Seawatch, the official publication of the Florida Conservation Association

[return to CCA Florida Home Page]

[return to list of SeaWatch publications]

SEAWATCH -- OCTOBER, 1996

FCA WILL SOON BECOME CCA-FLORIDA by Ted Forsgren

On January 1, 1997, the Florida Conservation Association (FCA) will become the Coastal Conservation Association of Florida (CCA-Florida). The name change comes as a result of the tremendous successes and growth of all of our state and national organizations. Naturally, there have been a number of questions, so we have put together some of the more important questions and answers about the name change.

Why is this name change occurring? Under our different state and regional names, we have successfully expanded from Texas to Maine. But more and more of the issues vital to state marine conservation are going to be determined on a federal level. Because of our different names, there is confusion in Washington, D.C. about our size and our strength. We can't afford any longer to dilute our national effectiveness by doing business under a veritable alphabet of different names: GCCA, FCA, ACCA, NECCA, and CCA. Our volunteer members across the country have always worked toward a common mission_the conservation and restoration of our marine fisheries and coastal resources. Now we will be working under a common name with the other states in CCA.

What are those state fishery issues that are going to be determined on a federal level? Historically, we have managed fisheries at a state level. That's why our organizations start, grow, operate, fundraise and implement projects strictly at a state and local level. THAT WON'T CHANGE. But states only manage and regulate fisheries out to the federal waters boundary (three miles off Florida's east coast and nine miles off Florida's west coast.) Several compelling issues that require national action are: ù Long term protection of redfish spawning stocks in offshore federal waters; ù Shrimp trawl by-kill reduction; ù Regulation and management of grouper, snapper and amberjack stocks; and, ù Congressional amendments to federal fisheries laws and standards (Magnuson Fisheries Act).

When and how was the name Coastal Conservation Association chosen? Actually we have been the Coastal Conservation Association since 1986. Twenty years ago, our association was created in Texas as the Gulf Coast Conservation Association. First there was the GCCA in Texas, then Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. When Florida joined, Gulf Coast was no longer appropriate because Florida had coastal areas on the Gulf and Atlantic coastlines. So in 1986, the name of the organization was changed from the Gulf Coast Conservation Association to the Coastal Conservation Association.

From a legal and IRS standpoint, all states have been operating under common by-laws as part of the same 501(C)3 organization. However, we, like most states, have done business under a dba - such as FCA, GCCA or ACCA. Why does the name change have to occur right now? The CCA National Board of Directors, a volunteer board with representation from all the member states, approved the name change and gave all the states until the year 2000 to make the switch.

From our standpoint, we plan to begin a major statewide photo tournament next year which we believe will more than double our total membership in a few years. It will be a big new project for us and we hope to have tremendous statewide media coverage and visibility for the new tournament. As a result, it makes more sense to do the name change now so that the tournament can be recognized with the new name.

All the other state organizations from Texas to Maine, have already voted to change their names. Some have already made the change. Others, like Texas, are making it effective January 1, 1997, which was the date also chosen by our FCA Board of Directors at our 1996 summer board meeting.

This seems like a pretty risky thing to do. Why do we want to "fix something that ain't broke?" Sometimes we forget that we are a group that was founded on a risk. When the Texas GCCA announced that they intended to get gamefish protection for redfish and speckled trout, it was seen as a pretty bold thing to do. In Florida, the Save Our Sealife constitutional amendment was a tremendously bold undertaking. Now it is time for us to take on additional national level challenges with unity and confidence.

Will state boards and state organizations be required to change how they make decisions and spend the money they have raised? Will dues be increased? Will membership dues and money raised now go someplace else? No. There will be no changes in dues or in how our state and local chapters operate. All funds raised in an individual state will still go toward conservation projects in that state and toward operating that state's organization.

Nothing changes except the name.

What about losing FCA's name recognition? Won't we have a problem? Any time an organization or company changes its name there is bound to be some confusion in the short run. However, we have no doubt that all of our strongest supporters and major state decision makers will not be confused. These people should have no problem making the transition and understanding that FCA has become CCA-Florida and is the same hard hitting and effective advocacy organization. Additionally, we have developed a plan for media and membership information with press releases, SeaWatch stories, and other actions to spread the word and reduce any confusion that may occur.

