there

488
00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:41,920
Speaker 2: to designate new reef zones.

489
00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:44,000
Speaker 4: That's exactly what the bill does.

490
00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:49,440
Speaker 5: So if if if you, if they find an established

491
00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:51,640
Speaker 5: reef fish community as defined in the bill, and basically

492
00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:56,920
Speaker 5: that means if they find any fish managed under a

493
00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:59,520
Speaker 5: fishery management council, because right now it's not written specific

494
00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:02,480
Speaker 5: to the golf, could be applied elsewhere. But if they

495
00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:06,880
Speaker 5: find a community of fish or corals that are managed

496
00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:10,360
Speaker 5: under a regional fish re Management council's management plan, then

497
00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:14,360
Speaker 5: that that considers an established reef fish community. So the

498
00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:17,560
Speaker 5: area immediately around that structure can then be considered a

499
00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:20,800
Speaker 5: reef planning area, so that we could reef that structure

500
00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:23,840
Speaker 5: in place, which would be ideal because when you tow,

501
00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:28,239
Speaker 5: I mean obviously you're you're disturbing that habitat significantly and

502
00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:30,320
Speaker 5: you're just you're moving it, you're moving, you move in

503
00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:33,120
Speaker 5: the house, and uh, it would be great if we

504
00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:35,440
Speaker 5: can keep those right there. So that's what that's one

505
00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:37,840
Speaker 5: one aspect that this bill would do. Til you make

506
00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:41,320
Speaker 5: it easier to convert these structures to rix reef.

507
00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:46,240
Speaker 2: And and yeah, so is there where does the pushback

508
00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:52,280
Speaker 2: come from? Are there any platform owners that aren't into

509
00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:56,200
Speaker 2: this for a reason or another, or uh, you know,

510
00:29:56,320 --> 00:29:58,720
Speaker 2: primarily you know, I like to wrap up these sessions

511
00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:04,200
Speaker 2: with letting our audience know who who can they write

512
00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:09,640
Speaker 2: to or call or email And oftentimes you get that

513
00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:11,960
Speaker 2: form letter back that says, oh, you're writing on this.

514
00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:17,840
Speaker 2: We like what you're thinking, but this is why we're

515
00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:21,320
Speaker 2: not into it, right, and so you can write a

516
00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:26,479
Speaker 2: more informed letter if you know what the opposition thinks.

517
00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:27,959
Speaker 2: So where are the negatives?

518
00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:30,880
Speaker 5: I think one of our one of our biggest challenges

519
00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:33,080
Speaker 5: is that this is seen as a regional issue.

520
00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:35,120
Speaker 4: It's a Gulf of Mexico issue.

521
00:30:35,160 --> 00:30:37,600
Speaker 5: And again that's where we're really trying to get the

522
00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:41,000
Speaker 5: point across that it belongs to all of us. Anybody

523
00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:42,840
Speaker 5: can come down and fish these structures in the Gulf

524
00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:44,320
Speaker 5: of Mexico. If you want to go catch fish in

525
00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:47,080
Speaker 5: the Gulf of Mexico, find an old gas platform, because

526
00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:49,480
Speaker 5: you will do it. So overcoming this notion that this

527
00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:52,280
Speaker 5: is just a regional thing is in order to make

528
00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:54,440
Speaker 5: it a higher priority in Congress, and they have so

529
00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:56,600
Speaker 5: many other things that they you know they have to

530
00:30:56,840 --> 00:31:02,320
Speaker 5: have to deal with another aspect of it. The pushback

531
00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:06,560
Speaker 5: is really on some some language tweaks right now, because

532
00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:10,080
Speaker 5: what what happens is if the larger oil and gas

533
00:31:10,120 --> 00:31:13,800
Speaker 5: companies they sell their platforms to smaller ol gas companies

534
00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:16,640
Speaker 5: it when it's no longer economically feasible for them to

535
00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:19,320
Speaker 5: produce at that volume, and so they sell it to

536
00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:21,640
Speaker 5: smaller companies, and sometimes those smaller companies sell it to

537
00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:25,520
Speaker 5: even smaller companies. And then in twenty twenty, during the pandemic,

538
00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:28,239
Speaker 5: I don't know if most people will recall or not,

539
00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:31,040
Speaker 5: but all went to own a barrel of oil went

540
00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:35,480
Speaker 5: to negative, and so a number of these small companies

