Dead tropical fish in dumpsters

For years we as individuals had watched the numbers of fish on our reefs dwindle. Some witnessed fish collectors dumping boxes full of dead tropical fish into dumpsters. These were the ones that never even made it off the boat alive. We saw boxes by the hundreds go out of the local aiport, marked "Live Tropical Fish."  As the fish on the reefs became scarcer, we as individuals complained and wrote letters to the state authorities and got nowhere.

It was obvious that the public was concerned and it was obvious that the State didn't consider the public a stakeholder of this important natural resource.

Unfortunately, the general public, no matter how much it may care about an issue, is usually too busy with getting to work and getting the kids to school to be able to take the time to learn how to approach the State with their concerns.  So, a group of us decided to be the eyes, ears, legs and hands of the public, and to represent all those average people who cared about losing our tropical fish.

Some of our most beautiful fish, wasted

We started with virtually no funds. However, by participating in fairs, block parties, rallies, community events, and parades, we quickly spread the word of what we were about. We signed on more than 300 members who were willing to help pressure the state when needed. We also went through almost all the neighborhoods up and down the coast with petitions; we placed petitions in coffee shops, dress shops, dive shops, anywhere we could place them. We collected almost 4,000 signatures in less than six months in this small community. Our petition called for a ban on aquarium fish collecting on our reefs.