Lobster pot petition update

Lobster pot petition update

1000 more signatures needed by 12 March to reach the target of 10000

Lobster Pot Petition
Hi All
The petition passed 9k signatures overnight.
Because petitions on the Parliamentary website have a life of only 6 months, ours will come to an end on the 12th March 2018.
We therefore have about 8 days to find another 1000 signatures to get to our target of 10,000.
I am therefore writing to seek your help. If you have already signed, thank you very much. I would be so grateful if you could find two more friends and persuade them to do so as well. I know that some of you have done this already. Well done.
If you have not signed please just click on this link https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/200001 and complete the very simple form giving your name and postcode. You will then receive an email giving you a ‘button’ which you simply click to complete the process. The whole thing can be done in a minute. Then, please, ask your friends and family to do the same.
Why are we so keen to get to 10,000 signatures?
At that number the government is required to make a written reply. Irrespective of its content, any response will enable us to get good publicity for the Cruising Association as an organisation which proactively campaigns on behalf of the wider boating community.
We are not naive about the sort of reply we are likely to get, drafted by a civil service already strained to the limit by the complexities of the preparations for Brexit. Nevertheless, whatever the reply, it gives us a peg upon which to hang the next phase of our campaign for a multi-stakeholder consultation to find a solution. The hazard presented by poorly marked static fishing gear has not gone away and people of good heart will continue to want to do something about it.
We will be presenting our campaign and the petition result to the UK Safety of Navigation Committee (hosted by the Marine and Coastguard Agency) next month. Clearly the more signatures the better.
We are heartened by the similar campaigns, based on our initiative, which have recently started up in Sweden, Germany and Ireland. We have had expressions of interest from as far afield as Western Australia. We know that this will not be a problem easily solved so our commitment will need to be sustained for some years into the future. The good working relationships that our first year of campaigning has created with many stakeholders including the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations gives us a solid base to build upon as we go forward.
If you remain unconvinced please do view our video featuring Tom Cunliffe, Normn Keane (editor of the Irish cruising guides) and racing skipper Steve Williams. You can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7m6bgyPs_U
Please, sign the petition and encourage others to do so before 12 March.
We have 8 days left. You do need a UK address to sign this petition.
Thanks.
Ian Wilson