The official publication of the Coastal Conservation Association Florida
SEAWATCH July 2003 Issue #96
- Fish Trappers Getting Snagged in the Big Bend-- by Rick Farren
- Gulf
of Mexico Traps to Phase Out in 2007
- Manatee Downlisting Decision Postponed-- by Ted Forsgren
- CCA Disputes NMFS’ Procedure for Testing “Surface” Trolling in Deep Water Grouper Preserves-- by Ted Venker
- Panhandle Wildlife Officers Recover a Half-Mile of Hidden Gillnets
- Net Case Killed in Appeals Court
- Commission Adopts Rules to Close Loopholes in Gillnet Regulations
- Pompano Rule Changes Postponed
- Spiny Lobster Rule Changes
- Legistative Initiatives Support Anglers and Boaters
- CCA Florida Mangrove Restoration Continues in the Indian River Lagoon
- Restoration
Plantings Televised on the Outdoor Channel
Fish Trappers Getting Snagged in the Big Bend
by Rick Farren,
Communications Director of CCA Florida
With the use of computer chip technology wildlife officers are making
life difficult for outlaw fish trappers in the Gulf of Mexico.
Law enforcement officers have introduced a new tool in their effort to
curb illegal fish trapping in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. The result—an
arrest of two major trap poachers and confiscation of more than a ton
of illegally caught reef fish.
Dubbed Operation Red Trap, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
officers first located a dozen illegal fish traps about 25 miles west
of Steinhatchee. They pulled some of the traps, marked the fish with data
chips, and returned the traps to their original locations. After plainclothes
officers observed a vessel pulling the traps they moved in and escorted
the trappers to a fish house.
At the dock—to the surprise of the poachers and a small crowd of
local fishermen—the officers pulled out a hand held scanner and quickly
located one of the marked fish. The chip was crossed referenced with the
latitude and longitude of the trap and added to the evidence.
The two illegal trappers were arrested and their catch of 2,126 pounds
of grouper, grunts and sea bass was confiscated. More important, illegal
trappers working in the northern Gulf now have to wonder which fish in
their traps could lead to their arrest.
Operation Red Trap is the most recent episode in a year-long effort by
the FWC to reduce rampant illegal fish trapping in the Big Bend region
of the Panhandle. So far they’ve confiscated more than 100 illegal
fish traps and issued more than a dozen arrest citations.
The trappers are mostly harvesting red grouper, black sea bass and white
grunts for commercial markets. “It’s been ongoing for years
and it’s an enormous abuse of our Gulf resources,” said Lt.
Bruce Cooper, Taylor County Watch Commander.
The illegal trapping is taking place in the Gulf of Mexico Stressed Area
which along the Big Bend is a designated strip of federal water between
state waters (nine miles offshore) and the ten-fathom break (approximately
20 miles offshore). The area is closed to trapping by the National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) because of the considerable fishing pressure
it receives. Fish trapping is legal for permitted commercial fishermen
in the federal waters of the eastern Gulf of Mexico outside of the Stressed
Area. Only pinfish and sea bass traps are legal in state waters.
To disguise their activities, the trappers typically use a “pop-up”
device which consists of a zinc strip that’s used to hold together
a loop in the buoy line and keep the buoy underwater. The zinc slowly
dissolves over a predetermined period of time and the buoy simply pops
to the surface. They also use camouflaged buoys that are made of regular
crab trap buoys cut in half, painted black or blue, and tied so the flat
side stays up.
All trapping cases in the federal Stressed Area, whether made by state
or federal officers, are handled administratively by the National Marine
Fisheries Service, which has been handing down fines of between $3,000
and $7,000.
One of the most important factors in the FWC’s successful anti-trapping
efforts was the commissioning last year of a 27-foot Edgewater which allows
officers to safely work offshore for longer periods of time. They also
now have the use of advanced radar and plotting equipment to help locate
trappers from a distance.
“These trap details head offshore at 6 a.m. and usually aren’t
back until midnight,” said Cooper, adding, “We’re not going
to let up, not while there are so many traps still out there.”
If you spot an illegal trap
Fishermen who spot an illegal fish trap are requested not to pull the
trap or cut the buoy line. Cutting the line merely creates a ghost trap
which can continue self-baiting and killing for years. Worse, most illegal
traps don’t contain a biodegradable escape hatch that’s required
for legal traps. Instead, note latitude/longitude numbers and report it
to the FWC at the Wildlife Alert number (1-888-404-3922).