Many people have a sense of pride and accomplishment as FCA and as FCA members, will that be lost if we change our name? Nothing can ever change the pride and strong sense of accomplishment that we feel in looking at what all of us together, as FCA, have achieved in the last ten years. No other conservation group has been as strong, as focused or as effective as we have been for the conservation and restoration of Florida's marine fishery resources. Changing our name will not change who we are, what we stand for, or what we have accomplished. We have been and always will be an organization of dedicated, hardworking and highly committed volunteers and staff. As CCA-Florida, along with Texas and all the other CCA states, we will gain even more recognition and clout for federal fisheries management and other national issues. So as we reflect with pride on all that we have done, we can also strengthen our commitment and increase our challenges for the next 10 years. There is still much to be done to restore our marine fish and wildlife resources.

Will we still be using the redfish bumper sticker? Yes, the redfish sticker will still be used. In Florida, the sticker will read, "Join CCA" instead of "Join FCA." Just like in the past, you will receive a new sticker when you join or renew your membership.

What about the logo, will that change? Yes, the logo will change. The new logo will use the stylistic fish, which has become popular in all the CCA states. Each state will have their name in the center of the logo.

1996 LEGISLATIVE CONSERVATION AWARDS

The Florida Conservation Association (FCA) announced the names of six state legislators chosen by the FCA Board of Directors to receive 1996 Legislative Conservation Awards in recognition of their work during this year's Legislative session. Sen. Charlie Crist (R-St. Petersburg) Sen. Rick Dantzler (D-Winter Haven) Sen. Jack Latvala (R-Palm Harbor) Rep. R.Z. "Sandy" Safley (R-Clearwater) Rep. Jim Davis (D-Tampa) Rep. Ken Pruitt (R-Port St. Lucie)

Because of the chosen legislators' efforts, long standing safeguards, which determine how saltwater fishing license trust fund monies can be spent, were protected and maintained intact. In addition, and in response to substantial, widespread illegal gillnetting, primarily during the 1995 mullet roe season, new laws were enacted to control poaching activities and greatly improve enforcement of the netting restrictions enacted by the Save Our Sealife constitutional amendment. New and more stringent penalties were also added for major marine fisheries violations. None of these critical legislative acts would have passed without their strong commitment and leadership.

GUIDES DIRECTORY ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS

The following guides were inadvertently left off the FCA Guides Directory printed in the last issue of Seawatch. The list is composed of qualified guides who have donated trips for auction at local chapter banquets. We encourage members to choose from the directory when hiring or recommending a guide.

Captain Frank Bourgeois "Enterprise" Geo Area: Hernando Beach Specialty: Inshore/offshore 352-666-6234

Captain Dennis Darragh Geo Area: Central Gulf Coast 813-846-2761

Captain Mike Hakala "Floriday's Fishing Excursions" Geo Area: Indian River Specialty: Light tackle 904-428-8530

Captain Bill Mosseller "Indian River Guides" Geo Area: Indian River/Mosquito Lagoon Specialty: Light tackle, fly/spin/cast 904-428-6801 Another Net Scam and Lawsuit Threatens Florida Mullet by Ted Forsgren

TARP NET LAWSUIT

Commercial netting interests have filed another lawsuit to block a Marine Fisheries Commission (MFC) rule. This time it was a law which would prohibit the use of huge tarpaulin nets to take mullet during spawning and other seasons. FCA is convinced that large commercial netting operators are maneuvering to use the huge nets to take the same excessive har-vests, in the same inshore waters that they did before the activity was banned by Florida voters. In addition to saltwater anglers and conservation groups, major statewide newspaper editorials have spoken strongly against the netting industry's scheme. "Commercial fishermen in the Panhandle are thumbing their noses at the voters of Florida by using tarpaulins to replace gill nets and purse seines outlawed by a net ban imposed through the state constitution. They boast of "Yankee ingenuity" but, in reality, they are cheating the public by further endangering public fisheries depleted by commercial abuses that fostered the constitutional ban." _ Editorial, Sarasota Herald Tribune, August 26, 1996

"A net ban amendment adopted by Florida voters in 1994 applied to specific fishing nets that were especially damaging to marine resources." "But the overwhelming majority by which the constitutional amendment was approved also sent a larger message. Floridians favor strong regulations to protect the marine environment and to ensure sustainable commercial and recreational fisheries." "Because plastic is a particularly destructive type of litter in marine systems, the tarps may cause even more problems than the huge nets they replaced." _ Editorial, The News Journal (Daytona), August 17, 1996

