Gill Net Ban Florida
Update: On Nov. 6 the First District Court of Appeals granted the reinstatement of the automatic stay filed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission in response to Leon County Judge Jackie Fulford’s order to the FWC to cease enforcing the ban.
What followed was nearly a week of unregulated commercial gill netting, in effect, a suspension of the Net Ban Amendment to the Florida Constitution that has been in place since 1995. Netters from Florida and adjoining states wasted no time in getting their nets back in the water, prior to the District Court of Appeal ruling late Wednesday.
Judge Fulford’s initial order will still wind its way through the legal process, but the gill net ban will be enforced in the meanwhile.
On October 22 Leon County Judge Jackie Fulford ordered The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to stop enforcing the 18-year-old Net Ban Amendment to the Florida constitution, which eliminated gill nets in Florida waters.
CCA Florida has responded with a legal challenge to the suspension of enforcement, but needing the voices of anglers to help carry the day, requests your help in halting the destructive netting.
Sign the petition here: http://www.yousign.org/en/netbanpetition