“Our officers can check it,” said Cooper. “If it’s
an illegal trap, we can start investigating it or we can destroy it.”
Gulf of
Mexico Traps to Phase Out in 2007
Fish trap use in all federal waters of the eastern Gulf of Mexico is scheduled
to be phased out completely in 2007. However, because of so many outlaw
trappers, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council’s Law Enforcement
Advisory Panel has recommended that the council either speed up the phase-out
plan, or implement VMS (Vessel Monitoring Systems) requirements for commercial
fishermen in the area.
CCA Florida has long been concerned that as the phase-out approaches,
the commercial industry will make an appeal to allow trapping to continue.
Marine conservationists may have to take a strong stand when the issue
eventually appears before the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council.
MORE PHOTOS OF FISH TRAPS
[return to Table of Contents]
Manatee
Downlisting Decision Postponed
by Ted Forsgren, CCA Florida Executive Director
The FWC has decided once again to postpone a decision on whether or not
manatees should remain on the state’s endangered species list.
When the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) completed
a long-overdue study on manatee status earlier this year, they concluded
that the animal would be more properly classified as a “threatened”
rather than an “endangered” species under criteria the agency
uses to classify imperiled species. However, Commissioners indicated at
their May meeting that they want to ensure they have a grasp of all the
best scientific information available before they make a final decision.
“CCA Florida remains confident that the Commission has all the best
available information on-hand to make their decision,” said Dr. Ernie
Hendry, CCA Florida past chairman. “However, it’s an important
decision, so there’s no real objection to their spending a little
more time evaluating the data.”
FWC Vice Chairman Rodney Barreto noted that scientists at the Florida
Marine Research Institute have prepared the most comprehensive evaluation
of the manatee’s biological status ever assembled. “We do not
see any evidence that the manatee population is in immediate jeopardy,”
said Barreto, adding that nothing indicates manatees are in danger of
extinction within the next 100 years. In addition, he said that current
data, both scientific and anecdotal, indicate the manatee population has
increased since the 1970s.
“The state of Florida has done a great job of protecting manatees,
and they should be congratulated for all they’ve done,” said
Barreto, who pointed out that more than 250,000 acres of manatee protection
zones have already been established—roughly 24 percent of the state’s
inland and coastal waters.
Commissioners voted to allow FWC staff to continue evaluating information
and feedback until their September meeting and to consider taking action
to move on to the final step to downlist the species not later than November.
Management plan required
The final phase of the process of downlisting manatees is preparation
of a management plan, which will detail protection measures. Completion
of the plan is a required step for any change in species’ classification
on the imperiled species list.
“Establishing the correct biological status and implementing the
management plan is essential to determining whether existing regulations
are sufficient to protect the expanding manatee populations,” said
CCA’s Hendry. “Otherwise, as saltwater anglers, we’ll continue
to face a never ending procession of additional zones and regulations
based on lawsuits and emotions, instead of science.”
It’s also important to note that the FWC’s action represents
the status of Florida manatees in May 2003, not 50 years from now. Added
Hendry, “The FWC and federal agencies don’t need to wait another
31 years to do a comprehensive assessment, which is how long it’s
been since the initial status review. A good deal of the hype and hysteria
over the listing criteria and future management decisions would be eliminated
if the re-evaluations are done every three to five years as is the case
for many other species.”
CCA Disputes NMFS’ Procedure for Testing “Surface” Trolling in Deep Water Grouper Preserves
by Ted Venker, CCA National
In a matter that could have far-reaching consequences for recreational
anglers everywhere, Coastal Conservation Association finds itself in the
unexpected position of debating the definition of “trolling”
with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).
CCA maintains that dragging a four-pound weight attached to steel line
across the ocean bottom at one or two knots does not constitute trolling.
NMFS apparently believes that it does. At stake is whether or not recreational
anglers will continue to have access to troll for coastal pelagic species
such as mackerel and wahoo over two, one-hundred-square-mile areas currently
closed to bottom fishing off west central Florida.
“We have proven that we are willing to accept reasonable regulations
to conserve marine resources, but we can’t allow the research that
is supposed to support those regulations to be manipulated like this,”
said Fred Miller, CCA’s National Government Relations Committee Chairman.
“Even people who have no fishing experience should be able to recognize
the difference between true trolling and dragging baits on the ocean bottom.”
