Gentlemen,

Thanks for those who have signed and for those who've posted they signed on this thread. Would like a hundred more signatures by end of day and thousands of signatures within a few weeks to send a message to Washington. Truthfully with the amount of people engaged in this fishery and businesses dependent on it's health, the number of signatures should be substantial.

I'm not doing this for my health, I'm doing it because I care about this fishery and all fisheries and have seen too many disappear in my lifetime. I care about the small businesses dependent on the survival of these fisheries, the sponsors here who depend on the same health to support their livelihoods and I care about the commercial sector that carves a living, a very difficult living, from the seas resources. I want my kids and their children to experience the same pleasure fishing for fluke I experienced with my parents and family growing up.

I'm asking everyone to sign not just for this stock but all stocks and to demonstrate we can be unified in our efforts and have a common voice. We all said, "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH" and I believed it then and still do today. Time to show it by taking 5 minutes to sign the petition. Between this, the analysis I've spent four years of my life developing which is headed to Washington and efforts by organization like RFA, we have a honest chance in my opinion to contribute to and influence policy decisions for the good of the fishery and everyone involved. Please don't take that opportunity for granted, we're better than that and the fishery and all it's constituents deserve better than that.

If people belong to other fishing clubs, send them my post and link. Talk to your friends and ask them to join NJF and show their support by signing. Post the link on other web sites if necessary.
Gerry and Dave, I'd ask each of you to get RFA on board. If every member from RFA and NJF signed, imagine how many names would be on the petition. Politicians and the management of this fishery would be hard pressed not to listen and acknowledge the current regulations are harming the fishery. This isn't just for recreational anglers or commercial operators, this is a situation where if one loses, we all lose. The stock lost 70 million fish between 2010 and 2017 based on the latest stock assessment. 50% or more than 36 million mature females were removed from the fishery over the same time frame. If the regulations governing this fishery don't change by promoting or causing changes in harvest composition, bolstering recruitment levels and reducing absurd levels of discard mortality, this fishery will disappear. We can collectively prevent that and NOW is the time to act.