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 Senator 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. HB 1460 contains these recommendations and 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. Thanks to your input and the efforts of the Camo Coalition, House Bill 1460 was unanimously passed by the House Game, Fish, and Parks Committee and easily passed the House of Representatives. HB 1460 is now scheduled for a vote in the Senate and Camo Coalition input will help ensure its passage. Please contact your State Senator to express support for the passage of SB 1460.

Please take action and ask your Senator 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 Senator

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

Support HB 1460

Dear Senator,
I am a voter in your district.

As a Georgia Sportsman and 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. HB 1460 unanimously passed the House Game, Fish and Parks Committee and easliy passed in the House of Representatives. Please vote YES in support of House Bill 1460 when it comes to a floor vote in the Senate this week.

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

This Action Alert Campaign is Closed.