The Snook fishery of southwest Florida and the Everglades is among the best in the world, but due to a variety of factors including winter kill, red tide, overharvesting, habitat degradation and loss, water quality and others the snook continue to struggle. The sight fishing is world-class. But this fishery will only remain healthy if we take care of it. Although the fishery is one of the most closely studied and regulated in Florida, it still deserves special attention.

The freeze of 2010 caused the loss of a significant portion of the Snook population, both adults and juveniles. Although the Snook population has been through these types of freezes before (1979 for example) and has always recovered, two things are different now: there is less habitat to support Snook, and there are more people fishing. To ensure that we have a healthy Snook fishery into the future, we feel that the West Coast closure for Snook should continue through the end of 2014, so that the population has a few years to replenish.

We, the undersigned, support a continuation of the harvest closure of the Snook fishery until the fall of 2013.