SEAWATCH June 2004 Issue #100

Table of Contents:

• Huge Victory for Marine Fisheries Conservation-- by Ted Forsgren
  
• National Marine Fisheries Service Drift Gill Net Found off Florida's East Coast
• Additional Manatee Zones Proposed for Tampa Bay Area -- by Ted Forsgren
• Another Attempt Underway to Use Gill Nets in State Waters
• Freedom to Fish Act Introduced into the U.S. Senate
• CCA Chapter Donates Night Vision Equipment for Better Law Enforcement
• Shortcasts - Restaurant Owner Charged with Purchasing Snook; FWC Looking at Sea Bass Traps; Cast Gill Nets Raising Concern; New Rules for Boca Grande Tarpon
• Chapter Awards for 2003 Presented at Winter Board Meeting
  

Huge Victory for Marine Fisheries Conservation
Increased penalties for flagrant illegal netting passes Legislature, becomes law

by Ted Forsgren, CCA Florida Executive Director

Florida’s saltwater anglers should applaud the tremendous commitment and leadership of Representative Gardiner and Senators Haridopolos and Pruitt which brought about this victory.

Florida’s marine conservationists have achieved an important victory with passage of legislation that increases the penalty for major illegal netting violations in state waters. The new law, which goes into effect on July 1, makes it a third-degree felony to use a monofilament gill net or a seine net exceeding 2,000 square feet in state waters.

Under existing law, it’s only a misdemeanor to illegally take thousands of pounds of fish. CCA Florida felt that the light penalties were insufficient to discourage poaching and began a campaign more than two years ago to strengthen the laws.

The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission unanimously endorsed the need for higher penalties in February 2004 and prepared the legislation. “Controlling illegal netting is an agency priority,” said FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto. “These increased penalties will be an essential element of our enforcement efforts.”

On May 12, Governor Jeb Bush signed HB 1313 increasing penalties for flagrant netting violations. Standing left to right: Marc Dunbar and Ted Forsgren with CCA Florida; Rodney Barreto, FWC Chairman; Lt. Col. Mike Wiwi, FWC; and Jackie Fauls, director of the FWC’s Legislative Affairs office.

House Bill 1313, which was eventually passed by both the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate was sponsored by Representative Andy Gardiner (R-Orlando) who worked for its passage throughout the session.

“This legislation is crucial to the preservation of our natural resources and I am proud to sponsor it,” said Representative Gardiner after the final vote in late April.

The legislation’s Senate sponsors were Senator Mike Haridopolos (R-Indialantic) and Senator Ken Pruitt (R-Port St. Lucie).

Said Senator Haridopolos after passage, “We need to reward those who abide by the law and punish those who flagrantly violate it.”

The new legislation creates a “flagrant violation” which is defined as using a net with a mesh area larger than 2,000 square feet or the use of a monofilament gill net. These flagrant violations become third-degree felonies for the first and subsequent offenses.

The maximum penalty for a third-degree felony is a $5,000 fine and 5 years in jail. In addition, a mandatory $5,000 civil penalty applies to the first “flagrant violation” along with a suspension of all saltwater licenses for 12 months. A second or subsequent violation brings with it a mandatory $5,000 civil penalty, a lifetime revocation of all saltwater licenses, and the forfeiture of all gear and equipment that was used when the violation was committed.

The increase to a third-degree felony for flagrant netting violations is in line with other poaching penalties that are a third-degree felony on the first offense including robbing or “molesting” commercial crab and lobster traps, possession of more than 11 marine turtle eggs and alligator poaching.
In 1994, Florida voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment which banned the use of all gill and entanglement nets in state waters. Although the ban has been in effect for almost nine years, illegal netting continues in many areas of the state. Just three months ago, FWC officers caught outlaw netters with more than 5,000 pounds of mullet in the Charlotte Harbor area.

Cases of this magnitude make it more than apparent that large-scale illegal netting is undermining the recovery of many fisheries. Pompano, for example, is a high-value target that is being hammered by gill nets.

“We are sending a message with this legislation that you cannot just ignore the law. This bill is about keeping law and order, protecting and regarding those fishermen who make their livings as law-abiding citizens, and accomplishing the will of the voters,” concluded Senator Pruitt, who cosponsored the Senate bill.