In 1999, it was determined that the Madison-Swanson and Steamboat Lumps
areas are home to significant spawning aggregations of gag grouper. In
order to conserve declining numbers of this species, CCA supported efforts
to close those areas to bottom fishing. However, when the Gulf of Mexico
Fishery Management Council proposed to ban all fishing in the areas, CCA
sued, arguing that extending the closure to include trolling for pelagics
near the surface was unnecessary to protect grouper residing 200 to 400
feet below the surface.
In a settlement agreement between CCA and NMFS reached in 2001, NMFS agreed
not to ban trolling in the closed areas until research could be conducted
to determine if it is possible for recreational fishermen trolling for
mackerel, wahoo and other coastal pelagic species to catch gag grouper.
Although the research could have been conducted any time since the settlement
agreement was reached in 2001, NMFS just recently released information
describing the “trolling” research methods that had successfully
caught gag grouper. Those methods included using heavy weights, steel
line and speeds of one to two knots or less to drag the baits along the
bottom through the grouper habitat. Not a single coastal pelagic was caught
during the research using NMFS “trolling” methods.
“That is not a reasonable method of trolling,” said CCA Executive
Committee Member, Alex Jernigan. “The point of the research was not
to find any way to catch a gag grouper using the most abnormal means possible.
It was to determine if, under normal circumstances, a recreational fisherman
trolling for dolphin or other coastal pelagics could catch grouper and
clearly the answer is ‘no.’”
The moratorium on gag grouper in the closed areas will expire in July
of 2003, and under terms of the settlement agreement, the trolling research
must be completed before the closures can be extended. CCA is eager to
avoid any lapse in the protection of gag grouper and is urging NMFS to
conduct further research using a more realistic definition of trolling
before the deadline.
“We are willing to work with NMFS on this issue. CCA is not opposed
to closing areas to recreational fishing as long as there is scientific
evidence that demonstrates recreational fishing is part of the problem,”
said Miller. “We believe the science indicates it is necessary to
conserve gag. We simply refuse to be arbitrarily closed out of an area
based on faulty research.”
FWC Recognizes Faulty Science
In May, CCA Florida brought the issue to the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission. The commission consequently voted to support
CCA’s position that surface trolling should be allowed in the areas
closed to protect grouper stocks.
“Absurd studies like these must be challenged and exposed,”
said CCA Florida Executive Director, Ted Forsgren. “Otherwise they
will be used to prohibit types of recreational fishing that have absolutely
no impact whatsoever on grouper and snapper.”
Panhandle Wildlife Officers Recover a Half-Mile of Hidden Gillnets
July 1 marks the eighth anniversary of implementation of Florida’s
net ban, but some poachers still haven’t gotten the message.
Following a citizen’s tip, wildlife officers recently recovered an
estimated 1000 yards of monofilament and nylon gillnets from coastal waters
in Wakulla County, south of Tallahassee.
According to Bubba Joyner, an officer with the Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission, an individual reported seeing a gillnet in Apalachee Bay east
of the St. Marks Lighthouse. When Joyner and officer Stan Tucker went
to the area by airboat, they found five nets hidden in the salt marsh
under canvas and palm fronds. Some of the nets were brand new.
While there, a recreational angler came up and reported seeing a large
net roughly two miles offshore. With the aide of GPS coordinates, they
were able to locate the abandoned net, which was full of dead fish including
hammerhead sharks, blacktip sharks, speckled trout, pinfish and catfish.
It took officers two days to gather all the nets and entangled fish, which
filled the beds of two FWC trucks.
“The unfortunate thing is these nets will keep on killing fish as
long as they remain in the water,” said Lt. Jeff Schremser, the FWC’s
patrol supervisor for Franklin and Wakulla counties.
In July 2002, wildlife officers discovered nine illegal gillnets totaling
4,500 feet in the waters off Wakulla and Franklin counties.
Wildlife Alert
Anyone who sees a gillnet being used in state waters should call the Wildlife
Alert hotline at 1-888-404-3922. Callers may remain anonymous and if the
call leads to an arrest the caller can receive a reward up to $1000.
Net Case Killed in Appeals Court
The First District Court of Appeals in Tallahassee has reversed a circuit
court ruling and vacated a declaratory judgement from a Wakulla County
circuit court that basically sought to reintroduce gillnets into state
waters. The original lawsuit filed more than a year ago had claimed that
the so-called “Pringle-Crum” net, a 500-square-foot net with
3-inch stretch mesh, was legal under the constitutional netting restrictions
because it was a “rectangular net” and not a seine net or a
gillnet. The appeals court ruled that the plaintiffs in the case failed
to exhaust administrative remedies with the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission before turning to the courts.
