President Gerald Ford signed the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation & Management Act on April 13, 1976, culminating a sad period in American history during which massive foreign fishing fleets destroyed our marine resources as close as 12 miles from shore. Though this was during the Cold War period when many Americans were building bomb shelters in anticipation of an atomic attack by the Soviet Union, it was primarily Soviet fleets and those from the Iron Curtain countries they dominated that were wiping out one species after another with stern trawlers up to 423 feet with a crew of 232, plus much bigger mother ships – all bristling with antennas keeping track of U.S. shipping and defenses. After the cod and haddock were wiped out in New England, the fleets virtually eliminated the mackerel and herring – and then cleaned out the red and silver hake (ling and whiting) in the Mud Hole as anglers found little left to catch and party boat skippers watched their livelihood disappearing while our leaders did nothing. There was no Recreational Fishing Alliance to turn to in those days, so I called together those party boat captains plus sportsmen and conservationists aboard Capt. Les Baletti's Palace II at Hoboken on a February night in 1972 to form an organization to fight for a 200-mile limit just as Ecuador had done to protect their waters from American tuna seiners. Everyone said we didn't have a chance as both the State and Defense Departments were opposed to us – and the powerful California tuna industry didn't want to lose the protection of the Fisherman's Protective Act that paid their fines while violating Ecuador's 200-mile limit. Yet, as chairman of the Emergency Committee to Save America's Marine Resources, I visited Rep. Norman Lent (R-NY) the next week – and he introduced a 200-mile limit bill. We held a rally in Sheepshead Bay the following week, and had congressmen coming to us seeking to become cosponsors. Another rally in Atlantic City (to which the Salt Water Anglers of Bergen County sent a bus) followed, and we started getting TV coverage of the devastation occurring just a few miles from the Metropolitan area. The stations supplied planes from which I could point out the huge fleets -- or we could make the short trips offshore aboard Capt. Howard Bogan's Jamaica fleet from Brielle. My plan was to flood senators and representatives with letters calling for the 200-mile limit, and anglers did just that by utilizing the materials we developed which allowed them to identify their congressmen. Each of those letters had to be answered, and some congressmen told me they were getting more mail on the 200-mile limit than any of the hot issues of that period. Cosponsors built up rapidly, and before long some of the congressional leadership started getting involved with their own bills. Senators Magnuson (D-WA) and Stevens (R-AK) added the fishery management system (which we'd never had before) to the 200-mile limit. When President Ford signed that act, an Impossible Dream was achieved in just four years primarily because fishermen took the time to write so many letters that the problem couldn't be ignored any longer. I'll have more about the 200-mile limit fight and what it's led to in future columns. One of the most enthusiastic and skilled fishermen in N.J. passed away on Monday when Valerie Meyer Rusch of Westfield and Manasquan moved to heavenly fishing grounds at 93. Though she primarily fished for fluke with her son, Shimano rep Doug Rusch out of Manasquan Inlet in recent years, Valerie did it all, catching everything from blue marlin to roosterfish while fishing from Alaska to the Caribbean during her 60-year marriage to fishing tackle merchant Frank Rusch, who died in 2003. A memorial service will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Funeral Home, 155 South Ave., Fanwood. Rather than flowers, Valerie requested that donations in her name should go to the Save the Summer Flounder Fishery Fund -- info@ssfff.net. Jeff Merrill reports the IGFA Reps Fundraising dinner Friday night in Spring Lake is sold out. It's been a very windy spring so far, but there was a break on cold Wednesday morning when the north winds dropped out before howling again by that afternoon. Though I didn't get any reports from Raritan Bay that day, one did come in from California when Gary Quon of Tady Lures received a photo from Capt. Derek Bielitz of B&D Charters in Highlands with a large striper he caught while casting a Tady 45 Mint Halogram metal jig. Quite a few stripers are being caught in the bay by casting shad jigs and trolling stretch plugs when wind conditions permit. Prowler 5 from Atlantic Highlands will be clamming for bass Saturday and Sunday from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The Elaine B. from Bahrs in Highlands starts daily striper fishing on Wednesday at 7 a.m. At Belmar, the Golden Eagle couldn't find any mackerel offshore on Wednesday, so they will switch to stripers Friday. The Ocean Explorer had some blackfish up to 7 pounds and one limit on Wednesday in 60 feet, but the current was very strong. The Jamaica from Brielle cancelled their offshore cod trip for this weekend, but will fish for stripers on Sunday from 7:30 to 2:30. The Gambler from Point Pleasant had some cod up to 10 pounds last Saturday, with the high hook catching three keepers and two shorts. Capt. Bobby Bogan tried jigging, but had no hits with that technique. Frank Huza of Aberdeen tried Keyport at night this week with salted clams, but only had two light hits. An angler fishing there with tapeworms beached a 28 ½-incher and a short. There was no sign of bunkers in that area. The first bluefish have been reported from Barnegat Bay, and surfcasters are picking some small stripers on teasers and small lures in many areas when west winds calm the surf.