541
00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:38,560
Speaker 5: just went bankrupt. So what happens when when that happens,

542
00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:41,400
Speaker 5: is when they go bankrupt and walk away from it,

543
00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:44,280
Speaker 5: the ownership of that platform reverts back up the chain

544
00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:47,440
Speaker 5: until it gets to a company that's not that hasn't

545
00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:50,880
Speaker 5: collapsed and it's still operable. So all of a sudden,

546
00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:56,760
Speaker 5: some of these bigger companies have hundreds of platforms back

547
00:31:56,800 --> 00:31:59,240
Speaker 5: on the books that they didn't that they sold many

548
00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:01,080
Speaker 5: years ago, and they're liable.

549
00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:02,960
Speaker 4: For decommissioning those at this point.

550
00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:05,680
Speaker 5: So some of them are just pulling them out as

551
00:32:05,760 --> 00:32:09,200
Speaker 5: quickly as they can so and part of that as well,

552
00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:10,480
Speaker 5: maybe too far for them to toe.

553
00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:12,600
Speaker 4: It's just not economically feasible for them to do it.

554
00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:17,480
Speaker 5: And you know, and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement,

555
00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:21,040
Speaker 5: the federal agency that's responsible for the decommissioning, is issuing

556
00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:23,040
Speaker 5: in decommissioning owners. You've got to get this out. You

557
00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:25,280
Speaker 5: got this out. So they're just getting it out. So

558
00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:27,880
Speaker 5: if we can find established reefish communities, we can make

559
00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:29,520
Speaker 5: it easier for them to reef in place, and we

560
00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:31,000
Speaker 5: can give them two to three years to work with

561
00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:31,880
Speaker 5: the state agencies.

562
00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:33,280
Speaker 4: That'll be a big help.

563
00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:36,320
Speaker 2: Right. So yeah, So some of these companies are saying, hey,

564
00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:39,040
Speaker 2: a great idea, but it's it's too much of a

565
00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:43,080
Speaker 2: liability on our books to have a lot of patience.

566
00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:45,040
Speaker 4: Here, right, yep, that's it.

567
00:32:45,120 --> 00:32:48,560
Speaker 5: But in reality, from from just the average English perspective,

568
00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:51,120
Speaker 5: I think helping us raise awareness with their members of

569
00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:54,200
Speaker 5: Congress no matter where they live, that hey, these are

570
00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:57,560
Speaker 5: important habitats and and there's tons of stuff out there

571
00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:01,800
Speaker 5: on the value of bloil and gas platforms for fishing.

572
00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:04,360
Speaker 5: We've got a we've got a landing page on our

573
00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:09,200
Speaker 5: website that folks can go to and it's I don't

574
00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:11,400
Speaker 5: have to h read.

575
00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:14,560
Speaker 2: It's why you do that. You know, it's not just

576
00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:17,360
Speaker 2: folks who go down and fish in Louisiana. Louisiana is

577
00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:22,120
Speaker 2: the the only state behind I should say that, the

578
00:33:22,200 --> 00:33:27,640
Speaker 2: second UH state in the Union, second only to Alaska

579
00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:34,600
Speaker 2: for UH fish export. So they're they're pulling a lot

580
00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:38,600
Speaker 2: of fish out of Louisiana waters that go to a

581
00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:40,160
Speaker 2: lot of markets all over the place.

582
00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:43,360
Speaker 5: So yeah, when you think about it, I mean, Louisiana

583
00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:46,880
Speaker 5: is on the receiving end of are one of our

584
00:33:46,960 --> 00:33:49,440
Speaker 5: largest rivers that drains two thirds of the country. So

585
00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:53,160
Speaker 5: you have all these nutrients coming down that normally without

586
00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:55,560
Speaker 5: any hard structure. There has to be hard structure to

587
00:33:55,600 --> 00:34:00,280
Speaker 5: form these these communities, refish communities, but with nothing there

588
00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:03,120
Speaker 5: with the sand and mud bottom, these nutrients get taken

589
00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:06,440
Speaker 5: up by fito plankton, which are microscopic plants that are

590
00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:10,520
Speaker 5: eaten by zoplankton, but they're just drifting in the water column.