"Anyone with a TV has probably seen those scenes of fish desperately trying to escape a net. Yet their efforts are tame compared with those of some fishermen to elude Florida's new ban on certain kinds of nets. That ban, you'll recall, came from the people. In November 1994, Floridians spoke loud and clear, voting 2,876,091 to 1,135,110 to add Section 16 Article X of the state Constitution." _ Editorial, The Miami Herald, August 28, 1996

These most recent attempts to circumvent the overwhelming citizen vote are being engineered by large scale commercial netting interests and associated fish houses. Huge, plastic tarpaulin nets are being outfitted onto 45-65 foot purse seine boats and are currently operating in a loophole being created by netting industry lawsuits. The netting interests are attempting to convince the Marine Fisheries Commission and others that this "device" is "not a net" and is not nearly as effective as the nets which have been banned.

Their objective is to convince the MFC to do nothing to prohibit or limit its use. One existing and operating tarp net is one-half-mile long, encircles a 10-acre area in each set, and on one observed trip caught 18,000 lbs. of fish in one set of the net! In reality, these large commercial netters and fish houses simply want to take the same huge quantities of fish in the same inshore waters that they did up until Florida voters stopped them.

At the time of the net ban, the mullet fishery was the largest, most intensive commercial net fishery in Florida. Spawning female mullet came under increasing pressure for their valuable roe (eggs), which is exported to foreign markets. More than 12 million pounds of mullet were taken annually during the four-month spawning season. Excessive take and commercial overfishing of mullet was one of the major issues that generated the constitutional amendment to limit netting. With the highly lucrative fall mullet "roe" season about to begin, this latest, and expected, industry lawsuit is just a continuation of the same pattern of industry attitude and obstruction that brought about the net ban.

The latest lawsuit is the fourth major commercial industry lawsuit filed in the last five years to stop MFC mullet protection rules. While the MFC wanted to act quickly to prevent this outrageous tarp net gear from being used on the overfished and recovering mullet stocks, the netting interests obviously want to use these scam "nets" to make big money during the upcoming mullet spawning season. "The netting industry cannot simply change the name and texture of these huge nets and pretend that they're not the same nets that have been banned by the overwhelming 72% approval of Florida voters," said Karl Wickstrom, who chaired the SOS amendment committee. "The Legislature, Governor and Cabinet, MFC and others need to act firmly and quickly to stop this newest scheme."

SAVE OUR SEALIFE EARLY RESULTS BETTER THAN ANTICIPATED by Rick Farren

This is the first in a series of articles that will run throughout the next several issues of Seawatch. Our goal is to systematically look at the results and benefits of Florida's net ban and re-visit some of the claims made during the campaign. In future issues we'll look at such areas as seafood prices, restaurant impacts, mullet prices and availability, shrimp harvests, sea turtle strandings, baitfish and gamefish abundance. Initial reports of markedly improved fishing first appeared in the state's newspapers within a few months of implementation of the net ban on July 1, 1995. Obviously there hadn't been enough time for populations to rebound, but large numbers of fish suddenly had a chance to grow beyond the size that could squeeze through a gill net. In addition, schooling patterns unseen for many years began re-emerging.

Now, well over a year later, it's becoming obvious that this was just the beginning. In this first couple of articles we've decided to talk to a sampling of those who spend much of their life on the water_Florida's fishing guides. Although it will be years perhaps before any long-term scientific data is available, the anecdotal information from fishing guides is worth noting. In many cases, guides were the first to warn us of how rapidly the fishery was declining before the net ban, and in the end it was their observations that proved to be the most accurate barometer of the resource.

Following are comments from guides along the east and west coast of Florida's peninsula. In the next issue we will look at results in the Panhandle. George Geiger is a redfish, tarpon and snook guide with 32 years of experience on the water. He works out of Sebastion and leads charters on the Indian River Lagoon between the Sebastian Inlet and Ft. Pierce. "The thing I've been most excited about," says Geiger, "are schools of juvenile redfish, 12 to 13 inches that we've spotted moving along with much larger schools of adult mullet." Apparently the small redfish stop when the mullet stop, and move on when the mullet move on. "There's also been a significant appearance of young 14 or 15 inch trout," says Geiger, adding that anglers are actually catching 25 to 35 per trip. And Geiger adds, "We've been catching more pompano than I can remember in recent history while fishing on the flats."

