ALERT: FWC Comment Deadline and Meeting Info Shared from USARK Florida: Read below or at https://usark.org/23fl1/.
We encourage every Florida animal owner to email the Commissioners regarding the “whitelist” proposal that will be heard during the May 11 Commission meeting. Comments must be submitted by 5:00 on Friday, May 5. Please remember to be civil and professional, but feel free to make your concerns known.
Submit your comments here: https://myfwc.wufoo.com/forms/s1g2xh6f009a30i/
Select Agenda item: Proposed Rules – Nonnative Fish and Wildlife
Below are some general talking points. This will give you an idea of what to say.
Basic Talking Points
- The directive made by Commissioner Barreto at the February Commission Meeting is completely impractical and is actually counterproductive to the work being done by the Non-native Species Technical Assistance Group.
- While the Commissioners do oversee FWC, this does not mean they have total power and FWC is not required to obey unsound directives.
- All Florida responsible animal owners are concerned with biosecurity and protecting Florida’s environment.
- Short-sighted demands from those unfamiliar with the businesses that make up Florida’s animal industry will create more problems than those they claim to be solving.
- Collective punishment and treating all of Florida’s animal business owners like criminals and black market smugglers is unjust and unfounded.
- We continually hear Commissioners and FWC Staff state, “We know you are responsible and you are not the problem.” to those who spend their time showing up to speak at Commission meetings. However, even the good business owners are tossed into the same pile as the bad actors through FWC’s continued overreaching, arbitrary, and capricious rules.
- FWC is required to write “reasonable rules.” This Commissioner directive is unreasonable and irrational.
- Rather than writing rules that focus on the bad business owners and criminals, FWC’s recent rules and proposals prejudicially label all businesses as unacceptable and unreasonably dictate that no animal business can be responsible.
- “We are not going to destroy businesses.” has been repeated by Commissioners yet businesses are continually destroyed.
- We must start focusing on bad actors go rather than constantly punishing those who are causing any problems.
- The Florida animal industries are fine with being sensibly regulated. However, sense is absent from this proposal and recent examples of overregulation.
- A whitelist approach is a business killer! Additionally, even a representative for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service recently stated that the whitelist approach is flawed.
- These whitelist “options” are flawed policies lacking any critical thinking.
- If the goal of the whitelist approach is to create more problems in Florida, then mission accomplished.
- Staff has suggested that their hands are tied on this issue. This is untrue!
What is happening?
Briefly, at the last Commission meeting, Chairman Barreto gave a directive to staff (without conducting due process through a formal motion and vote) to ban the importation of any species that is not currently in trade in Florida. However, Staff turned this unofficial directive into two “interpretations” during the April Technical Assistance Group (TAG) meeting. USARK FL, USARK, and some responsible Florida business owners are on this TAG, along with several other members from various NGOs and fields. These “interpretations” have now become “options” that will be proposed on May 11 at the Commission meeting. To the dismay of Florida businesses and some others on the TAG, only these two options will be offered and not any other alternative although TAG members hahttps://myfwc.com/about/commission/commission-meetings/may-2023/ve suggested an alternative approach.
For all of the reasons above, both “options” are bad policy and the Commissioners need to hear about it. Please take a few minutes and send a comment!
Full Commission Meeting information and agenda can be found at https://myfwc.com/about/commission/commission-meetings/may-2023/. The items of most interest for animal owners and businesses will both happen on May 11: Nonnative Fish and Wildlife Species Proposed Rule, and Items Not on the Agenda.
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