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Keeping an Eye on the Diamond (Seawatch, June 2006)
by Rob Hendricks, CCA Florida General Manager
It’s an exciting time to be a member of CCA Florida. We can look back on a long history of remarkable successes—successes that reversed a decades-long decline in the health and abundance of our marine resources and turned our state into what has been called the Fishing Capital of the World. Now we look forward to building on that success through a renewed focus on the fundamentals that have made this organization so strong and effective.
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Our future victories as an organization depend on carefully balancing the four key elements that have brought us this far—membership, fundraising, advocacy and communication. Like the four points of a diamond, no single element can be effective by itself, but by combining these elements we’ll create something much stronger, which then furthers our ability to affect decisions that impact our marine fisheries and the future of our coastal resources. |
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First of all, we must continue to have a vibrant, active and growing membership, not only to catch the watchful eye of vote-conscious politicians, but also to build the grassroots chapter boards that saturate coastal and inland communities with the message that marine conservation is important to all of us—anglers and non-anglers alike. These boards establish points of influence in the community and form the foundation of the organization as a whole. From inception, CCA was founded on a committee system, and without strong grassroots support, that foundation falls apart. From local chapter membership and local boards, to the state board and executive committees, every member matters.
A strong membership drives both fund-raising and advocacy. Even with membership passing record numbers of more than 11,000, we are still only a small fraction of the saltwater recreational fishing community in Florida. We need to continue to grow existing chapters while developing new chapters. That in turn will provide more anglers with the opportunity to participate within CCA’s local, state and national infrastructure.
Membership is built one banquet at a time, one member at a time. One of the easiest and most effective tools is for each of us to simply sign up a friend, relative or neighbor. Who can’t think of at least one person that he or she can bring into the organization! With such a growing group of concerned conservationists, there is little we will not be able to do for our coastal resources.
As the membership grows, so does our fundraising ability, which is a vital function of local chapters. Thanks to the hard work of chapter boards and committees and our staff of regional directors, banquets are consistently setting new records for attendance and fundraising. The funds raised at these events allow us to take on the many challenges and threats to sound conservation we face in Florida. Through the growth of our annual banquets, the expansion of special events, and the dues provided by an ever-stronger membership we increase our effectiveness at all levels of fishery management.
Because of past efforts, today we have a presence and a respected influence in federal, regional and state marine issues, but that presence can be even stronger and more respected if we continue to pull together.
With a strong and growing membership and a solid financial base, there’s no limit to what we can accomplish toward our advocacy goal of protecting our marine resources on behalf of Florida’s conservation-minded saltwater anglers. When the idea of creating manatee speed zones exceeded the realm of common sense and unfairly impacted our ability to access citizen-owned resources, we had the resources to fund important scientific research that changed the debate from one based on emotion to one based on science. When the National Marine Fisheries Service tried to close all grouper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico to protect red grouper, we had the resources to challenge the inappropriate decision in federal court, and we won.
In these, and many other cases we didn’t have to ask, can we afford to take on this issue? We only had to ask, is it important to saltwater anglers? If the answer was yes, then we brought our resources to bear on the problem.
The near future of marine conservation holds even more challenges. For example, there’s a sea-change coming in how the fishery data is collected and interpreted for use by state and federal fishery managers. That in-turn is going to affect how the resource is parceled between a long-entrenched, politically-connected commercial fishing industry and an ever-growing recreational fishery. There are also going to be more attempts to close large areas of public waters to fishing, and we can expect greater resistance to providing a fair share of the resource to recreational anglers. We need to stand ready, with a strong and unified voice, to represent the interests of today’s saltwater anglers, and indeed those of future saltwater anglers.
The last point on our diamond, communication, is by no means the least important, but rather the anchor that holds together our membership, fundraising and advocacy efforts. It’s communication that carries our message, our accomplishments and our vision of the future to our membership and to the general public, both inside and outside the fishing community.
Without good communication we could lose everything. Members have to know what we’re doing to support us, and fishery managers need to know where we stand to respect us. And we, meaning all of us in CCA Florida, need to know what our members think, what they’re concerned about, and what they want to see us accomplish as an organization.
Through Seawatch, TIDE, and ccaflorida.org we put forth our goals to members, anglers, and the general public. Through press releases, grassroots updates and alerts, and carefully crafted position papers we speak to the government entities that set federal policy. Since all communication, real communication, flows two ways, it’s through our regional directors and local boards that we learn what is important to our members. We learned long ago, that it’s the people who spend time on the water, year after year, who know before anyone else what’s going on out there, and what problems we face today and will face tomorrow.
