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Act Now to Save Red Snapper

Target: Peter Hood; Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council
Sponsored by: The Ocean Conservancy

Contrary to what your mother told you, there are only so many fish in the sea. And, while most people recognize that the ocean's bounty is central to our very survival, we have too often failed to recognize that ocean resources are finite. They can be exhausted.

Without immediate action, red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico face further depletion that jeopardizes the long-term health of this signature fish population.

For over two decades Gulf fishery managers, whose responsibility it is to protect and sustain our fish populations, have ignored science and repeatedly set catch levels too high. As a result, the spawning population of Gulf red snapper is down to 3% of its historic abundance.

In early June, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council adopt new measures for red snapper, and time is running out to get the plan right.

Tell the Fish Management Council to work aggressively to end overfishing of red snapper and to rebuild the population as quickly as possible.

deadline: 5-28-2007
goal: 10,000

15,560
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Success! Because of the Ocean Conservancy's hard work and dedicated people like you, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council adopted a plan to set a science-based catch limit for red snapper. Thank you! Please click here for more petitions.

I am deeply concerned about the health of red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico. Red snapper is vitally important to the ocean ecosystem and the fishing communities that depend on them. Failure to stop the depletion of red snapper poses threats for the fish, fishermen, consumers and coastal economies.

As an Ocean Conservancy supporter, I write to urge the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council to implement management measures in Amendments 27 & 14 (as part of the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, or "DSEIS") that will end the overfishing of red snapper and rebuild red snapper as quickly as possible.

In order to restore the health of the Gulf red snapper population, I urge you to adopt measures that: (1) set a scientifically based catch limit that will end overfishing by 2009 and rebuild red snapper as soon as possible; (2) greatly reduce bycatch in the red snapper fishery, as well as bycatch from shrimp trawls to levels necessary to end overfishing and restore red snapper; (3) enforce catch and bycatch limits so that they are not exceeded as they have been in the past; and (4) provide economic incentives for fishermen to achieve conservation benefits.

Continued overfishing of red snapper is bad for the Gulf ecosystem and bad for fishing communities reliant on sustainable fishing which healthy stocks can provide. As stewards of our natural resources, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council has the responsibility to use sound, science-based catch levels and other conservation measures to ensure a healthy and productive Gulf ecosystem. Please uphold your duty as stewards of our fisheries by taking action now to restore red snapper to healthy levels.

Sincerely,
/Your Name/
/Your Address/
/Your City, State, Zip/

We signed the “Act Now to Save Red Snapper” petition!

# 200:

1:47 pm PDT, May 18, Dave Sennett, Pennsylvania

# 199:

1:47 pm PDT, May 18, Jennifer Ash, New York

# 198:

1:47 pm PDT, May 18, Ken Schiff, Oregon

# 197:

1:47 pm PDT, May 18, Donatella Scabini, California

# 196:

1:47 pm PDT, May 18, Rachel Gilles, Illinois

# 195:

1:47 pm PDT, May 18, Christopher Rocca, New Mexico

# 194:

1:47 pm PDT, May 18, ANNIE LAURIE, Massachusetts

# 193:

1:47 pm PDT, May 18, Gordon Fellman, Massachusetts

# 192:

1:47 pm PDT, May 18, Herb Greenebaum, Connecticut

# 191:

1:47 pm PDT, May 18, Amanda Butler, Utah

# 190:

1:47 pm PDT, May 18, Name not displayed, California

# 189:

1:47 pm PDT, May 18, Meredith MacCracken, California

# 188:

1:47 pm PDT, May 18, Greg Mcgarvey, Pennsylvania

# 187:

1:47 pm PDT, May 18, Charles Holley, Texas

# 186:

1:47 pm PDT, May 18, Kimberly Dobrinski, Florida

# 185:

1:47 pm PDT, May 18, Mike Fitzgerald, California

# 184:

1:47 pm PDT, May 18, Thomas Hooppaw, Illinois

# 183:

1:47 pm PDT, May 18, Kriste Duff, Florida

# 182:

1:47 pm PDT, May 18, Karin Lewis, Colorado

# 181:

1:47 pm PDT, May 18, Karen Amato, North Carolina

# 180:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, Diane Shanahan, Illinois

# 179:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, Inken Purvis, Colorado
The Oceans are not an endless resource!

# 178:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, Jenny Malicoat, Missouri

# 177:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, John Lemmon, Colorado

# 176:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, LLEWELLYN D. SHAW, Pennsylvania

# 175:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, Dr. Obermeier, New Mexico

# 174:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, Mary Fussner, Colorado

# 173:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, Bevyn Lowe, Connecticut

# 172:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, Laura Gerke, Illinois
Please do not allow the red snapper to be fished into extinction.

# 171:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, Micki Stickford, New York

# 170:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, Denny Wallace, Florida

# 169:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, Ed Brockhausen, Texas

# 168:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, Susan Stayton, Hawaii

# 167:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, Dennis Rogers, Massachusetts

# 166:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, Polly Pillsbury, Massachusetts

# 165:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, Deborah Pelletier, Massachusetts
Is there no end to it? One would think that the people elected or appointed to positions for conservation would be able to take care of their work without continual prompting by the rest of us!

# 164:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, Mary Felder, Connecticut

# 163:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, Scott Tecza, New Jersey

# 162:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, Jerome Bibuld, Connecticut

# 161:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, A. Wolf, New York

# 160:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, Kelley Walla, California

# 159:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, Helen Sin, California

# 158:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, Erika Whitton, Michigan

# 157:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, Tom Layman, Virginia

# 156:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, Bobbi Chapman, Minnesota

# 155:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, D Anderson, Washington

# 154:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, Cathy Condron, Massachusetts

# 153:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, James McCammon, California

# 152:

1:46 pm PDT, May 18, Laura Oesterhaus, Kansas
If we don't stop overfishing now there won't be any fish left for our grandchildren to enjoy.

# 151:

1:45 pm PDT, May 18, Alan Citron, Vermont

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