[return to Table of Contents]

National Marine Fisheries Service Drift Gill Net Found off Florida's East Coast

[return to Table of Contents]

Additional Manatee Zones Proposed for Tampa Bay Area

by Ted Fosgren

In April, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) reviewed staff recommendations for additional manatee zones in Hillsborough, Manatee and Pinellas counties. Although the recommendations were far better than the original proposals, there are still significant problems.

The plain fact is that there is no manatee crisis in Tampa Bay. FWC data regarding population counts and mortalities in the three-county area clearly shows that existing state, federal and local manatee protection programs are a success and major new zones are unnecessary. The Southwest Florida region is the only region in the state where there are questions as to whether manatee populations are achieving the established FWC measurable biological goals for recovery. However, it is also clear from the graph below that the Tampa Bay area is not a part of any problem which may exist. The position that existing zones are providing the needed protection is essentially the position adopted by the Local Rule Review Committee in rejecting most of the original FWC staff recommendations.

Manatee County was the only area where the Local Committee supported significant additional regulations. Since Manatee County was in the process of replacing a difficult to enforce ordinance with more specific zones, they urged the FWC to work cooperatively with the county to gain local support for an acceptable ordinance.



Bishops Harbor, one of the best fishing areas in Tampa Bay, has been slated for extreme restrictions year-round, yet there has never been a watercraft mortality recovered in the area. CCA has urged the Commission to reject the staff recommendation and work with angling groups and Manatee County to develop a zone which provides reasonable access for saltwater anglers, similar to the one developed for Turtle Bay in Charlotte Harbor.

In another case, FWC staff recommendations for Anna Maria Sound funnels all boating traffic into one channel. Other boating channels, which are maintained in the County Plan, are eliminated. Again, there has never been a watercraft mortality recovered in the affected area of Anna Maria Sound and there is simply no justification for eliminating all but one entrance channel while creating major boating congestion and safety problems. Public hearings are tentatively scheduled for June 22 at Manatee Civic Center in Palmetto (6 p.m). and June 23 at A.P. Leto High School in Tampa (6 p.m).

[return to Table of Contents]

Another Attempt Underway to Use Gill Nets in State Waters

CCA members could once again be called upon to support the state’s constitutional ban against gillnetting.

Since overwhelming passage of the constitutional amendment limiting marine net fishing in 1994, there have been numerous lawsuits, attempts to create enforcement loopholes, and outright scams designed to invalidate or circumvent netting provisions. All have failed because the Florida Legislature, Florida courts, and state agencies have chosen to uphold the clear intent of Florida voters.

The commercial industry, however, is again trying to reintroduce gill nets into state waters by challenging the definition of a seine net.

This latest effort harkens back to an earlier attempt by netters to create an enforcement loophole shortly after passage of the net ban. At that time, fishermen had started using ”seine” nets with mesh sizes commonly used in gill nets prior to the amendment. They claimed the nets were just legal seines, even though at the time of arrest, their nets were filled with gilled fish.

To resolve enforcement and prosecution issues, the state established a clear distinction between legal seine nets and illegal gill nets by restricting seine nets to a mesh size no larger than two inches. The decision was based on both the historical definition of a seine net and the recognition that seine nets comprised of two-inch stretch mesh, when used properly, do not gill significant numbers of adult or juvenile fish.

Commercial interests subsequently challenged the rule, first before an administrative law judge, then through the court system, all the way to the Florida Supreme Court—losing at every level. Nevertheless, netters are again trying to make a case before the FWC that the two-inch mesh gills juvenile fish—something easily prevented if only they could use a larger mesh in their seine nets.

The ruse is more than obvious. They simply want to use a “seine” net that gills fish.

As it has done in every previous attempt by commercial netters to circumvent the net ban, CCA Florida will carefully monitor the situation and, if necessary, will call upon its members to protest any attempt to alter the two-inch mesh limitation for legal seines.

Members interested in taking part in CCA Florida’s grassroots network should contact their local chapter president.

