{"id":9499,"date":"2018-07-14T09:19:34","date_gmt":"2018-07-14T13:19:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=9499"},"modified":"2018-07-15T00:24:42","modified_gmt":"2018-07-15T04:24:42","slug":"reef-assassin-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=9499","title":{"rendered":"Reef Assassin Act"},"content":{"rendered":"

House of Representatives Passes Congressman Matt Gaetz\u2019s \u201cReef Assassin Act\u201d Amendment to H.R. 200
\nJuly 12, 2018
\nPress Release<\/p>\n

Washington, D.C. \u2014 The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday unanimously passed Congressman Matt Gaetz\u2019s (FL-01) \u201cReef Assassin Act\u201d amendment to H.R. 200, the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act. The amendment will encourage the elimination of lionfish from our waters. It allows individuals to trade 100 harvested lionfish tails for one tag authorizing fishing for coveted reef fish: red snapper, gag grouper, triggerfish, and amberjack.<\/p>\n

The lionfish population has exploded over the last three decades; they can now be found throughout the Atlantic coast, the Bahamas, and the Gulf of Mexico. A single female lionfish releases 30,000 eggs every two to four days \u2014 two million eggs per year. Lionfish harm coral reefs by eating the native reef fish at an alarming rate, which is extremely detrimental to the health of coral reefs. They have no natural predators, which allows their population to grow rapidly. They have caused billions of dollars of economic damage. If nothing is done to mitigate the lionfish infestation, fisheries throughout the southeastern United States will be forced to close.<\/p>\n

The Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act, with the inclusion of Rep. Gaetz\u2019s amendment, passed the House last night with a vote of 222-193.<\/p>\n

Prior to the vote, Rep. Gaetz spoke on the House floor urging his colleagues to support his amendment.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO WATCH REP. GAETZ\u2019S FLOOR SPEECH<\/a><\/p>\n

Local support for Rep. Gaetz\u2019s Reef Assassin Act include the following:<\/p>\n

\u201cIncentives matter. They can be a power motivator for getting more Floridians engaged in lionfish eradication. We applaud Congressman Gaetz for his new incentives-based legislation, and for bringing creative solutions and heightened awareness to the lionfish threat,\u201d said Brian Yablonski, Chairman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.<\/p>\n

When asked about the Reef Assassin Act, Bob Jones, Executive Director of the Southeastern Fisheries Association, said \u201cThis is a very innovative idea that should be supported by the entire fishing industry, and all industries interested in ridding our waters of this invasive fish.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor three decades, scientists have documented the decline in the health of our native fisheries due to the lionfish population explosion, and yet, the regulatory agencies charged with protecting our fisheries have taken no action to minimize the environmental devastation. Thank you, Congressman Gaetz, and to all cosponsors of this legislation, for taking action,\u201d said Candy Hansard, President of the Emerald Coast Reef Association.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lionfish is threatening the sustainability of our native fisheries, ultimately harming our food supply and businesses. Congressman Matt Gaetz is showing true leadership in this area, protecting our native fisheries and local businesses,\u201d said Parker Destin, City Councilman of Destin, Florida.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am grateful to have someone in Washington willing to take on issues that affect us here locally. The lionfish is thriving \u2014 at the expense of our native fish and reefs. It is time for us to stop monitoring the situation, and start addressing it,\u201d said Collier Merrill, restaurateur with the Great Southern Restaurant Group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

House of Representatives Passes Congressman Matt Gaetz\u2019s \u201cReef Assassin Act\u201d Amendment to H.R. 200
\nJuly 12, 2018
\nPress Release
\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday unanimously passed Congressman Matt Gaetz\u2019s (FL-01) \u201cReef Assassin Act\u201d amendment to H.R. 200, the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act. The amendment will encourage the elimination of lionfish from our waters. It allows individuals to trade 100 harvested lionfish tails for one tag authorizing fishing for coveted reef fish: red snapper, gag grouper, triggerfish, and amberjack.
\nThe lionfish population has exploded over the last three decades; they can now be found throughout the Atlantic coast, the Bahamas, and the Gulf of Mexico. A single female lionfish releases 30,000 eggs every two to four days \u2014 two million eggs per year. Lionfish harm coral reefs by eating the native reef fish at an alarming rate, which is extremely detrimental to the health of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[138,507,12,60,43,171,90,172,40,45,56,82,204,11,32,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alert","category-article","category-artificial-reefs","category-conservation","category-diver","category-divetalking-2","category-earth","category-education","category-featured","category-fish","category-lionfish","category-ocean","category-recognition","category-reefs","category-reference","category-report"],"yoast_head":"\nReef Assassin Act - Divetalking<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Divetalking\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=9499\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reef Assassin Act\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Divetalking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=9499\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Divetalking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Divetalking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-07-14T13:19:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-07-15T04:24:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=9499#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=9499\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/02d5721103fd9d171fcc8cfb74d80947\"},\"headline\":\"Reef Assassin Act\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-07-14T13:19:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-07-15T04:24:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=9499\"},\"wordCount\":520,\"articleSection\":[\"Alert\",\"Article\",\"Artificial Reefs\",\"Conservation\",\"Diver\",\"Divetalking\",\"Earth\",\"Education\",\"Featured\",\"Fish\",\"Lionfish\",\"ocean\",\"Recognition\",\"Reefs\",\"Reference\",\"Report\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=9499\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=9499\",\"name\":\"Reef Assassin Act - 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