Letter from a fisherman to Governor Crist & his response.

-----Original Message-----
From: Eric
Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 10:39 AM
To: Governor Charlie Crist
Subject: Recreational Fishing Concerns
Importance: High

Governor Crist,

I’m fairly sure your eyes will not see this email but I hope the assistants / staff members that do will make you aware of my concerns. I’m a Registered Republican living in New Port Richey, FL. I’m an avid boater and fisherman and spend many thousands of dollars a year on my hobby. I’m horrified at what the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, “the Council” and other government agencies are doing to restrict our right to enjoy our waters in a responsible way. You know very well that the recreational fisherman is not responsible for reductions in Grouper and Snapper populations (if there truly is any). If any of these species truly are “overfished” the blame lies with the commercial fishing industry.

I’m not writing you to go over why I think it’s wrong to restrict our right (you’ve surely got thousands of these letters already), I’m writing to inform you of what my fellow fishing community members and I will do if you stand by and do nothing. If you take a “middle of the road, offend no one” stance on this topic, you need to know what will happen when you are up for election for the Senate. WE WILL NOT VOTE FOR YOU. There are millions of boating and fishing enthusiasts in our state waiting for someone to be our voice. We’re praying for someone to take politics out of this and do the right thing. I hope that’s you… We all know your election is not going to be as easy as you may have thought it would be. You will face fierce competition from both Conservatives and Democrats. You need to align yourself with a group that represents millions of Floridians, sportsman.

So, I know it’s standard to send a “form” letter of some sort back to those who write or have someone write back “on behalf” of the Governor. But know that both this email and the response I get back will be posted on several boating and fishing related forum / websites (specific to FL) for the thousands of members to see. Your response will be judged by thousands. Take a stand; be our voice!!! I hope to hear from you…

This is the response I finally got today:

Dear Scharber,

Thank you for contacting Governor Charlie Crist’s Office and sharing your concerns about recent decisions by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (“the Council”). The Governor asked that I respond on his behalf.

Governor Crist supports the Council’s efforts to protect our precious natural resources; however, the Governor believes this action will have serious ramifications for Florida’s recreational anglers and our economy. The requirement to establish strict catch limits for all federally managed species that are undergoing “overfishing” by 2010 is affecting Florida in ways that were not anticipated. A closure effectively puts Florida’s fishermen out of work in an already challenging economic time and would severely diminish the multi-million dollar annual contribution the South Atlantic red snapper fishery makes to Florida’s economy.

Governor Crist has contacted Charles Davis, Chairman of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to encourage a prompt review of the science used to validate the Council’s decisions in the fishery management process. The Governor also contacted U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and asked that the Department do everything possible to lessen the impact on Florida’s anglers while still protecting our natural resources.

Rest assured, Governor Crist is committed to ensuring that necessary steps are taken to rebuild the red snapper population in all waters adjacent to Florida, but firmly believes that a fishery-wide closure must be a last resort only after all other options have been exhausted.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact Governor Crist. Please do not hesitate to write again to share your concerns and ideas about issues that are important to you.

Sincerely,

May Kue-Rowan

Office of Citizen Services

Just thought I'd share... Not sure if it's a form letter or not.