LETTERS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY FRIDAY, FEB 19TH AT 5 PM to be sure they are delivered on this visit.

Businesses that rely on fishing-

We need letters from fishing clubs affected by recent and pending fishing closures, submitted in a word document or pdf. so we can personally deliver your letter to each legislator we visit.

It is preferable to have it on your club's letter head.

The letter should lead off with information regarding your club including:

Name of club/type of club

number of members

how old is club

Also mention how closures affect your members

We have a suggested body for a letter below.  Feel free to edit it or copy it as you see fit.

Sample of introduction below:

Dear legislators:

My name is Bob Dyer.  I am an officer of the 58 year old St. Petersburg Underwater Club, a 70 member spearfishing club whose founding members were among the pioneers of SCUBA gear and diving.  Our members fish and dive in the Gulf, the South Atlantic, Pacific and the Caribbean.  We often observe (and report) that fish purported to be in peril actually appear healthy. 

Seventeen of our members have become American Academy of Underwater Science (AAUS) research divers in the past six years in response to the need for more data.  We are sad to report from inside the process that sound science and data are ignored if they do not lead to reductions or elimination of fishing effort.  We are concerned that Congress' mandates to repair the fatally flawed data system have been repeatedly ignored by the National Marine Fisheries Service.  We should be expanding fishing opportunities for recreational anglers, not eliminating them.  Please help us.  You can save us from the unnecessary closures, economic devastation and job loss. 

SUGGESTED BODY OF LETTER:

We add our voices to those who raise issues with our current fisheries management system.  Closing fisheries that appear healthy simply because of the uncertainty caused by fatally flawed data and questionable science is wrong and will cost us dearly in jobs and economic activity as well as our very right to fish.

Current estimates of the fatally flawed recreational data system show recreational fishing effort at or near record levels, which is in direct contradiction of the marine community and marine economy’s indication that fishing effort is significantly lower than four years ago.  Is it the intention of Magnuson-Stevens to base closures of healthy fisheries on the uncertainty of such fatally flawed data? 

With the best intentions, the Magnuson-Stevens Act was reauthorized.  Those best intentions are about to have the unintended and unnecessary consequences of economic disaster.  Please help me to preserve our heritage and keep the NMFS from destroying our fisheries through the use of uncertainty and fatally flawed data as ‘best available science’. 

Fishing matters to us.  Fishing should matter to you.  Constituents from your state will be coming to Washington DC February 22-25^th and many will be visiting you personally.  Please listen to those people who deliver our letter to you, as they bear our message that FISHING MATTERS.  They will be asking for your help in crafting solutions that will protect our fisheries and our right to fish from unnecessary restrictions. 

Please join your constituents for a history-making rally of fishing interests on the steps of the Capitol on February 24^th, 2010 at Noon.  Your presence will be noted for all to see. 

 We ask that you hold NMFS accountable for their inaction and that you mandate the repair and functionality of the fatally flawed system before any further closures or restrictions are put in place.

Righting a wrong will save jobs and our right to fish.  You can prevent JOB LOSS and ECONOMIC DEVASTATION from becoming Magnuson’s legacy.  Please help us.

Respectfully,

Name

Title

Club name

Address

Phone

Email address

website

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