I found some interesting information about the Florida Save our Sealife campaign. We can do this. We have the numbers and we can get the signatures.
"The nets which the Save Our Sealife Amendment seeks to eliminate have been responsible for excessive and damaging harvesting of fish populations and are notorious for their unnecessary killing of other marine animals, such as turtles and dolphins. We have no choice but to take this issue directly to the people of Florida because both the Legislature and the Marine Fisheries Commission have failed to take adequate steps to control commercial netting. Save Our Sealife says that eliminating nets will help Florida's economy since both commercial and recreational fishing is threatened by fish-stock depletion. In coming weeks, the conservation coalition will recommend companion legislation to provide for compensation for those commercial net fishermen who may be impacted by the netting restrictions in the amendment.
This compensation could be funded through the state's saltwater recreational license fees."[30] Fish species subjected to gill netting, such as sea trout and mullet, have declined greatly and are continuing to fall. Other protected species are also killed in nets, as well as turtles, porpoises, manatees and birds. Eliminating the Florida nets will have no significant effect on fish supplies, and a restored abundance of marine life will support far more jobs than those involved in netting.[31]
The Florida Sportsman magazine clamored for a net ban a long time before the petition drive was launched. The Save Our Sealife Committee conducted a very effective petition drive on November 10, 1992 in which they collected 201,649 signatures outside the polling sites throughout Florida. According to their news release, the S.O.S. conservation coalition mounted the most successful one-day petition effort ever in America.[38]
With the success of that event bearing down on the fishing industry, it attempted to organize for the impending fight. There was no single, unified, statewide anti-net ban commercial fishing organization. There were only two statewide non-profits in Florida, Southeastern Fisheries Association and Organized Fishermen of Florida. There are numerous local commercial fishing groups without any professional representation or formalized structure. These two groups alone could not sustain a fight such as that which was about to occur.
Much of the information the Save Our Sealife PAC placed before the public appeared in outdoor writers columns as well as newsletters from the Florida Conservation Association, the Florida Wildlife Federation, The Florida League of Anglers, The Tropical Audubon Society of Miami, The Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund and the Florida Sportsman magazine.
The Save Our Sealife Political Action Committee set the agenda for the fight by accusing the net fishing industry, in the media, with a litany of evil fishing activities. The fishing industry was forced to answer all the accusations made against it by S.O.S. to the general public. As a result, the seafood industry had to fight on terms dictated by the net ban proponents agenda. The net fishermen were on the defensive throughout the entire net ban campaign.
As the issue became more intense, giant corporations, such as Time-Mirror magazines[39], Orvis Mail-order house catalogs and other sport oriented publications published information furnished by the Save Our Sealife Political Action Committee. Radio talk shows and local television stations covered the issue when something was particularly controversial. Pamphlets, flyers and petitions were distributed at some public schools for the children to take home to parents.
Very few public debates were held either at political gatherings or on television and radio. During the last few months of the net ban campaign, the Florida Conservation Association urged their members not to debate the commercial fishing leaders.[40]
"The nets which the Save Our Sealife Amendment seeks to eliminate have been responsible for excessive and damaging harvesting of fish populations and are notorious for their unnecessary killing of other marine animals, such as turtles and dolphins. We have no choice but to take this issue directly to the people of Florida because both the Legislature and the Marine Fisheries Commission have failed to take adequate steps to control commercial netting. Save Our Sealife says that eliminating nets will help Florida's economy since both commercial and recreational fishing is threatened by fish-stock depletion. In coming weeks, the conservation coalition will recommend companion legislation to provide for compensation for those commercial net fishermen who may be impacted by the netting restrictions in the amendment.
This compensation could be funded through the state's saltwater recreational license fees."[30] Fish species subjected to gill netting, such as sea trout and mullet, have declined greatly and are continuing to fall. Other protected species are also killed in nets, as well as turtles, porpoises, manatees and birds. Eliminating the Florida nets will have no significant effect on fish supplies, and a restored abundance of marine life will support far more jobs than those involved in netting.[31]
The Florida Sportsman magazine clamored for a net ban a long time before the petition drive was launched. The Save Our Sealife Committee conducted a very effective petition drive on November 10, 1992 in which they collected 201,649 signatures outside the polling sites throughout Florida. According to their news release, the S.O.S. conservation coalition mounted the most successful one-day petition effort ever in America.[38]
With the success of that event bearing down on the fishing industry, it attempted to organize for the impending fight. There was no single, unified, statewide anti-net ban commercial fishing organization. There were only two statewide non-profits in Florida, Southeastern Fisheries Association and Organized Fishermen of Florida. There are numerous local commercial fishing groups without any professional representation or formalized structure. These two groups alone could not sustain a fight such as that which was about to occur.
Much of the information the Save Our Sealife PAC placed before the public appeared in outdoor writers columns as well as newsletters from the Florida Conservation Association, the Florida Wildlife Federation, The Florida League of Anglers, The Tropical Audubon Society of Miami, The Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund and the Florida Sportsman magazine.
The Save Our Sealife Political Action Committee set the agenda for the fight by accusing the net fishing industry, in the media, with a litany of evil fishing activities. The fishing industry was forced to answer all the accusations made against it by S.O.S. to the general public. As a result, the seafood industry had to fight on terms dictated by the net ban proponents agenda. The net fishermen were on the defensive throughout the entire net ban campaign.
As the issue became more intense, giant corporations, such as Time-Mirror magazines[39], Orvis Mail-order house catalogs and other sport oriented publications published information furnished by the Save Our Sealife Political Action Committee. Radio talk shows and local television stations covered the issue when something was particularly controversial. Pamphlets, flyers and petitions were distributed at some public schools for the children to take home to parents.
Very few public debates were held either at political gatherings or on television and radio. During the last few months of the net ban campaign, the Florida Conservation Association urged their members not to debate the commercial fishing leaders.[40]