Today in Washington DC, a Congressional hearing will begin to determine the future of red snapper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. The House Natural Resources Committee Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans will debate HR. 3094 – the Gulf States Red Snapper Management Authority Act. This legislation, sponsored by Garret Graves (R-La.), would shift management of red snapper from the federal government and allow the states to manage the entire fishery.
The management agency for every Gulf state has come to the same conclusion as recreational anglers – federal management of red snapper is a failure. Recreational anglers – the people who go fishing on weekends and holidays with their kids and families – have no voice in federal fisheries management. The recreational community is united in its conviction that the states will bring balance back into the red snapper fishery to do what is necessary to manage it both for the benefit of everyone – commercial, for-hire and recreational anglers – and for the health of the resource.
Opposing HR 3094 are those who have benefitted the most from federal management – commercial harvesters and a small faction of charter/for-hire operators. These are businesses that have relentlessly manipulated the federal system and have already been given personal ownership of a percentage of the red snapper fishery or are on their way to being gifted a share to use as their own, however and whenever they want. The rest of us can look forward to 10-day seasons in federal waters.
Act now to protect your freedom to access a public resource.
This is your chance to tell your Congressman that there is a better way. HR 3094 would set the red snapper fishery back on track with principles used to manage everything from ducks to deer to largemouth bass. Click the link below to send a message to your Congressman before the hearing tomorrow and let them know how important this is to you. Ask them to support HR 3094, and help us take back our fisheries.
Click the link below to log in and send your message: https://www.votervoice.net/BroadcastLinks/edjfJbYhPiAbUuNsvmHS4Q
