NAME CHANGE, There is a growing awareness of the threat of losing Bluefin quota at ICCAT and that is causing growth in our membership from Florida to Maine. Our groups name is changed from Northeast Bluefin Tuna Association to the American Bluefin Tuna Association (ABTA). Our directors are from many aspects of the Bluefin fishery, Businesses, Charter boat, recreational and commercial fishermen.
Some of you recommended this change in our earliest forming days and we were slow to comply, I apologize. Recently, our letter to senators from the east coast was signed by organizations from down the coast. There is no question that bigger is better considering the monster ahead. On Thursday last week, ABTA had a very productive meeting in Washington with several senate staffers from Senator Snowe’s office in Maine down to Senator Bill Nelson in Florida.
ABTA believes the threat of losing quota to other countries has risen to the level that it warrants extraordinary effort to change the minds of NMFS domestic agency managers and improve the strength and leverage of our international affairs people at ICCAT. It is imperative for all of us to come together to protect USA bluefin quota to maintain a historical recreational and commercial fishery for Americans. Our bluefin should not be used as chips to buy misguided fishing policy or empty and unreliable promises at ICCAT, nor for the welfare of other western or eastern Atlantic, developing nations that only want the benefit of bluefin cash. American fishermen are the cleanest and greenest of the world; we should not be punished for fishing conservatively by our own government at ICCAT.
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