Action Alert: Industry Greed Impacting Sport Fishing and Recreational Shrimp Harvest

Sunday, September 05, 2010

Industry Greed Impacting Sport Fishing and Recreational Shrimp Harvest

You can take action on this alert by reading the information below and following the directions at the bottom.

Issue

Please take action and ask your legislator to support House Bill 1460.

Background

During 2005, the University of Georgia J. W. Fanning Institute working with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources coordinated a public involvement process to take a hard look at current shrimp fishing regulations, commercial and recreational. This process involved 19 Georgians including several recreational anglers and several members of the commercial shrimp industry. The group formally agreed on several recommendations for change. The stakeholders group was heard by State Representative Cecily Hill and she did a great job of crafting House Bill 1460. Representative Hill’s bill contains the recommendations. The bill amends Georgia law to implement the highest priority recommendations, several of which will directly benefit recreational shrimp harvesters. These include a repeal on the prohibition of modified cast nets, a change in law to allow recreational anglers to have bait and food shrimp cast nets in the boat at the same time, and a repeal of the maximum-size limit for food shrimp cast nets. Recreational possession limits and fishing hours will remain the same. House Bill 1460 was unanimously passed by the House Game, Fish, and Parks Committee and is scheduled for a vote in the House of Representatives on Monday, March 13, 2006.

Please take action and ask your legislator to support House Bill 1460.

Click on the "More" button to read the Georgia Department of Natural Resource's Impact Statement.

Your message will be sent to each of the following targets:

Your State Representative

A sample message appears below, which you may edit before sending.

Support HB 1460

Dear Representative,
I am a voter in your district.

As a sport fisherman I ask you to support HB 1460. This bill was developed after an extensive stakeholder process aimed at making several fair and reasonable changes to existing law to provide opportunities for recreational shrimpers and sport fishermen to enjoy our coastal resources without a negative impact. Great care was taken to protect the commercial as well as the recreational shrimp and fishery resources. Both commercial and recreational users were part of the stakeholder group that drafted recommendations which Representative Hill incorporated into HB 1460. The vote in favor of the bill in Committee was unanimous. Please vote yes in support of House Bill 1460 on Monday when it comes to a floor vote.

Thank you for supporting the ethical use of our renewable natural resources.
Your name and address here

This Action Alert Campaign is Closed.