Help us stop them from shutting down Snapper fishing!

****Message From Ms. Becky Hogan****

Hello To Everyone:

Most all of you know me through the Mayport Princess, but many of you are also friends and family. Please take 15 minutes out of your week (and try to get at least 5 or 10 other people to do so) to comment on the potential for closing the red snapper fishery for a minimum of 25 years. In some way or another, whether you fish or not, the closing of this fishery will impact all those who live in the states of FL, GA, NC and SC in excess of 8 billion dollars loss of revenue. There will be NO recreational or commercial harvest of red snapper if approved by the Secretary of Commerce, beginning in October 2009 and going at LEAST 25 years!! No fishing in Florida means no tourists dollars (our biggest source of income), no fresh fish (imported farm raised will be on your menus), no one purchasing boats, trailers, fuel, ice, bait, boat insurance, etc. Imagine the trickle down effect from such a massive closing of such a critical species to the fishing industry.

If you are a bottom fishermen in the state of Florida, you know how greatly the red snapper stocks have improved over the past 17 years since the regulations were changed in 1992. However, many environmental lobbyists in Washington, D.C. (paid for by large seafood importers of farmed raised fish) have convinced our Federal government that our red snapper stocks are no longer sustainable at the rate we are fishing them. Sort of like we import our oil (BECAUSE ITS CHEAPER)!! In fact, its EXACTLY the same process. The small businesses account for nothing, and BIG business has all the power to change the laws to improve their bottom dollar.

You have until Aug. 5th to make a comment by logging ontohttp://www.keepoceanfishing.com. I set this web site up for computer dummies like myself, so that you do not have to try and navigate the Federal Register. Click on write a comment and just fill in the blanks and hit send. Your comment will go directly to the appropriate place in the Federal Register. There are over 1000 charter boats who rely on bottom fishing in the state of Florida alone, and your comment WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

THANKS A MILLION FOR TAKING THE TIME TO WRITE YOUR LETTER TO LET OUR NEW SECRETARY COMMERCE (Gary Locke) KNOW WHAT AN ECONOMIC DISASTER THIS WILL HAVE BECAUSE THE FISHERMEN THEMSELVES DO NOT HAVE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO LOBBY FOR THEIR RIGHT TO FISH. DO THIS TODAY, NOT TOMORROW AS SO MANY LIVELIHOODS DEPEND ON YOU.

Becky Hogan
Owner
Mayport Princess