sports —

outdoors with Lou Rodia

How to Save Pier , Causeway for Fishing?

• Ocean City's surf, jetty, pier and bridge fishermen are caught between a rock and a hard place. They are losing the entire length of the Ninth Street Causeway as a place to fish. They are also losing the 59th Street Fishing Pier. The one bright spot is the Russ Chattin Bridge fishing walkway on the Ocean Drive, and if all reports are confirmed, there will be a tremendous • pressure for rail space on that fishing facility - Those who are run off the 9th Street Causeway and those who used to fish the 59th Street Pier will begin to fish there along with those who are already doing so. IT IS A complex issue Ci-

ty officials are faced with the problem of growing traf- & fic hazards on the causeway Accidents have happened and will continue to happen, fishing or parking bans not withstanding. How many were caused by or contributed to by fishermen is a moot point now. The ban is in effect. As long as the ban is in place the recreational value of this causeway and the attraction it once had for fisherrtien have been taken away. No one will ever know howvmuch of an image loss I the city has sustained by disallowing this use of the •"—causeway. i We can't fault those jvho made the decision. Public safety can and should come

first. However, there is little in the way of enthusiasm s at the state level for any pro- b grams which would have c made the causeway safe for c fishermen and for motor- P ists. h Other states can and do e find solutions . At least, other r solutions than outright ban- s ning of use of bridge facil- c ities for recreational pur- 1 poses. s IN A STATE which is so c oriented to fishing — we t have 112 miles of coastline > on the Atlantic Ocean alone > — and a tourism industry ' which is the state's second (or first-biggest industry), | little attention is paid to the « needs of the fishing public. - Yet, state surveys have < shown that 66 per cent of the ' people who come to the Jer- ' — sey Shore are interested in < |r fishing. Not all of them fish, ' but they might, if given half J a chance. In Cape May 1 County, the county itself has I responsibility for nearly 50 < bridges. ^y*te mandate 1 makes it inegbl to fish from almost all of them. On those Where fishing is permitted, it is only because no one has made the effort to stop it. | Unfortunately, the cost of providing fishing facilities on the existing bridges is a nighmare, logistically. But, there is legislation being considered which would require bridges to be built in , the future in certain areas of the state to be equipped with walkways for fishermen. Again, other states already do it. so the precedent is set. WHEN WE get more information on that legislation we'll pass it on. Meanwhile don't try fishing on area bridges which are posted against it. That includes the 9th Street Causeway in Ocean City. One wonders with all of the Green Acres Funding which has been available that some of it has not gone into providing fishing facilI ities. It is^ne of the available options to fund fishing facility projects. Ironically Green Acres money went to purchase thousands of acres of prime meadowland between the barrier islands and the Garden State^ Parkway. The preservation action is commendable, except that the Parkway itself makes it virtually impossible to get to most of the meadowland. IT IS EASY for Parkway officials to take the position that they are in the road business and not in the position of providing recreational access. But if the parkway were required to open up some of the land it now blocks off by providing access and off-the-road parking, tremendous amounts of recreational land would be made available. Instead, if you park on the shoulder of the road to use some of the Green Acres land east of the Parkway, you can and will get ticketed. In Ocean City, anglers — I face another loss. The 59th Street pier has already been I condemned. It is in need of rebuilding and repair. U There has been a grounds ■ well of public support to re- ■* I tain the pier. Some want the I land acquired and annexed I to the state park south of the I pier. Others want the land I acquired and operated as a H public facility and fishing | pier by the city. Some want H it preserved because the — H pier is one of the oldest wma structures on the island.

MANY WANT it preserved as a fishing pier it provided an access to fishing for many who could not use boats to fish. Numbered among these are handicapped people, kids, elderly fishermen who do not have stamina or resources to fish their own or party or charter boats. People who suffer from sea sickness need land-based facilities such as piers and bridge abutments from which to fish. Piers work well as a place to take a novice fisherman. Reports have it that the present owners want to build condominiums on the site. Rebuilding of the pier does not seem to be an immediate viable option. Money is one of the keys. Assuming the city would want to acquire it, and assuming a price was agreed on, how would the purchase be financed? The city of Ocean City is not sitting on a nest egg of surplus money. SOME OF the options are as follows: One is to seek Green Acres money to purchase the land and to create the fishing pier. Another is to talk to the owners of the pier property to see if they would consider a land swap to exchange their holdings on the beach for city property in another area that they could develop. Another would be for the city to take the same approach to the pier area as it does with other recreational facilities such as swimming pools, recreation centers and parks. That is to incorporate the fishing facility into that part of city operation. There are probably other options which would save the pier as a place to fish and I am sure they can and will be discussed. There is voluminous correspondence which support retention of the pier. If you have an interest, you should make your thoughts known. IT WAS public pressure, for example, which turned around a similar situation regarding the 9th Street entrance to Ocean City in its Maryland counterpart on

Route 50. That causeway into Ocean City, Md , was a traffic nightmare. Fishermen and motorists alike were threatened. Accidents happened. People were hurt. Cars were damaged. There were lots of parallells. Finally, the move to stop all fishing was promulgated. There was a public outcry. The response to the outcry was to revaluMe the position. So strong was the point made that the city financed the construction of a fence from one end of the causeway to the other on both sides to protect the fishermen from the traffic. A valuable tourist and recreational asset was saved. The key agaimis public demand, public pressure,

and in the final outcome, a willingness on the part of the taxpayers to foot the bill. Be it fishing from the causeway or the saving of the 59th Street pier, there must be sufficient support to give the decision-makers a clear mandate. Right now, the fishermen are losing facilities to regulation and to development — one at each end of the island. To make the 59th Street pier a viable recreational project, funds have to come from-somewhere. To make the 9th Street causeway safe for motorists and for fishermen is also a problem which can be solved if money were available. To date, no one has come forward with the capital for either project.

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Youth Cage Play Begins

CAPE MAY - A Basketball Recreation League for boys and girls 8-13 started last week and will continue through the end of March. The games* are played every Saturday afternoon

at the City Elementary School. The Sponsors for both the Junior and Senior Divisions are the Kiwanis Club, Casale's Shoes, Model Cleaners and First Jersey State Bank.

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