October 1998Issue
#74
SeaWatch is underwritten by THE ORVIS COMPANY |
|
|
October 1998Issue
#74
SeaWatch is underwritten by THE ORVIS COMPANY |
|
Vote YES! on Amendment 5 for Conservation
by Rick Farren
Less than 25 days and counting until the November 3rd election.
Amendment 5, The Conservation Amendment, will be on the November 3rd General Election Ballot and the campaign is in full swing. CCA Florida has joined forces with The Nature Conservancy, Florida Wildlife Federation and Florida Audubon Society to form the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Committee to lead the campaign to educate voters on the importance of the Amendment’s passage. "Amendment 5 is essential for the protection of Florida’s special natural areas and for marine fisheries conservation," said CCA Florida’s Executive Director Ted Forsgren. "We all need to work hard to achieve an overwhelming positive vote."
One of 13 proposed Constitutional amendments on the November 3rd ballot, Amendment 5 is a mainstream proposal designed to give Floridians a better opportunity to protect the very things that make our state a special place to live and work.
Amendment 5 extends the state’s ability to acquire environmentally-endangered lands and protect those lands for public benefit and for future generations. It also creates a Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to unify Florida’s fresh water and marine fisheries agencies and eliminates the bureaucratic and legal gridlocks which have killed many critically-needed fisheries conservation laws. "This may be the only chance we have to substantially improve the saltwater fisheries lawmaking process in the foreseeable future," said Ted Forsgren.
The most compelling reason to pass Amendment 5 is that without it, we run the risk of losing the very things that make Florida a special place. In the last ten years, Florida’s population has grown at a net increase of 700 new people per day. In that same period of time, public land acquisition programs have allowed the state to acquire a million acres of new parks, preserves, and forests to set aside in the face of growth. Unfortunately, these programs will expire next year because the authority in the Constitution will end. We must amend the Constitution to continue to save the best of Florida before it’s too late.
Polls Show Conservation Amendment 5 Is a Winner!
Polling research indicates Amendment 5 has strong support among Florida voters. Floridians love living here because of our abundant wildlife and fisheries, our scenic rivers and lakes, and our unique ecosystems like the Everglades. Floridians are also afraid that we’re losing the very things that make Florida special! Amendment 5 for Conservation will give us the tools to protect and preserve what is best about Florida -- but only if enough voters are made aware of its significance.
A Winning Campaign Plan Depends on an Educated Voter
Only a small percentage of Florida voters are even aware of the constitutional amendment proposals and some are confused by the ballot language. Twenty years ago, all recommendations of the Constitution Revision Commission were rejected by the voters! That’s why we must work hard to educate the voters about the importance of Amendment 5.
The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Committee has developed a campaign plan and is now putting it into action. The plan has three parts: television, endorsements and grassroots support. Based on advice from well-respected political consultants, that plan calls for raising over $1 million for a TV ad campaign, without which it is doubtful we can reach enough voters before the November 3rd election day arrives.
We need to reach the voters to ensure that Amendment 5 survives the voter apathy and distrust of complicated legal language which could prove too much to overcome without a high profile campaign about what will be lost if this amendment doesn’t pass. The plan also calls for raising our visibility in ways that don’t require money. As part of that effort we are recruiting a large number of endorsements from public officials, newspapers, organizations and businesses.
Volunteers and Financial Contributions are Needed Now!
Use the form on this page and make a contribution to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Committee to help buy the TV time that is absolutely necessary if we want Florida voters to vote YES on Amendment 5. (Click here for the form online.)
Call the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Committee Campaign Headquarters (1-800-647-9912) and volunteer to hand out palm cards or hold a sign at your precinct on election day.
Recruit friends and family to help -- we need to recruit 5,000 people to handle 5,000 precincts!
Write a letter to the editor of your local paper urging people to vote YES on Amendment 5. (Call Campaign Headquarters for an activist’s tool kit and a sample letter to the editor.)
Call friends and relatives and urge them to Vote YES on Amendment 5!
This article was prepared with excerpts from The Florida Audubon Society’s Amendment 5 Campaign Newsletter.
[Click here to see the Amendment 5 for Conservation Web Site.]
by Ted Forsgren
In July, poachers on Pine Island in Lee County stacked the filleted carcasses of 52 undersize snook in the middle of a public road. Three weeks later, after extensive public outcry over the incident, poachers dumped another 45 snook carcasses. (Click here to see the photograph of the snook carcasses.)
The two recent displays of contempt for marine resource laws in which filleted snook carcasses were dumped on a public road are the newest additions to a long list of poaching and illegal netting activities that have occurred in the Pine Island area. Other incidents include the dumping of snook carcasses on the doorstep of the local U. S. Post Office, the hanging of filleted snook carcasses on navigational markers and the nailing of baby tarpon to telephone poles.
There is no other area of the state where poachers display such blatant disregard for marine laws and marine law enforcement officials. In stacking the snook carcasses, the Pine Island poachers made their public statement and issued their challenge to state law enforcement.
Florida Marine Patrol (FMP) officials investigating the incidents stated that the dumped carcasses in the first incident had no spear marks or hook marks, thus indicating that the fish were apparently taken with nets. Additionally, FMP Captain Dennis Grealish told the Ft. Myers News-Press that the culprits likely are renegade commercial netters.
In fact, the Pine Island area continues to be a hotbed of illegal gill netting, particularly during the fall mullet spawning season. Last March, CCA Florida gathered photographic evidence of outlaw gill netting activity. Photographers went to west coast fish houses and commercial docking facilities and took numerous photos of small (16 to 23 foot) flat bottom net boats with large monofilament gill nets on board. Many photos were taken in the Pine Island area.
The only place the photographed gill nets could be legally used is more than ten miles out into the Gulf, yet they were in boats which were clearly not capable of operating that far offshore. The only conclusion is that the net boats and gill nets were being used for illegal netting in inshore waters.
Every year since passage of the net ban CCA Florida has forwarded numerous eyewitness accounts of illegal gill netting activity at specific fish houses. Even reports of illegal gill netting in broad daylight are not unusual. It’s also important to note that these reports often come from commercial fishermen as well as recreational anglers, and although some arrests have been made, the poaching simply continues.
CCA Florida, in a July 29 letter, urged Governor Lawton Chiles to request "priority action from appropriate state law enforcement agencies to stop the ongoing outlaw activity."
In response, Governor Chiles wrote, in part:
"I share in your concern. This disgraceful action represents an obvious problem with fisheries enforcement in Southwest Florida.
"The Florida Marine Patrol has identified two suspects in the incident involving the 52 undersized snook carcasses, and is pursuing the investigation aggressively. Unfortunately, identifying the perpetrators does not guarantee redress through the courts. The department will spare no effort in pursuing prosecution.
"Meanwhile, I am asking Secretary Wetherell to give the matter of fisheries law enforcement in Lee County special attention and take action as appropriate to deal with this problem."
The Florida Marine Patrol has put out a call for information on the snook dumping indicating that callers would remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward up to $1,000. CCA Florida along with local businesses and other interested groups have agreed to provide additional reward funds.
