Help End Commercial Longlining for Dolphin.
Below, please find a drafted letter to send to your local legislators and members of the SAFMC. We urge you to contact state representatives, senators and members of the Council in effort to protect the future of the dolphin fishery by banning commercial longline gear.
South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (SAFMC) Members
Find your State Representatives
Dear Senator, Representative, Council Member,
Dolphin are critically important to the recreational fishery in the South Atlantic; however, manipulations by federal fisheries managers continue to encourage the development of a directed longline fishery that, in turn, could have a radically negative impact on the future of recreational fishery, if it has not already.
The federal emphasis on commercializing dolphin is not new. In 2014, the bluewater longline commercial sector caught its entire dolphin quota in the first five months, resulting in a commercial closure from Key West to Maine for the remainder of the year.
Next week, the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (SAFMC) will meet to discuss Dolphin-Wahoo Amendment 10. It is time to implement measures to condemn and prevent the development of directed longline fishery for dolphin.
As a concerned recreational fisherman, I urge you to vote and end commercial longlining for dolphin. Please help protect important recreational fishery for today and generations to come.
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