Imagine how things would look today if CCA Florida hadn’t come along when it did 20 years ago. At that time fishery management was simply a tool for the commercial fishing industry to improve their profit margins. Mullet stocks were being devastated just for their eggs, redfish populations were a shadow of what they are today because of a craze for blackened redfish, schools of ladyfish and Spanish mackerel were being rounded up and shipped to northern markets, and pompano had little chance of surviving the gauntlet of gill nets laid down along our beaches.
The nation’s largest fleet of commercial longliners were stretching longlines, up to 45-miles long with thousands of baited hooks, across the Gulf Stream off of Florida catching swordfish, billfish, sea turtles and even birds. Along our shores, porpoise, sea turtles and tons of non-targeted fish were being killed by monofilament gill nets that routinely stretched more than half a mile, entangling everything that came near.
Schools of baitfish such as herring and menhaden, the very species that form the basis of the entire marine resource food chain, were fast becoming a story of the past as spotter planes and huge, seine-net operations swept them from the sea to sell for pennies a pound. All manner of sea life suffered as a result.
We changed all that. We banned gill nets, moved big seine nets offshore, got the longlines out of the waters off Florida’s East coast, and removed redfish from commercial markets. We also put the brakes on an avalanche of "no-fishing zone" proposals that sought to bar recreational anglers from the very resources we brought back to life.
In recent years, we were able to pass legislation that increased the penalty for flagrant netting violations, and put a big dent in gill-net poaching. And we’ve repeatedly stopped attempts in the courts and the Florida legislature to roll back marine protections, including bills to bring back gill nets and weaken the ability of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to protect our marine resources.
Bottom line though—anything that gets done in this organization is a function of the many. From local committees to the state board, we are blessed with an army of dedicated volunteers who seek new members, execute fundraising activities, set advocacy goals and carry the message of marine conservation.
With a hard working staff at both state and national levels we have made, and continue to make, a major difference in how marine resources are managed.
With so many positive accomplishments behind us, it’s exciting to imagine what lies ahead for an even stronger and more effective CCA Florida. It’s a new day, with new challenges, but as long as we keep focused on all four points of the diamond—membership, fundraising, advocacy, communication—there’s no limit to what we can achieve on behalf of Florida’s saltwater recreational anglers.
More information on CCA Florida's advocacy positions.
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There is a Procedure for Removing Ghost Traps (Seawatch, June 2006)
by Rick Farren, CCA Florida Communications Director
It took less than half a day for 21 volunteers, myself included, to remove 289 derelict crab traps from the waters of Apalachicola Bay in Franklin County earlier this year. For my part I learned two things—picking up derelict traps is harder than it sounds, and more rewarding than you would expect.
The effort was organized by the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve (ANERR). A part of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), ANERR is dedicated to educating the public about the importance of the Apalachicola estuary and the need to protect its resources.
In addition to the ANERR staff, volunteers included CCA Big Bend Chapter members along with state employees from the DEP, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and the FWC’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.
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The event was shortened by bad weather, but there was enough time for the volunteersto fan out into the estuary in seven boats, including one airboat that was able to access the shallowest areas. Because of the low tides, the airboat crew picked up around 40 percent of all the traps collected.
Every trap collected was documented for location, condition and any fish or crustaceans that might be caught inside. The documentation process helps insure that only derelict traps are collected, and active traps still in use are left alone.
Some of the traps contained sheepshead and blue crabs and were continuing to fish. Called ghost traps, they can keep on catching and killing for months or years—crabs and fish entering the trap simply become bait for more fish and crabs in a continuing cycle. They also pose a hazard to boating and can become so numerous they impact the habitat.
According to the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission (GSMFC), traps become lost or abandoned any number of ways—tides, currents and storms, boat propellers cutting the buoy lines or deterioration of floats, lines and knots.
And it’s a Gulf-wide problem. The GSMFC estimates that between the five Gulf coast states approximately 250,000 blue crab traps are lost each year. Since an average of around 390,000 pounds of blue crabs were landed annually in Franklin County the past 10 years, there’s bound to be a problem with derelict traps.
The event was staged under the Trap Retrieval and Debris Removal Program, which is operated by the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Under rules passed two years ago, any club or organization can submit a trap removal plan to the FWC for consideration. Even just a few interested individuals can get together and form a group solely for the purpose of holding an event.
