SAVE THE MAHI PETITION

To: NOAA Fisheries

Please accept this letter as public comment on behalf of 5,000 individual anglers who have signed the Save The Mahi petition

We’re writing today regarding Atlantic Mahi Mahi and Wahoo – Amendment 10

Florida Sportsman Magazine, South Atlantic Fishing Environmentalists (SAFE),
The Billfish Foundation, The West Palm Beach Fishing Club,
International Game Fish Association

Dolphin are an extremely important species for recreational fishing, in Florida alone over 1-million anglers pump more than 9-billion dollars into the economy annually. In fact surveys regularly show dolphin are the most popular catch among off shore sport fishermen.  Downward trends apparent in NOAA Fisheries data for both recreational catches and commercial landings are cause for alarm. Equally concerning is NOAA’s ongoing failure to invest in a current stock assessment. 

Scientists may assume dolphin populations are abundant and insulated from over-fishing due to the fact that the species is a prolific spawner and widely distributed throughout tropical/subtropical oceans. However, U.S. anglers and charter boat captains by the thousands are seeing a fishery in trouble. Hundreds of public comments made on the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s public comment section for Amendment 10 were calling for stricter limits to the dolphin fishery.