Petition to Remove Long Line & Trawler Gear from the Gulf of Mexico

Hi,

Passing this along from the FS forums......please sign the petition at:
http://www.petitiononline.com/LongLine/petition.html and please
forward this to friends and family...

To: US Congress
PETITION TO REMOVE LONG LINE & TRAWLERS FROM
THE GULF OF MEXICO
The undersigned on this petition hereby state in support that:
In as the Gulf of Mexico has been declared a special environmental
habitat, we request the US House of Representatives and/or the US
Senate sponsor and pass a bill that declare that the Gulf of Mexico is
a special ecological area with unique habitat and characteristics. When
indiscriminate untended commercial fishing gear is allowed to operate
within its boundaries, the Magnusson/Stevens Act's mandate of
sustainable fishery can not be met.
The destruction of habitat and excessive by-catch associated with long
line and trawling gear is incompatible with the Gulf of Mexico's
unique habitat. We respectfully request that the use of any gear not
fully tended by an angler or crew, to include the use of long line and
trawling gear be banned from the waters of the Gulf of Mexico

Thanks!!

"Swede" <manfr42720@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1122479465.063739.239620@g44g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...

> Passing this along from the FS forums......please sign the petition at:
> http://www.petitiononline.com/LongLine/petition.html and please
> forward this to friends and family...

Oh yeah, an online petition. That will scare them.

You should get together with Karl and present a united front.

Greg Mossman wrote:
> "Swede" <manfr42720@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1122479465.063739.239620@g44g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
>
> > Passing this along from the FS forums......please sign the petition at:
> > http://www.petitiononline.com/LongLine/petition.html and please
> > forward this to friends and family...
>
> Oh yeah, an online petition. That will scare them.
>
> You should get together with Karl and present a united front.

An online petition beats sitting outside collecting signatures......and
its not only a petition, if (when) we get enough signatures it will be
put on a ballot.....
This effort is organized by the FRA (fishing rights alliance) and
backed by the coastal conservation association (CCA.

"Swede" <manfr42720@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1122658706.873711.150380@g49g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...

> An online petition beats sitting outside collecting signatures......and
> its not only a petition, if (when) we get enough signatures it will be
> put on a ballot.....
> This effort is organized by the FRA (fishing rights alliance) and
> backed by the coastal conservation association (CCA.

If it's so backed, then collect a heck of a lot of money and get a lobbyist
to do the work. Politicians don't give a damn about petitions.

"Greg Mossman" wrote

>> An online petition beats sitting outside collecting signatures......and
>> its not only a petition, if (when) we get enough signatures it will be
>> put on a ballot.....
>> This effort is organized by the FRA (fishing rights alliance) and
>> backed by the coastal conservation association (CCA.
>
> If it's so backed, then collect a heck of a lot of money and get a
> lobbyist to do the work. Politicians don't give a damn about petitions.

You're both right and wrong. Politicians don't care about petitions to
change something. They do, however, care about petitions to put something
on the ballot for a public vote. Years ago, conservationist petitions,
lobbied and, generally, did everything they could think of to get a gill net
ban implemented in Florida waters. Nothing even came close to overcoming
the commercial fishing bias of our wildlife management process . . . until
the petitions changed focus. Our law, like the laws for many states, allow
the citizens to petition to put an amendment to the vote. These laws
require that, upon receipt of a specified number of signatures, the
legislature must put the issue on a ballot. Enough signatures were
received, the net band amendment was put on the ballot and was
overwhelmingly passed. The only way to accomplish the goal, here, was to do
an end run on the commercially dominated commission.

I see no reason to believe that anything short of a similar move, this time
on a national level, will enjoy any degree of success.

Lee