591
00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:14,520
Speaker 5: They'll drift away from the shore and into the Gulf

592
00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:18,359
Speaker 5: Loop current and never be taken up locally. But when

593
00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:20,600
Speaker 5: you have hard structures, and you get barnacles, and you

594
00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:25,960
Speaker 5: get sea sile organisms like oysters and things. Start filtering

595
00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:28,919
Speaker 5: the water and collecting these zoplankton, then you start accumulating

596
00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:32,759
Speaker 5: that bile mass that has otherwise been leaving and just

597
00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:34,520
Speaker 5: building it all right there.

598
00:34:35,640 --> 00:34:40,759
Speaker 2: And what I guess any other concerns here? You know,

599
00:34:41,280 --> 00:34:45,200
Speaker 2: I would assume eventually all of these structures are going

600
00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:48,279
Speaker 2: to degrade to a point where they end up in

601
00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:52,000
Speaker 2: the water. Are there any environmental concerns, like long, long

602
00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:56,800
Speaker 2: term that we need to be concerned about.

603
00:34:57,280 --> 00:35:01,960
Speaker 5: Well, federal law will not allow that to happen. They

604
00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:03,839
Speaker 5: have to come out. I mean, those those that are

605
00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:05,600
Speaker 5: standing are going to have to come out or be

606
00:35:05,640 --> 00:35:08,440
Speaker 5: converted to rigs to reefs. And whenever they are putting

607
00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:10,400
Speaker 5: the rigs to reef program, one of the one of

608
00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:14,759
Speaker 5: the things that has to occur is that on the

609
00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:17,319
Speaker 5: on the top deck where all the stuff is the

610
00:35:17,360 --> 00:35:20,000
Speaker 5: housing and the helicopter pads and all the equipment and

611
00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:23,359
Speaker 5: the pumps, that all has to be removed and the

612
00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:25,000
Speaker 5: deck has to be cleaned and it has to be

613
00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:28,120
Speaker 5: inspected to make sure that there are no contaminants so

614
00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:30,920
Speaker 5: that when they do when we talk about reef in place.

615
00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:34,440
Speaker 5: What they do is actually cut the platform and a

616
00:35:34,480 --> 00:35:36,880
Speaker 5: certain depth below the water line, and that depth is

617
00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:40,520
Speaker 5: normally eighty feet, but you can I have seen where

618
00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:43,120
Speaker 5: the Coast Guard has given variances to some of them

619
00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:45,760
Speaker 5: that are in less likely or out of major shipping

620
00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:49,239
Speaker 5: lanes for large container ships, and I've seen some cut

621
00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:51,239
Speaker 5: it sixty five feet. But they'll just take that top

622
00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:54,279
Speaker 5: deck after it's cleaned with a crane, they'll cut the

623
00:35:54,360 --> 00:35:56,520
Speaker 5: legs and they'll take that piece and set it right

624
00:35:56,560 --> 00:36:00,120
Speaker 5: down beside the structure that they left still attached to

625
00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:05,839
Speaker 5: the bottom. So uh, it's briefing in places is by

626
00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:09,839
Speaker 5: far the best option. But they are cleaned and there

627
00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:11,919
Speaker 5: is no concern at that point. Again, like I said,

628
00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:14,799
Speaker 5: the well is plugged regardless if they're completely removed or

629
00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:17,000
Speaker 5: donate to the race reprogram.

630
00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:22,080
Speaker 2: Sure, And I mean there's there's an environmental cost of

631
00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:24,440
Speaker 2: bringing a big barge out there too, and there is

632
00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:28,239
Speaker 2: and telling that whatever it is all the way back

633
00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:29,879
Speaker 2: in to get parted out.

634
00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:34,200
Speaker 5: Right, So yes, yeah, there's tremendous, tremendous carbon footprint in that.

635
00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:37,640
Speaker 4: Yeah, nothing's free, Nope.

636
00:36:38,360 --> 00:36:46,239
Speaker 2: Yeah. And then so is this a lobbying effort from

637
00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:52,360
Speaker 2: Congressional Sportsman's Foundation side of things. It are there avenues

638
00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:55,640
Speaker 2: for public outreach like how how can the audience kind.

639
00:36:55,520 --> 00:36:56,520
Speaker 4: Of get involved here?

