RFA / TEXAS MINUTEMAN

The Recreational Fishing Alliance
Texas State Chapter

RFA / TEXAS MINUTEMAN

DEMOCRACY IS NOT A SPECTATOR SPORT

A Call To Arms !

Red Snapper Fisheries Management

Red Snapper is an extremely valuable Texas natural resource and the lifeblood of the Gulf of Mexico recreational and charter fishing industry. Its importance to you as an angler and to Texas coastal communities’ tourism, boating and related industries is estimated to exceed $1.7 billion annually. Unreasonable restrictions which National Marine Fisheries has placed on this fishery (and even more unreasonable restrictions they are proposing) are having a devastating impact on coastal fishing and coastal economies. A very real danger exists that hundreds of thousands of Texans will be effectively excluded from our offshore fishing resources due to these unreasonable regulations and efforts by NMFS to force Texas to adopt these same regulations.

The crisis we face is the result of two factors; anti-fishing environmental groups and elitist fishing organizations pursuing a policy that would sharply limit many Texan’s access to marine fisheries, and an inflexible national fisheries law that penalizes anglers even when good rebuilding progress is being made. RFA spear-headed an effort with members of the 110^th Congress to draft a science-based revision to Magnuson Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act that unfortunately died when that session ended. We are now organizing an all out grass-roots movement to encourage all five Gulf state Governors and their Congressional delegations to support such a revision in the 111^th Congress.

We were saddened by the recent loss of Texas Parks & Wildlife Commissioner John Parker, who had worked tirelessly to help us outline a plan to move this issue forward. Before he died, Commissioner Parker briefed Governor Perry on this issue and the Governor agreed to raise the issue with other Gulf States Governors. Now, our job is to let all the Gulf Governors hear from the fishing communities at large that action is needed by them and state Congressional delegations to revise the Magnuson Act.

We are asking that you write a brief letter to Governor Perry stating the importance to Texas sportsmen of getting flexibility added to the Magnuson Act, and that you do the same with your U.S. Congressman and U.S. Senators. If you act now we’re confident our collective voices will be heard throughout the Gulf and in Washington D.C. Governor Perry’s, Senator Hutchison’s and Senator Cornyn’s mailing and email addresses are shown below. You can Google your U.S. Representative’s addresses. We urge you to take these actions NOW to help preserve Texan’s access to our Gulf fisheries.

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison	Senator John Cornyn	Gov. Rick Perry
Attn: Obi Galvan 1919 Smith Street - Suite 800 Houston, Texas 77002 713-653-3456 713-209-3459 – Fax	Attn: Gail Green 100 E. Ferguson Street, Suite Tyler, TX 75702 903-593-0902 903-593-0920 – Fax	Attn: Toby Baker P.O. Box 12428 Austin TX 12428 512-463-1778 512-463-1975- Fax

Click HERE to identify your U.S. House (Congressional) Representative.

From time to time, issues critical to the recreational angler will surface which require action by not only RFA / TEXAS, but by YOU, our individual members. This action may take the form of contacting your elected representatives, attending or providing input to hearings, meetings, rallies, and demonstrations, writing Letters To The Editors of various newspapers, magazines, and other publications, and convincing others to do the same. We may suggest that you consider joining and supporting other groups and organizations dedicated to our common interests. As elements of these issues approach critical mass and become time sensitive, they will be highlighted with ** alerting you to check this page to learn what immediate action you can take to help assure an outcome favorable to the recreational angler.

RFA is an IRS 501 (c) (4) not -for -profit organization. Contributions, gifts or membership dues paid to the RFA or its chapters are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.

By providing links to other sites, RFA / TEXAS does not guarantee, approve or endorse the information or products available at these sites, nor does a link indicate any association with or endorsement by the linked site to RFA / TEXAS.

10/26/2009