[return to Table of Contents]

Freedom to Fish Act Introduced into the U.S. Senate

Legislative efforts to establish the role of no-fishing zones in federal fisheries management have taken another step forward with the introduction of the Freedom to Fish Act (S. 2244) by U.S. Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and John Breaux (D-LA). The bill seeks to establish basic criteria for the use of marine protected areas (MPAs) and provides for the continued use of the nation’s fishery resources by recreational anglers without arbitrary closures of public waters.

“By using measurable scientific criteria, the Freedom to Fish Act will correct a system that could unfairly penalize America’s recreational fishermen and provides more effective protection of our resources,” Sen. Hutchison said. “This bill brings some common sense to managing our coastal and ocean waters.”

The use of MPAs has sparked intense debate among different user groups since 2000, when closures to recreational fishing were arbitrarily implemented off the West coast of Florida and in the Channel Islands of California. In response, CCA and the American Sportfishing Association worked with congressional leaders to draft the Freedom to Fish Act, which will ensure that MPAs are only considered within the framework of traditional fisheries management. The legislation has found broad support among recreational angling groups.

CCA opposes regulations that prohibit recreational fishing unless it can be scientifically determined that recreational fishermen are the cause of a specific conservation problem and traditional conservation measures are inadequate.

For a complete copy of the Senate Freedom to Fish bill, S. 2244, as well as the House version introduced by Congressman Jim Saxton (NJ-3rd), H.R. 2890, go to www.joincca.org/press/2004/FTF Senate 2004.pdf or www.joincca.org.

[return to Table of Contents]

[return to Table of Contents]

ShortCasts

RESTAURANT OWNER CHARGED WITH PURCHASING SNOOK
Investigators with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) ended a three-month undercover operation in April with the arrest of the owner of Pacific Island Restaurant in Weston for 62 counts of illegally purchasing fish and wildlife including snook, ducks, white-tailed deer and a bear. Other charges included possession of undersized snook and grouper, possession of more than two snook and license violations. All charges are second-degree misdemeanors punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine on each count.

“The black market for Florida’s living resources amounts to theft against all the people of this state,” said FWC law enforcement director, Col. Julie Jones. “The FWC has responsibility to enforce conservation laws aggressively, and we take that responsibility quite seriously.”

FWC LOOKING AT SEA BASS TRAPS
Expressing concern about black sea bass trapping in state waters, the FWC has proposed a draft rule to control the use of illegal traps and limit the overall use of traps in the future. Currently, traps are the predominant gear used in the commercial sea bass fishery and can be legally deployed in Florida waters north of Englewood on the Gulf coast and north of Tequesta on the Atlantic coast.

The National Marine Fisheries Service has declared black sea bass to be overfished and undergoing overfishing off the southeastern coast of the United States. However, very little information is known about the status of black sea bass in the Gulf even though more than 76 percent of Florida’s commercial and recreational black sea bass landings occur in Wakulla, Taylor and Dixie counties along the northeastern Gulf coast.

The FWC is also interested in establishing trap marking and endorsement requirements for black sea bass traps because of the recent implementation of a trap debris and removal rule and the 2007 phase-out of fish traps in federal waters. They also hope to address the use of illegal fish traps off the North Central Gulf coast of Florida. [See Fish Trappers Getting Snagged in the Big Bend, July 2003, Seawatch.]

In its current form, the FWC’s proposed rule would require a non-transferable black sea bass trap endorsement to harvest fish with a black sea bass trap in state waters after July 1, 2005, establish an appeals process for persons who are denied a black sea bass endorsement, and prohibit leasing of a black sea bass trap endorsement. It would also establish black sea bass trap marking requirements and forbid working traps at night.

CCA Florida has recommended that the FWC not establish a formal, commercial sea bass trap fishery, but should instead phase out use of fish traps in state waters. Fish traps have proven to be a problem in all fisheries where they are used.

CAST GILL NETS RAISING CONCERN
CCA Florida has requested that the FWC look into problems associated with the use of “cast gill nets” on the East coast of Florida that are being used to gill Spanish mackerel in state waters. In April, the commissioners directed FWC staff to gather information on the fishery.

