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06-29-2001, 08:26 PM

Dave posted this on the Salt Water board, I thought it should be seen by the folks here as well in case ya don’t look into the Salt water board… Dear Fellow Captains and Anglers: This year starting August 15, 2001 the North and Central Regions off the California coast will be off limits and closed to drift gillnets due to a recent lawsuit as a result of the high level of bycatch of endangered sea turtles. What this means to Southern California anglers is that there will be a complete shift in pelagic drift net fishing effort to areas located below Point Conception starting on August 15th . These nets will be placed right in the heart of our fishing areas. Each net covers 2,000,000 square feet of water starting 36’ below the surface and be placed in as close as 3 miles from shore. There will as many or more than 100 of these nets placed in the water any given night! This would mean a literal wall of gillnets entangling striped marlin, tuna, swordfish, sharks, sunfish, seals or any other animal that swims into these walls of death. The nets will be placed right where you like to fish – in the most productive areas that attract and hold the pelagics, on temperature breaks in and around key offshore bottom structure. Looking at the 99’ DFG log data from drift net effort most all of it’s going to happen inside 60 miles! We at The Billfish Foundation have written to the California Director of the Department of Fish and Game, Mr. Robert Hight and asked that he not allow this. After over a two month period of no written response to our letters we have now been told after contacting his office by phone that the DFG is “looking into the issue” and will do a two week analysis to determine what the levels of striped marlin and juvenile shark bycatch will be before the Department will form a position on the issue. They tell us they might respond by late July. This does not leave much time on the table for us to act to save our sport fish during the peak of our local season. If not stopped you will see more nets being set than ever before in just 47 days from today! Mr. Hight has executive power to prevent this, it’s his decision. We ask that you DEMAND that Mr. Hight listen to concerned sport fishermen, those he is hired to serve and make the right decision. BELOW IS THE LETTER WE ARE ASKING ALL CONCERNED SPORTFISHER PEOPLE TO SIGN AND MAIL TO HIM OR IF MORE CONVENIENT EMAIL TO HIM. Thanks for doing this simple thing by sending this letter or similar letters or emails to Mr. Hight. Please cc me or email me if you have sent a letter to Mr. Hight so we can log the number of letters he receives. Thank you so much for your support on this matter. Dave Brackmann Chairman West Coast Advisory Panel for The Billfish Foundation dbrackmann@ashwillre.com The Billfish Foundation has demanded that the California Department of Fish and Game take action to prevent an influx of drift gillnet vessels into Southern California waters this summer. Your input on this issue is important. A sample letter / email follows. ************* Mr. Robert Hight, Director California Department of Fish and Game P.O. Box 944209 Sacramento, California 94244-2090 Dear Mr. Hight: As a concerned saltwater angler and conservationist I am writing to urge you to respond favorably to The Billfish Foundation’s recent request to prevent an influx of drift gillnet effort into the Southern California Bight this summer. The bycatch and mortality of striped marlin, juvenile sharks and other species in this gear is already at unacceptably high levels. Additional net gear in our waters during the height of the angling season will increase this waste and create dramatic new conflicts between net fishers and anglers. Please use your authority to prevent this problem before it occurs. Sincerely, Mr. Hight’s email address is: rhight@dfg.ca.gov [ Wink

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