[return to Table
of Contents]
Commission Adopts Rules to Close Loopholes in Gillnet Regulations
The FWC has adopted needed measures to control illegal netting in Florida
waters. Effective July 1, the new rule amendments clarify Florida’s
net transit laws which were created to implement the constitutional netting
prohibitions. The laws prohibit the transport of gillnets in state waters
(unless the transport of such nets is direct, continuous and expeditious
from where the vessel is moored to where the use of such nets is legal).
Prior to the change, a Martin County judge had issued a decision that
the net transit laws applied only to the vessel carrying the nets and
not the netter.
Another rule change addresses the widespread use of “toy boats”
by commercial seine netters to increase the number of nets that can be
legally fished at one time. CCA Florida raised the issue of too many nets
being used by individual commercial operations and the use of “toy
boats” to circumvent the net ban in its 1999 report on the status
of net ban law enforcement.
Although the previous law permitted an unlimited number of seine nets
on board a boat, only two could be fished at any one time. A number of
years ago, however, commercial netters began carrying “toy boats”
and other “vessels” (such as plastic trays and even a car top
carrier) so they could circumvent the two-net rule.
The new rule specifies that any auxiliary vessels used in conjunction
with a primary vessel must be commercially registered and be eight feet
long or longer. The rule also now prohibits possession of more than four
seines aboard a vessel (including the primary vessel and any other vessel
being transported or towed).
CCA Florida is also working to get increased, felony level penalties for
major netting violations. Under current Florida law it’s a felony
to “molest” a crab trap, but only a misdemeanor, for instance,
to use an illegal gillnet to take thousands of pounds of Spanish mackerel
in state waters.
Pompano Rule Changes Postponed
At its meeting in May, the FWC postponed final action until fall on proposed
pompano rule amendments. The commissioners directed their staff to schedule
an additional public workshop and to re-evaluate the effects of increasing
minimum size to 11 inches on the recreational and commercial fishery.
CCA Florida has stated at each previous pompano hearing that if the FWC
would simply control the illegal netting of pompano no actions would be
needed to reduce the take of legal fishers. However, control of illegal
netting remains an elusive task for the FWC and thus further restrictions
are being placed on the legal recreational and commercial fishers.
CCA Florida supported an increase in minimum size from 10 inches to 11
inches for pompano for both recreational and commercial fisheries. CCA
does not support proposals to reduce bag limits and trip limits because
by-catch allowances and other loopholes can be used by illegal fishers
to exceed limits, whereas a prohibition on possession and sale of undersize
pompano (similar to the FWC’s current regulations on groupers and
snappers) cannot be circumvented.
CCA also supported an FWC staff recommendation to eliminate the special
permit establishing a federal waters gillnet fishery. Previous claims
by CCA that there is no legitimate gillnet fishery in federal waters has
been proven correct.
In the more than two years that the FWC has been dealing with this issue
only two netters have shown observers that they can gillnet pompano in
federal waters. CCA maintains that the program simply encourages illegal
netting in state waters.
The lack of participation in the special federal waters gillnet permit
program also clearly demonstrates that the only legitimate pompano commercial
fishery in Florida is the commercial hook and line fishery.
CCA also recommends that the commercial trip limit for pompano be reduced
to 200 pounds. That position is based on a trip ticket analysis by the
Florida Marine Research Institute which shows that 97.5 percent of the
commercial hook and line gear trips for pompano landed less than 200 pounds.
The FWC has approved several spiny lobster rule amendments which take
effect in July. The rule changes include the elimination of the 24-lobster
vessel limit from the regular season recreational bag limit (only the
six-lobster per person daily limit will apply), and reduction of the bag
limit during the two-day sport lobster season in Biscayne National Park
from 12 to six lobsters per person per day. It also phases out the higher
recreational bag limit for persons holding the Special Recreational Crawfish
License by the 2012-13 season.
CCA opposed all of the reductions in recreational bag limits because current
regulations do not limit in any way the daily, trip or seasonal take of
the commercial lobster fishery. In fact, the commercial trap fishery kills
and wastes almost as many pounds of sublegal lobster as bait in traps
than the total pounds of lobster allocated to the entire recreational
fishery.
