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This just in from the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA):
Red snapper stocks in the Gulf of Mexico have been decimated as a result of juveniles being killed as bycatch in shrimp trawls for decades. The red snapper population today is severely depleted and requires drastic management action to recover the stock.
 
NOAA Fisheries has issued a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper and Shrimp Fisheries. The entire DEIS can be viewed at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov - and click on Gulf Red Snapper. CCA is calling on its members to comment on the management options outlined in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. The comment period is open until November 27.
 
CCA’s position: Any new proposed regulations must include a 50% - 80% reduction in red snapper bycatch in shrimp trawls. Without such reductions, red snapper will never recover. This is your opportunity to make a statement for the conservation of this important recreational fishery. Using the information below, contact NOAA Fisheries and demand that any red snapper management plans include specific measures to significantly reduce the impact of shrimp trawls on red snapper stocks.

For more information about the need to reduce the devastating impact of shrimp trawl bycatch to red snapper, visit the CCA Fishery Focus section of the website - http://www.joincca.org/snapper.html.

Send your comments:
 
By mail:
Phil Steele
NOAA Fisheries Service
263 13th Avenue South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701

(Continue for more contact information …)

 
By fax:
Attention Phil Steele
NOAA Fisheries Service
727-824-5308
 
By email:
Attention Phil Steele
NOAA Fisheries Service
0648-AT87.DEIS@noaa.gov
(Include in the email subject line the following identifier: 0648-AT87)
 
Copies of comments should also be submitted:
 
By mail:
Rodney F. Weiher, Ph.D.
NOAA Office of Programming and Integration (PPI/SP)
SSMC3, Room 15603
1315 East-West Highway
Silver Springs, MD 20910
 
By fax:
Attention Rodney F. Weiher, Ph.D.
301-713-0585
 
By email:
Attention Rodney F. Weiher, Ph.D.
nepa.comments@noaa.gov
 
Click the link below to log in and send your message:
http://votervoice.net/target.asp?id=coastal:10863434

This entry was posted on Monday, October 23rd, 2006 at 6:40 pm and is filed under News. You can follow responses via my RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your site.