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BEFORE THE FLORIDA FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION COMMISSION
PETITION TO PROTECT DIAMONDBACK TERRAPINS (MALACLEMYS TERRAPIN)
FROM MORTALITY IN BLUE CRAB POTS BY REQUIRING BYCATCH
REDUCTION DEVICES IN RECREATIONAL AND COMMERCIAL FISHERIES
Credit: George L. Heinrich
CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
FLORIDA TURTLE CONSERVATION TRUST
DIAMONDBACK TERRAPIN WORKING GROUP
January 28, 2020
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Notice of Petition
Eric Sutton
Executive Director
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
620 South Meridian Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1600
(850) 487-3796
Eric.Sutton@MyFWC.com
Thomas Eason, Ph.D.
Assistant Executive Director
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
620 South Meridian Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1600
(850) 487-3796
Thomas.Eason@MyFWC.com
Petitioners
Elise Pautler Bennett
Reptile and Amphibian Staff Attorney
Center for Biological Diversity
P.O. Box 2155
St. Petersburg, FL 33731
(727) 755-6950
ebennett@biologicaldiversity.org
George L. Heinrich
Executive Director
Florida Turtle Conservation Trust
1213 Alhambra Way S.,
St. Petersburg, FL 33705-4620
(727) 599-1843
george@heinrichecologicalservices.com
Joseph Butler, Ph.D.
Treasurer
Diamondback Terrapin Working Group
2883 Dickie Court
Jacksonville, Florida 32216
(904) 728-5661
jbutler@unf.edu
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Submitted this January 28, 2020
Pursuant to Section 120.54(7), Florida Statutes, the Center for Biological Diversity, Florida
Turtle Conservation Trust, and Diamondback Terrapin Working Group hereby petition the
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to formally adopt a rule requiring bycatch
reduction devices in all blue crab pots to protect the diamondback terrapin. Crab pots
indiscriminately drown diamondback terrapins, contributing to terrapin declines and intensifying
negative effects from additional pressures like habitat loss, poaching, road mortality, and sea-
level rise, which already threaten populations range-wide.
The Center