The petition
To:
United States Congress
D.O.C.
ASMFC
NEFMC
NMFS
We, the citizens of the United States of America,
have signed this petition to affect an immediate and decisive end to the practice of allowing midwater trawlers to fish within 50 miles of our coasts. We have tried to be reasonable in reaching some sort of compromise with the midwater trawlers, but they seem to only want what they want, refusing to compromise unless forced into compliance with what we the general public want, hence this petition.
The midwater trawl fishery has changed so much about our near shore fisheries for cod and tuna that they are a shadow of their former selves. The food that would ordinarily be available in these areas is not present in quantities long enough for the prey fishes to stay in an area and become accustomed to being there.
The once plentiful mackerel and herring which our prey fishes need to proliferate are being pushed around and literally stolen away from them before they even have a chance. These are what we should be catching, not the bait, but the prey fish.
We've heard the arguments from the midwater folks who claim that the herring and mackerel are abundant and that they aren't causing a depletion, we simply don't care. We want them eliminated from our coasts, year round. These are after all, our fish. We don't want anymore committees or panels to be assembled to discuss this, we simply want them eliminated.
This petition is our way of telling you, you work for us and we are telling you, we want this, none else should matter. To deny our petition is to deny our importance as the citizens of the United States and we will not tolerate that or the midwater boats any longer.
We simply ask that the midwater boats be kept offshore all year, where they belong.
Sincerely,
America's citizens
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