Florida Governor Charlie Crist has added his strong objections to those of other marine conservationists, in requesting that the National Marine Fisheries Service deny an attempt by the 13 longline boats to conduct "research" in the areas closed to swordfish longlining off of Florida's East coast and the Gulf of Mexico.

In a letter to Dr. William Hogarth, Director (NMFS), Governor Crist states that "I, therefore, respectfully ask that you deny this permit request and uphold existing policies that help swordfish and other migratory species continue to flourish."

"As a State Senator, Attorney General and now as Governor, Charlie Crist has been a strong supporter of marine fisheries conservation efforts," said Ted Forsgren, CCA Florida Executive Director. "It is great to have our Governor jump in on these major issues."

The Gulf Stream off of Florida's East coast and the DeSoto Canyon area off of the Florida Panhandle have been closed to commercial swordfish longlining since 2000. The longlining ban has resulted in a dramatic recovery and increased abundance of sailfish, swordfish, dolphin and wahoo in these areas. Allowing 13 large, commercial longline boats into these protected areas under the guise of "research" and "fisheries data collection" is unwarranted, unnecessary, and bad public policy.

"The commercial longliners and the National Marine Fisheries Service have virtually the entire Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico to conduct the so called by-catch research," said Forsgren. "They absolutely do not need to longline in the closed areas."

This is not the first attempt by the longline industry to get back into the protected longline closure areas. Their previous attempt in 2005 was met with huge objections from the public angling community and conservation groups. That proposal was rejected.

The public comment period has been extended again to June 20. Additional comments can still be sent to the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Send comments to SF1.030107C@NOAA.gov and include this ID in email subject line: I.D.030107C.

You can read the original letter sent by Gov. Crist in PDF form here.