640
00:36:57,400 --> 00:37:02,080
Speaker 5: Yeah, again, reaching out to their members of Congress and

641
00:37:02,239 --> 00:37:05,160
Speaker 5: just saying this is, this is a priority for fishermen

642
00:37:05,600 --> 00:37:08,080
Speaker 5: and I'm an angler even though they again they may

643
00:37:08,239 --> 00:37:12,920
Speaker 5: live in live in Indiana. But that's really our job

644
00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:15,480
Speaker 5: right now is to help educate legislators beyond. Because the

645
00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:18,360
Speaker 5: Gulf Coast delegation all on board because they know the value,

646
00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:21,360
Speaker 5: the economic benefits, the social benefits of having this habitat

647
00:37:21,440 --> 00:37:23,560
Speaker 5: and the water and keeping it in the water. We've

648
00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:26,279
Speaker 5: got to convince those those members that are beyond the

649
00:37:26,280 --> 00:37:29,320
Speaker 5: Gulf Coast that this is, this is important enough habitat

650
00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:32,280
Speaker 5: to the nation that it's worth protecting, it's worth saving.

651
00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:41,880
Speaker 2: Yeah, if you're a landlocked person like myself, it's really

652
00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:46,400
Speaker 2: easy to come up with some rough numbers on just

653
00:37:46,640 --> 00:37:49,880
Speaker 2: how much you spend in these states when you go

654
00:37:49,920 --> 00:37:55,120
Speaker 2: on fishing trips, right, shocking. Sometimes it's to get home,

655
00:37:56,520 --> 00:37:59,080
Speaker 2: But those are important numbers, right. It's like, yeah, you know,

656
00:37:59,320 --> 00:38:02,680
Speaker 2: every year, every two years, every five years, we run

657
00:38:02,719 --> 00:38:05,080
Speaker 2: a house. We were there for a week. We eat out,

658
00:38:07,280 --> 00:38:11,200
Speaker 2: but the primary focus is we're down there to catch

659
00:38:11,239 --> 00:38:17,680
Speaker 2: fish or attempt to right, right, yeah, so please increase

660
00:38:17,719 --> 00:38:19,240
Speaker 2: our odds.

661
00:38:18,920 --> 00:38:21,960
Speaker 4: Yes, make it, make it catching, not just fishing.

662
00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:27,920
Speaker 2: There you go, yeah, yeah, yeah. The ocean is seldom

663
00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:33,319
Speaker 2: overly nice to me. We got to battle it out.

664
00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:36,960
Speaker 2: They were like a fifty to fifty partnership.

665
00:38:39,239 --> 00:38:43,480
Speaker 5: Well it's a I just I grew up in Arkansas,

666
00:38:43,600 --> 00:38:46,839
Speaker 5: in the Hills of Arkansas, and I was I was

667
00:38:46,840 --> 00:38:50,000
Speaker 5: fishing when I was five years old and just loved it.

668
00:38:50,040 --> 00:38:52,720
Speaker 5: But it wasn't until I moved to Florida for another

669
00:38:52,800 --> 00:38:56,479
Speaker 5: job many years ago that I got really thrust into

670
00:38:56,480 --> 00:38:58,560
Speaker 5: the saltwater world. And you take a boy from the

671
00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:02,600
Speaker 5: hills of Arkansas and put me in in the saltwater environment,

672
00:39:02,680 --> 00:39:04,720
Speaker 5: it's like this, It's a whole nother world.

673
00:39:04,760 --> 00:39:04,920
Speaker 4: Man.

674
00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:06,959
Speaker 5: There's so many things to catch and just so many

675
00:39:07,320 --> 00:39:09,040
Speaker 5: things to fish for a different times of the year,

676
00:39:09,040 --> 00:39:12,880
Speaker 5: there's always something biden and uh yeah. If if folks

677
00:39:12,920 --> 00:39:15,600
Speaker 5: haven't have it saltwater fished, I would highly recommend that

678
00:39:15,600 --> 00:39:17,839
Speaker 5: they get down to the Gulf of Mexico because that's

679
00:39:17,960 --> 00:39:20,440
Speaker 5: that's some of the best fishing you can ever experience.

680
00:39:21,040 --> 00:39:24,040
Speaker 2: The heck, yeah, the heck yeah, and yeah, I mean

681
00:39:24,120 --> 00:39:27,080
Speaker 2: we're we're gonna host some trips down there this October.

