Letter To Elected Officials - Closures

[Catch-All]

Furious about the SAFMC Council's 7-to-6 vote in favor of the Amendment 16 year-long closure of bottomfishing inside 200 feet, everywhere in NC, SC, GA and FL? Want to let your elected officials know how you feel?

Well, I'm making it easy for ya. Here's a sample letter you can copy/paste & print. Click on the links below for the contact info for your local Congressman and your two Senators.

DON'T EMAIL. Letters & faxes get read and counted, emails get deleted.
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SWORDFISHING CENTRAL.com
Dear -
I am writing to you to urge you to call Dr. Roy Crabtree @ (727)570-5305 and demand that he not sign and forward to the Secretary of Commerce the recent request for an Interim Rule totally closing the Red Snapper fishery on the East Coast of Florida. The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council bypassed other less punitive options including a closed season, lower bag limits, or a recreational angler only fishery and opted for this total closure.

The closing of this fishery June thru December, coupled with the proposed closure of the Grouper fishery for January through April for almost a total year, will cause tens of thousands of people to lose their businesses and jobs. The affected people in FL, GA, SC and NC work on Charter boats, in marinas, tackle stores, bait shops, boat dealerships, restaurants, hotels and the tourism industry. Many tourists will not come to Florida to fish if they cannot fish once they arrive as Snapper and grouper are the only reliable targeted species during the early part of the year. In the present economic climate this loss of business, jobs and income cannot be allowed based upon flawed data leading to bad science of Dr. Crabtree.
These closures are based upon flawed data by Dr Crabtree and his scientists. The current system being used MFRSS, has twice failed peer reviews. It has been shown time and time again that there are major flaws in the system, but Dr. Crabtree has chosen to ignore these flaws and push forward to close the fishery without reliable information. It has been proven that there is insufficient data collection to allow for accurate estimates of fish populations, that the data collection is skewed towards the younger fish populations. Dr. Crabtree has plugged in mortality rates that are far above the actual value and that there is no reliable historical data sufficient upon which to use as a baseline leading to an estimation of the prior fishery at levels that are astronomically high and actually far beyond what is possible given the available habitat and forage.
The membership of Swordfishing Central has been fishing for Red Snapper in the Atlantic for in some cases up to 50 years and without exception; everyone agrees that the Red Snapper population in the Atlantic has never been higher. This shows that the prior management measures have worked and continue to keep Red Snapper populations at all time highs. Despite this fact, Dr. Crabtree has shown his contempt for recreational fishermen in disregarding their input on the health of the fishery.
A recent study done by Brad Gentner shows that in the Gulf of Mexico recreational gag grouper fishing generates $107 million in value added, $60.8 million in income and supports 1,523 jobs while Commercial gag grouper fishing generates $16 million in value added, $7.7 in income, and supports 322 jobs. There is no doubt that the Red Snapper fishery generates a similar if not larger impact on the East Coast.

Thank you for assistance in this matter. We fish and we vote!

Respectfully Yours, Printed Name_____________________
Address & City_____________________________________

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Congressional Contact Info - just click on your state and scroll down to your Congressman.
Member Web Site Listing (by State) - United States House of Representatives, 111th Congress, 1st Session

Senate Contact Info -
U.S. Senate: Senators Home

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Short of shoving the letter in an envelope, licking the damn stamp and mailing it for ya, I've done everything else for ya. Now you have no excuse - get off yer butt and do something to save your fishing.

Catch-All

[Catch-All]

My printer ran out of ink and I didn't get a chance to buy more until today. I just faxed off my four letters - Rooney, Nelson, Martinez and Secretary of Commerce Du Jour.

Has anyone else done so yet?

Catch

[quack quack]

Did you see the report on the news last night?

[hanley]

Catch

thanks for what you have provided. I will fax off my letters in the am

[Catch-All]

Originally Posted by quack quack

Did you see the report on the news last night?

Eric - yes, I saw it. Poolman and I were talking about Channel 12's coverage of it. We think they did an excellent job and should be commended for it.

-they explained that thousands of jobs will be lost because of the year-long snapper/grouper closures.
-they explained that the fish are in abundance and don't need a closure.
-they didn't have the usual radical Enviro group spokesman spewing their usual pack of lies.

They got everything right. I hope they keep pursuing this so that more fishermen and the public gets riled up.

Mark

[Catch-All]

Guys, in addition to your Congressman letter/fax and youir two Senator letters/faxes, you should also fax the letter to the Dept of Commerce, the govt branch that oversees NMFS/SAFMC.

Address it to:

Dept of Commerce
Office of the Secretary
Attn: Mr Otto Wolf - Acting Secretary
fax 202-482-3592

Your letters & faxes count. Keep 'em coming!

Thanks,
Catch

[OBAMA]

These guys are taking the easy way out with a total closure. I believe that they should close
zones where needed and alternate those zones. It is should also be done to minimize any
economic hardship; the industry would not survive the present plan. cheers, O

[mneptune]

[timnmatty]

Hey Catch, Tim here. Glad to see you've got the word spread over here.
I was at Dusky this morning and was talking to Bouncer. He asked me if I was a member and to get the word out. Signed up and saw that you had already taken care of bidness! I hope everyone gets motivated!

Pay attention all......this is not BS.

[Catch-All]

Tim - welcome aboard to SFC!

The letter I posted above was for the SAFMC Amendment 16 Shallow-Water Snapper/Grouper Closures.

I have completed the draft of the 100FFC position paper on Amendment 17 and will have it completed this afternoon.

I will be posting it on 100FFC, mass emailing it to the members so they can copy/paste it and also post it here for the SFC members to copy/paste it & fax/mail it.

Mark

[cogzwell]

faxed mine this morning. Thanks and lets win this.