Similar trap removal projects have taken place in the Alafia River, Crystal River, Biscayne Bay and Tampa Bay, but the Franklin County project pulled more derelict traps in a single day than has been accomplished anywhere else in the state.
Only individuals taking part in an organized trap removal program can handle or even touch a crab trap. Illegally tampering with a crab trap in Florida waters can result in a permanent revocation of fishing privileges and a $5,000 fine as well as penalties through the judicial system for a third degree felony.
Contact Information
For more information on the Trap Retrieval and Debris Removal Program go to MyFWC.com/marine/traps/index.html. Clubs, organizations, individuals or commercial trappers interested in holding or taking part in a local trap removal event can also get started by contacting Juli Dodson at the FWC at (850) 922-4340.
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Redfish Management May Need a Tune Up
(Seawatch, June 2006)
Redfish stocks in Florida are currently healthy, but increasing fishing pressure could put a damper on continued abundance of this important sportfish species. That’s the message biologists delivered to Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commissioners at a public hearing in April.
The report was based on a recently completed stock assessment for redfish that included data collected through 2003. The assessment indicated that redfish stocks are currently meeting the FWC’s management goal of a 30-percent escapement rate on Florida’s Gulf and Atlantic coasts. The escapement rate is the proportion of spawning-sized fish that survive to join offshore spawning stocks. For redfish, escapement rate roughly equals the species Spawning Potential Ratio (SPR), which is the measurement criteria used for most fish species.
Redfish stocks have been recovering in Florida since the late 1980s when CCA Florida pushed for and achieved gamefish status for the species along with substantial management measures. The rebounding redfish population and statewide recreational fishery that ensued has been one of the most important fishery management successes in Florida.
The current assessment estimates that escapement rates are 32 percent on Florida’s Gulf coast and 34 percent on the Atlantic coast. However, the continuing increase in the number of Florida anglers fishing for redfish has tempered recent gains by the stock. Even though localized large schools of redfish do occur, there has been slow erosion in the number of fish escaping to the offshore spawning stock, which is critical for the long-term health and abundance of the species. FWC biologists suggest that if fishing pressure continues to rise, as expected, redfish may fall short of management goals by the next stock assessment, scheduled for 2008.
Following the stock assessment, the FWC convened a stakeholder working group of guides and recreational anglers, including representatives of CCA Florida, to gather input on the future of the redfish fishery. After reviewing the latest scientific data, group members were inclined to suggest a cautionary, proactive management approach to ensure continued success for the fishery, including possibly adjusting the slot limit or closing harvest during certain periods of the year.
CCA Florida will remain in the forefront on this issue, and continue working with the FWC to promote full and complete protection for redfish, one of Florida’s finest gamefish.
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Assessment Shows Snook Falling Short of Management Goal (Seawatch, June 2006)
A recent stock assessment for snook indicates the FWC’s management goal for the fishery to achieve a 40-percent spawning potential ratio (SPR) is falling short. SPR is the ratio of the total weight of mature fish in a fished population to the total weight that would exist if the population were not fished. The snook assessment estimates that the SPR is 32 percent on Florida’s Gulf coast and 25 percent on the Atlantic coast. The assessment indicates total snook harvest has been increasing on both coasts due to the growing popularity of snook fishing.
CCA Florida will take part in an upcoming FWC working group of snook stakeholders to address the management goal and additional regulatory measures.
On a related issue, some fishing guides and other snook fishermen have indicated the FWC’s new regulation to clarify and standardize how anglers measure the total length of various saltwater finfish might affect management of snook stocks. Beginning July 1, the new rule will require snook to be measured by using the straight line distance from the most forward point of the head with the mouth closed, to the farthest tip of the tail with the tail compressed or squeezed together, while the fish is lying on its side. The change will allow more snook to fall within the lower limit of the slot limit.
To ensure the status of snook does not decline as a result of the new management method, Commissioners directed staff to schedule a final public hearing in June on a rule amendment to shift the snook slot limit from 26-34 inches to 27-35 inches total length. The CCA Florida Board of Directors is supporting a one-inch increase in the lower end of the slot limit, but feels there’s no need to raise the upper limit since snook continue to fall short of the long-range management goals.
More information on CCA Florida Snook Positions.
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CCA Florida Receives "Best of the Year Award" From Motor Boating Magazine! (Seawatch, June 2006)
CCA Florida has been honored with the prestigious "Best of the Year Award" from Motor Boating Magazine for the organization's successful effort to stop the two-month ban on grouper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico in 2005. CCA Florida was nominated for the award by Capt. Dave Lear, sportfishing editor for the magazine.
