SaveTheTarpon.com – join in our fight

Currently online is SaveTheTarpon.com.  If you haven't seen the site already, please take a moment to check it out.  

It has become very clear to all of us the magnitude of the threat posed by the PTTS (Professional Tarpon Tournament Series) on the tarpon fishery and the community.  It was important, for me personally and my family,  to find a way to show our support of the Save the Tarpon campaign and make a contribution to the fight.  I felt a website, designed to bring us all together as a united front, would be a good way to show our solidarity and ultimately help shut down the PTTS.

Already the word is getting out. This daily signature number will grow exponentially as the site grows in strength.  But just in the past two days we received almost 200 signatures. Many from individuals who live far outside the community of Boca Grande.  Just imagine how much more support we will have in a few months.

But I can only do so much on my own to help this site reach its full potential.  I need the support from all of you to truly make this work.  Here are ways we can work together to accomplish our goal to end the PTTS and restore dignity to Boca Grande Pass:

1. Post a link to SaveTheTarpon.com on your website or facebook page. Attached is a low res image you can use if you like.  Just make sure the link is active.  Post a brief description if you can, it will help the strength of the site allowing it to come up for common tarpon searches.

2. Contribute your thoughts or opinions.  You are able to do this by commenting on a post (on each individual article page there is a section for readers to make comments at the bottom). Or write your own blog article.  Just forward it to me at contact@savethetarpon.comand let me know if you would like to remain anonymous or not.  Please try and keep the message general and concise.  We want to appeal to the masses on a very simple level.  Getting into details can often loose our target audience and confuse sponsors–keep the argument unarguable and to the point.  Remember, websites work differently than news articles–we only have the viewer for a very short window of time.  You want to capture their attention on the general issues and turn them to your side in a matter of seconds.

3. Contribute your photographs and videos.  If you are out and around Boca Grande Pass, you have the opportunity to see a lot of these unsportsmanlike characters, their actions, and the results of their actions.  This website will hold them accountable.  Just look at the post today for Captain Dwayne French.  This photo was anonymously submitted yesterday.   You can always copy and save a photograph you find on a Facebook page or website by right-clicking the mouse when hovering over the photo.  

4. Forward this email to your friends.  If you know others who would like to participate in this campaign, spread the word by forwarding this email so they know what kind of support would be useful.

5. Let your customers and clients know about us and ask them to sign the Petition. For those visiting the Boca Grande area, the disruption from the PTTS and its followers is very apparent–especially if they are trying to catch a Tarpon. Invite them to participate in the site by signing the petition and sharing their thoughts.

6. Join us on Facebook and share the articles posted on a regular basis.  Keep the site current in everyone's minds and spread the information we are posting. Visit Facebook.com/SaveTheTarpon and click the "Like" button.  

7. Make sure you have signed the online petition.  Even if you signed the petition prior to it being put on the website, do it again so we can make sure you are accounted for.

Thank you for taking the time to read this email and thank you in advance for your support and assistance with this site.  So much groundwork for this campaign has been laid out prior to this site coming online, I'm hoping this serves as the icing on the cake–"The PTTS is dead" cake, that is.

Lets do this.

Jennifer McLaughlin