Legislative Initiatives Support Anglers and Boaters
CCA worked hard during a difficult budget year to maintain $600,000 in
funding to continue Florida’s artificial reef program. Operated by
the Marine Fisheries Division of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission (FWC), the program provides grants to state organizations and
local governments for siting, material acquisition, deployment and study
of artificial reefs. An additional $194,000 was included as funding for
low-profile reefs being developed off of Steinhatchee in the Gulf of Mexico.
Another legislative success, passage of SB 2586, was achieved largely
through the efforts of the Marine Industries Association of Florida and
other boating organizations. CCA Florida also supported the legislation
which redirects a portion of marine fuel tax dollars (about $12 million)
to the FWC for the creation of the Office of Boating and Waterways. The
funds will be used to expand much needed on-the-water enforcement, boater
education and compliance, and law enforcement operations.
Better enforcement of current manatee zones, for instance, can help prevent
the need to establish additional zones. Funds can also be used to create
more boat ramps and improve access for saltwater anglers. Although boating
has a $14 billion economic impact in this state, this tax, which is collected
at marinas, was previously used by the Department of Transportation for
road building projects.
Senate Bill 2586 is currently on the Governor’s Desk for signature.
Members are encouraged to E-mail their support for the bill to jeb@myflorida.com.
CCA Florida Mangrove Restoration Continues in the Indian River Lagoon
The CCA Florida Orlando Chapter is launching into another year of mangrove
restoration efforts along the Indian River Lagoon. The restoration program
is supported by a substantial grant from the FishAmerica Foundation (FAF)
and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA)
Community Based Habitat Enhancement and Restoration Program
.
This is the second year in a row that FishAmerica and NOAA have funded
the major restoration project. This year’s grant was supplemented
by matching funds from the Canaveral Port Authority.
“The restoration funding will enable our chapter members and other
concerned citizens to continue the effort begun in 2002 with the initial
grant,” said Doug Blanton, a member of the Orlando Chapter. “That
program resulted in the successful planting of 23,000 mangrove seedlings
at the Canaveral Tidal Pool Park in Brevard County.”
The mangroves were planted during a number of organized “planting
days” by volunteers from CCA Florida, Boeing Aerospace, the Backcountry
Flyfishing Association of Central Florida, students from Rockledge and
Titusville High Schools and citizens of all ages.
This year’s effort will include selected saltmarsh vegetation plantings
to complement the mangrove restoration projects.
For the past decade, hundreds of CCA Florida members have contributed
thousands of volunteer hours to help restore Florida’s marine habitat.
For example, in the Tampa Bay Ecosystem, with support from the Duckwall
Foundation and FAF, volunteers have worked for years with Tampa BayWatch
to build oyster bars and plant literally hundreds of acres of saltmarsh.
“With support from foundations and local chapters we’ve been
able to do more than just talk about habitat restoration,” said Mark
Carter, CCA Florida Vice President. “We’ve been able to get
out there and do something about it.”
For more information on CCA Florida’s habitat restoration efforts or other conservation initiatives go to www.ccaflorida.org.
Plantings on
TV
In March, one of the restoration plantings was taped by the Outdoor Channel
for the cable channel’s program “Focus Outdoors.” The show
recorded volunteers planting mangroves and cord grass raised by the students
of Rockledge High School. Chapter members were also interviewed about
the restoration project. The show aired four times during the month of
June.
Following the planting, Capt. Doug Blanton took Johanna DeGroff of the
FishAmerica Foundation near an area previously planted with mangroves.
She caught her first ever redfish, a 13-pounder on 8-pound test.
[Return to Table of Contents] [Return to CCA Florida home page] [Return to list of SeaWatch publications]
Thank You
We are deeply appreciative of Mercury Marine for their continued support of CCA Florida
conservation initiatives. Mercury provides motors at a discounted cost for every CCA Florida banquet. The motors are used to raise significant and vital funds for the protection of our marine resources.
CCA Florida would also like to recognize:
FLORIDA SPORTSMAN MAGAZINE and the WICKSTROM FAMILY for their generous support for our membership growth program and their work for marine conservation in Florida.
CALUSA CAST NETS and CRACKER CAST NETS for their consistent and longtime support of marine conservation through donated and discounted cast nets provided for every CCA Florida fundraising banquet.
THE ORVIS COMPANY who continues to make a significant annual donation of merchandise to CCA Florida.
[Click here to see our 2003 Banquet Schedule.]