The roughly 500-square-foot nets in question are “thrown” which is where the cast net loophole argument comes into play. However, the monofilament nets have a large mesh and gill fish rather than catching them in a closed bag as with traditional cast nets. In fact, “throwing” or slinging it over the side in this case is about the only thing the nets have in common with cast nets. Some of these gill cast nets don’t even have Braille lines or horns to pull the net into a bag, and are obviously only being deployed to gill fish.

For the time being, the nets are being used in the winter in an area called Peck’s Lake near Stuart where mackerel gather in large numbers. As might be expected with dozens of netters hitting the area day after day, the size of the annual Spanish mackerel harvest has been increasing along the Atlantic coast each year, reaching 2,344,652 pounds in the winter of 2002/2003.

At press time, the FWC was planning to hold a public hearing on cast gill nets in Stuart on June 2.

NEW RULES FOR BOCA GRANDE TARPON
The FWC has approved new rules that apply to the popular Boca Grande Pass recreational tarpon fishery. According to the FWC, the measures are intended to reduce user conflicts in the pass and decrease the amount of non-degradable material deposited on the floor of the pass by anglers.

The new rules restrict to no more than three the number of fishing lines per vessel that can be used to harvest any species of fish in Boca Grande Pass during April, May and June. This replaces a rule passed by the FWC in February that applied only to the harvest of tarpon and is intended to aid law enforcement. The FWC has also prohibited the use of breakaway gear to harvest any fish in the pass during April, May and June. The new measures take effect July 1.

Earlier this year, the FWC approved a rule that prohibits the intentional “snagging” or “snatch hooking” of tarpon.

[return to Table of Contents]

CHAPTER AWARDS FOR 2003

CCA Florida chapters were recognized at the Winter Board of Directors Meeting on February 7 for outstanding performance in banquet and membership growth. Accepting the awards for each chapter are (from left): Judy Axelrod—Sarasota, Phil Elmore—Palm Beach, Pete McLeod—Treasure Coast, Len Harris—Charlotte, Bill Bird—Orlando, and Wright Taylor—Naples.

Largest Banquet Dollar Increase Over Prior Year — Sarasota
Largest Banquet Percentage Increase Over Prior Year — Sarasota
Largest Banquet Net Dollars Raised — Palm Beach
Largest Banquet Net Percentage Increase Over the Prior Year — Treasure Coast
Chapter Treasurer Award (Best Record of Monthly Financial Reporting) — Bill Thomson, Charlotte
Largest Membership Growth Over Prior Year (in Number) — Orlando
Largest Membership Growth Over Prior Year (in Percentage) — Naples

[Return to Table of Contents] [Return to CCA Florida home page] [Return to list of SeaWatch publications]

CCA Florida is deeply appreciative of YAMAHA for their continued support of marine conservation initiatives in Florida.  YAMAHA outboard engines are available for auction at every CCA Florida banquet and provide a valuable fundraising opportunity for the organization.

CCA Florida would also like to recognize:

WEST MARINE is a major matching contributor to the most recent annual fall fundraising appeal, providing a major commitment to conservation of Florida's marine resources. CCA Florida would also like to acknowledge the very generous support from WEST MARINE in the form of gift cards for local chapter banquets.

FLORIDA SPORTSMAN MAGAZINE and the WICKSTROM FAMILY continue to provide generous support for CCA Florida's membership growth programs and for marine conservation in Florida.

CALUSA CAST NETS and CRACKER CAST NETS have demonstrated consistent and longtime support for marine conservation through donated and discounted cast nets provided for every CCA Florida fundraising banquet.

THE ORVIS COMPANY continues to make a significant annual donation of mercandise to CCA Florida. The staff and members of CCA Florida are deeply grateful to Orvis for their commitment to marine conservation and their support of our efforts.

OCEAN WAVES is demonstrating support for conservation by providing four pairs of high-quality sunglasses and a Guy Harvey Print to each of CCA Florida's fundraising banquets.

WILDERNESS NORTH is Canada's premier fly-in fishing, hunting and adventure travel resort which provides significant support to CCA Florida by making major fishing trips available for auction at chapter fundraising banquets. Their belief in conservation has been vital to CCA initiatives in Florida.

TIBOR REEL CORPORATION shows their support for marine conservation by donating a "World-Class" fly reel to every CCA Florida fundraising banquet.