NOAA has published the proposed Amendment 10 in the Federal Register which allows a period to time for public comment. The deadline for submission of public comments is June 28.

Our petition has been submitted.  If you would like to submit your comments directly, go to the public comment page, cut and paste this link into your browser:
https://www.regulations.gov/search?filter=NOAA-NMFS-2021-0126

Click the “Comment” box under the PROPOSED RULE and complete the required fields. NOAA is required to answer each substantive comment, so have at it! (If you previously made comments to the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, please resubmit them, now addressed to NOAA.)

To recap, the Conservation Alliance of St Lucie County (CASLC) is opposed to Coral Amendment 10 for many reasons, including:

* No destructive fishing activity should ever be allowed in the vicinity of an already protected marine area, a designation the Oculina Coral Reef Habitat Area of Particular Concern has already earned.

* Bottom trawling for shrimp will create sediment plumes, which can smother and kill still-living Oculina coral and prevent resettlement of coral larvae. Only 10% of the original coral reef remains due to prior shrimp trawling, before its protected status was assured. Bottom trawling clear-cuts and kills everything in its path, including new Oculina growth.

* Oculina coral is a unique-in-the-world marine ecosystem, supporting hundreds of marine species, including thousands of animals per single coral.

* As Dr. Grant Gilmore’s research has found, Oculina coral habitat is critical as a spawning site for groupers and snappers, as well as other fish that utilize both the coral habitat and the Indian River Lagoon.

*Climate change is accelerating the loss of coral reefs around the world, and in Florida, particularly. We must protect the healthy deep-water Oculina coral from unnecessary destruction.

Please act today and submit your comments before the June 28 deadline!