Up the coast a few miles, Joe Porcelli, of Deland, is a snook, seatrout and redfish guide who carried his first charter in 1977, and now concentrates his efforts in the Mosquito Lagoon and nearby waters. "I've been noticing an increase in seatrout by the inch," says Porcelli. "Two years ago we saw a lot of 13-inch trout. Then we started catching a lot of 14-inch fish, then 15-inch fish, and now we're seeing a lot of fish in the 16 and 17-inch class." Plus, he adds, "the trout are longer, thicker, healthier, and always seem to have bait in their stomachs." Porcelli also reports seeing a lot more jacks, ladyfish, and redfish. "It's the best I've ever seen it," he says, "200 to 300 reds in a school at once."

Jim Gray is a Kissimmee resident and guide with a lifetime of fishing in Florida who also fishes up and down the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon for redfish, trout and snook. "I am seeing especially large schools of redfish that are no longer being broken up. Although not legally targeted by netters since 1988, schools of 100 to 200 redfish became common shortly after the amendment kicked in last year." Adds Gray, "Tons of small trout have also begun to gather in certain depths and holding over certain areas. Catches of 20, 30, or even 40 trout have become reliable." In addition, during a recent trip into the Banana River says Gray, "I saw more huge mullet than I've seen since the mid-50s."

Across the state, in Southwest Florida, Ron Blago has eight years guiding experience and 15 years in the bait and tackle business. He guides in the Charlotte Harbor and Boca Grand area where he specializes in offshore and bay fishing for snook, trout and redfish. Blago remarked that the big mullet are returning to their natural patterns, and they aren't as skittish as before. Plus, he added, "We're seeing many more smaller mullet than in the past." But it's redfish in general that have shown the most recent improvement. "We are seeing schools of a thousand fish," said Blago, "along with a phenomenal amount of baitfish including scaled sardines, pilchards, and herrings." "In the last year we've also begun seeing more and bigger seatrout, and it's not uncommon to see fish going four or five pounds."

Up the west coast a short distance, Fred Arledge, of Tampa, has six years of guiding experience in Tampa Bay for snook, redfish and tarpon. Arledge has been most impressed by the "thundering herds of jack crevalle" that are now plying the big bay's waters. In the past, when jacks came into the bay they were easy to spot and easy to net. He also reports more bait this year than previous years, which might be a result of FCA's past successful effort to stop purse seining in the bay. Plus, says Arledge, mullet are now plentiful in all sizes from finger mullet to baseball-bat sized fish. He also reports that area anglers did very well in the spring in numbers and size of seatrout. Further north along the Gulf Coast, Mike Locklear of Homosassa, a licensed guide since 1976, specializes in redfish, tarpon and speckled trout in the Homosassa River and flats. "The most positive thing we've seen are a lot more mullet in the juvenile stage from fingerlings up to 12 to 14 inches," says Locklear. He also reports seeing a lot of seatrout move into well-known redfish haunts. "We've been finding them in shallow water more consistently than before, and we were able to obtain good catches for our clients quite easily last fall and spring." Adds Locklear, "I'm excited about the next few years. The trout have been hurting for so long. Now there's plenty of small trout, but we still have a ways to go to get to where it was 20 years ago."

FISH AND WILDLIFE AGAIN NEED FCA VOLUNTEERS by Rick Farren

On November 5, conservationists throughout Florida will be collecting signed petitions to create a new and more effective fish and wildlife agency. As you have probably read in Florida Sportsman or the September issue of Tide magazine, a new constitutional amendment drive is underway in Florida to unify the Marine Fisheries Commission, the Marine Patrol and the Marine Research Institute with the Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission (GFC) to form the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The proposed commission would consist of seven members with constitutional authority to make rules managing all of the state's fish and wildlife resources in the way that the GFC currently manages fresh water fish and wildlife. Essentially, regulations concerning marine fish and wildlife would no longer require approval by the Governor and Cabinet. The amendment has been endorsed by FCA and the Florida Wildlife Federation. The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Committee was formed in July with the goal of placing the unification amendment on the 1998 ballot. As with the Save Our Sealife Amendment, over 500,000 signatures will have to be collected and the best opportunity to achieve that goal is during the upcoming election. FCA members are needed across the state to help collect amendment petitions. If you can donate all or part of your day on November 5 to join with other conservationists at one of your local poling places, please contact Dave Lear, campaign director at 1-800-647-9912.