682
00:39:28,360 --> 00:39:33,560
Speaker 2: And I mean really, if you're a hunter and an angler, uh,

683
00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:37,080
Speaker 2: that word October probably a little perked your ears up

684
00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:40,920
Speaker 2: a little bit, like that's the type of trade that

685
00:39:40,920 --> 00:39:43,520
Speaker 2: we're talking about here. You don't you don't leave Montana

686
00:39:43,560 --> 00:39:46,560
Speaker 2: in October to go fishing unless it's really good.

687
00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:51,520
Speaker 5: You got bull reds in close and you got yellowfin

688
00:39:51,600 --> 00:39:54,799
Speaker 5: tuna that are that are really stacking up off the

689
00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:58,360
Speaker 5: coast of Louisiana that time of year, and Alabama and.

690
00:39:58,360 --> 00:39:59,839
Speaker 4: Other states if you can get out that far.

691
00:40:00,160 --> 00:40:04,760
Speaker 5: Just the nice thing about Venice is that it's stuck

692
00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:07,799
Speaker 5: far enough out in the Louisiana Delta, that Mississippi River

693
00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:10,000
Speaker 5: delta that you've got a much shorter run to some

694
00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:12,520
Speaker 5: of these fisheries. And that's why October, Man, if you

695
00:40:12,520 --> 00:40:14,560
Speaker 5: haven't booked the hotel room down there, you better get

696
00:40:14,560 --> 00:40:17,200
Speaker 5: it booked soon, because everybody goes down there to go

697
00:40:17,239 --> 00:40:18,919
Speaker 5: fishing that time of the year because this is so good.

698
00:40:19,800 --> 00:40:24,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, yep, we're looking forward to it. So and then Taylor,

699
00:40:24,320 --> 00:40:29,120
Speaker 2: is there any other ways for folks to get involved

700
00:40:29,880 --> 00:40:35,960
Speaker 2: or ask some questions about Congressional Sportsman's Foundation, or you know,

701
00:40:36,160 --> 00:40:40,000
Speaker 2: if they wanted to say, hey, I listened to the podcast,

702
00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:45,520
Speaker 2: I wrote my congressional representative and told them about this

703
00:40:45,600 --> 00:40:50,280
Speaker 2: Riggs REEF program. Now I want to ask you to

704
00:40:50,600 --> 00:40:53,120
Speaker 2: pay attention to something else that I'm interested Dan, how

705
00:40:53,160 --> 00:40:53,879
Speaker 2: would they do that?

706
00:40:54,640 --> 00:40:57,520
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think there's a couple of easy ways there.

707
00:40:57,560 --> 00:41:01,520
Speaker 3: Cal It's one checking out our website, Renational sportsman dot org.

708
00:41:02,280 --> 00:41:05,279
Speaker 3: We also have social media pages just like everybody else,

709
00:41:05,320 --> 00:41:08,320
Speaker 3: which you can find them is through our website. And

710
00:41:08,360 --> 00:41:11,200
Speaker 3: the other one the other two options that are a

711
00:41:11,239 --> 00:41:13,080
Speaker 3: little bit different in our community is one we do

712
00:41:13,560 --> 00:41:17,040
Speaker 3: a weekly Sportsman's Voice and it's just everything that our

713
00:41:17,080 --> 00:41:19,759
Speaker 3: community and we at CSF are working on in that

714
00:41:19,840 --> 00:41:24,239
Speaker 3: particular week here in DC, but across the country and

715
00:41:24,280 --> 00:41:26,520
Speaker 3: in state capitals. And then the other ways with our

716
00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:29,640
Speaker 3: sports AND's Voice podcast was just captures everything that we've

717
00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:33,440
Speaker 3: been talking about and working on across the country. So

718
00:41:33,920 --> 00:41:36,279
Speaker 3: really that sports AND's Voice newsletter is a great way

719
00:41:36,280 --> 00:41:38,480
Speaker 3: to stay up to date on everything that we're tracking

720
00:41:38,520 --> 00:41:40,440
Speaker 3: here at the Congressional Sportsman's Foundation.

721
00:41:41,840 --> 00:41:44,440
Speaker 2: And then Chris did you say that there's a specific

722
00:41:44,840 --> 00:41:47,719
Speaker 2: sign up page for We.

723
00:41:48,040 --> 00:41:51,640
Speaker 5: Do have a Rigs to Reef landing page. It's I

724
00:41:51,640 --> 00:41:53,480
Speaker 5: don't think you can get there from our website, but

725
00:41:53,520 --> 00:42:00,480
Speaker 5: it's Congressional Sportsmen dot Org slash page slash rigs dash

726
00:42:00,840 --> 00:42:04,120
Speaker 5: to dash reefs Awesome.

727
00:42:04,200 --> 00:42:07,040
Speaker 2: So, uh, enough googling around, you're going to be able

728
00:42:07,040 --> 00:42:07,400
Speaker 2: to find that.

729
00:42:07,560 --> 00:42:10,160
Speaker 5: Yes, yep, you should be able to. And uh, I've

730
00:42:10,160 --> 00:42:11,720
Speaker 5: got a lot more. We've got a lot more information

731
00:42:11,760 --> 00:42:14,440
Speaker 5: on I've got some references to to the science behind it,

732
00:42:14,480 --> 00:42:17,440
Speaker 5: because that's that was always one of the arguments that

733
00:42:17,440 --> 00:42:20,319
Speaker 5: we've we've heard even from Noah, is that well, these

734
00:42:20,320 --> 00:42:23,640
Speaker 5: are just fish attractors, they're not not fish producers. Well,

735
00:42:23,840 --> 00:42:25,920
Speaker 5: I think there's plenty of studies out there now, and

736
00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:29,680
Speaker 5: some very recent that demonstrate that, no, they are fish producers.

737
00:42:30,360 --> 00:42:33,759
Speaker 5: Uh and and those references resided there.

738
00:42:34,600 --> 00:42:34,839
Speaker 3: Yeah.

739
00:42:34,920 --> 00:42:38,640
Speaker 2: I mean, if if you're growing coral and you got

740
00:42:38,840 --> 00:42:44,000
Speaker 2: got the the bivalves out there, you're probably producing fish.

741
00:42:44,120 --> 00:42:44,319
Speaker 3: Right.

742
00:42:44,400 --> 00:42:48,640
Speaker 2: There's in fact, there's there's probably fish that haven't seen

743
00:42:48,680 --> 00:42:55,919
Speaker 2: anything else in the Gulf, right yep, yep, absolutely, Well, yeah,

744
00:42:55,960 --> 00:43:03,360
Speaker 2: we will also put these pages and references up on

745
00:43:03,400 --> 00:43:08,719
Speaker 2: the Cal of the wild page at the Mediator dot

746
00:43:08,719 --> 00:43:16,000
Speaker 2: com to provide those easy links for you and also

747
00:43:16,320 --> 00:43:19,439
Speaker 2: keep you in the loop with all other things that

748
00:43:19,760 --> 00:43:26,040
Speaker 2: these fellows keep me addressed of all the good work

749
00:43:26,040 --> 00:43:29,799
Speaker 2: that Congressional Sportsman's Foundation is doing up there on Capitol Hill,

750
00:43:29,840 --> 00:43:31,080
Speaker 2: so we don't have to go out there.

751
00:43:31,680 --> 00:43:33,279
Speaker 4: Well, we sort of appreciate the time. Gal.

752
00:43:33,640 --> 00:43:37,040
Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you, Cal. We are here to protect our outdoor,

753
00:43:37,040 --> 00:43:39,000
Speaker 3: our outdoor opportunities, that's for sure.

754
00:43:39,719 --> 00:43:43,400
Speaker 2: Awesome. Thank you guys so much. Remember to write in

755
00:43:43,719 --> 00:43:46,920
Speaker 2: to ask c A L. That's Askcal at the meeteater

756
00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:49,160
Speaker 2: dot com. Let me know what's going on in your

757
00:43:49,160 --> 00:43:52,000
Speaker 2: neck of the woods. And if you have questions for

758
00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:56,520
Speaker 2: Taylor and Chris and Congressional Sportsman's Foundation, please let me know.

759
00:43:56,600 --> 00:43:59,879
Speaker 2: We can always have him back on or I can

760
00:44:00,320 --> 00:44:02,480
Speaker 2: get in touch with them and get those things answered

761
00:44:02,600 --> 00:44:08,399
Speaker 2: for you. So Congressional Sportsman's Foundation, now you know. Thanks again.

762
00:44:08,440 --> 00:44:09,439
Speaker 2: We'll talk to you next week.

763
00:44:10,120 --> 00:44:10,160
Speaker 4: M