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In recognizing CCA Florida as a "Fisheries Watchdog," the article in Motor Boating Magazine announcing the award stated: "Last year, Florida anglers faced a ban on catching grouper, a very popular species in this part of the country, until the Coastal Conservation Association Florida came to their aid. Executive Director Ted Forsgren attended dozens of public hearings and federal council meetings arguing for less drastic measures, prior to filing a lawsuit in federal district court. The ban was overturned before it went into effect, and the ruling prevented a major economic shortfall for Florida's sportfishing industry. |
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From the left, Scott Nichols, CCA Florida Regional Director; Chester Brewer, CCA Florida Chairman Emeritus; and Peter Janssen, Editorial Director of Motor Boating Magazine. |
"Since its inception in 1985, CCA Florida has been the vanguard group for conserving and protecting the state's marine fishery resources, as well as the lobbying voice for millions of residential and visiting recreational anglers in the Sunshine State. Its accomplishments include achieving gamefish status for redfish, banning deadly fish traps in the South Atlantic, gaining critical protection for billfish, dolphin and wahoo, and slowing the onslaught of no-fishing zones. Because of CCA Florida's tireless efforts over the last 20 years, the outlook for Florida's fisheries and recreational anglers has never been brighter."
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FWC Officer Receives National Award (Seawatch, June 2006)
Major Bruce Buckson, a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) law enforcement major and a former field officer has been honored with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s 2006 Guy Bradley Award for lifetime contributions to protection of the nation’s wildlife resources.
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It was Major Buckson’s leadership in wildlife law enforcement in Florida and career-long contributions to conserving marine fishery resources in the Southeast and Gulf Coast regions that led to his nomination and subsequent winning of the award. His accomplishments include shaping the enforcement components of state regulations, addressing issues such as limiting net use, pompano harvest, redfish tournament management and black sea bass trap marking. |
Buckson began his career with the FWC in 1982. His other accomplishments include service as Florida’s law enforcement representative to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission, South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council and the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Commission.
As the FWC’s liaison to the National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Law Enforcement, Buckson negotiated a joint enforcement agreement between the two agencies, resulting in more than $3 million in federal funding for fisheries enforcement in Florida. The funds allow the state to enhance its enforcement through purchases and deployment of much-needed offshore and mid-range patrol vessels.
The Guy Bradley Award is named after the first wildlife law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty. Bradley was shot in 1905 while protecting bird rookeries in what today is Everglades National Park.
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Chapter Awards for 2005 (Seawatch, June 2006)
Greatest Banquet Net Dollar Increase Over Prior Year — Manatee County
Greatest Banquet Net Percentage Increase Over Prior Year — Pinellas
Greatest Banquet Net Dollars Raised — Palm Beach
Greatest Membership Growth Over Prior Year (in Number) — Lake County
Greatest Membership Growth Over Prior Year (in Percentage) — Lake County
CCA Florida chapters were recognized at the Winter Board of Directors Meeting on February 11 for outstanding performance in banquet and membership growth. Accepting the awards for each chapter are (from left): Jeff Allen—Palm Beach, Sean Gucken—Pinellas, David Howton—Chairman, Cheryl Huntsinger—Manatee, Bert Norris—Lake.
Marine Resource Protections Survive 2006 Legislature (Seawatch, June 2006)
by Ted Forsgren, CCA Florida Executive Director
CCA Florida again stepped up in defense of the net ban.
A few weeks before the start of Florida’s two-month 2006 legislative session, Senator Daniel Webster (R-Winter Garden) introduced a Senate Joint Resolution (SJR 1918) created to "Streamline the Florida Constitution." In its initial form the bill contained corrections to the constitution for 297 misspelled words, grammatical errors and other technical errors, plus a provision to remove the "pregnant pigs" amendment from the Constitution and make it a statute.
The legislation was based in part on a report released by the staff of the Florida Senate Judicial Committee, Options for Streamlining the Florida Constitution, which identified subjects in the state Constitution that could be considered "statutory matter" and could be adopted as statutes instead of remaining in the Constitution. According to the report, these subjects included term limits on elected officials, the smoking ban in public places, limits on increases in property taxes, the net ban and the pregnant pigs amendment. (The pregnant pigs amendment sets a minimum size for gestation crates used for pregnant female pigs within the agricultural industry.)
During the Senate Judicial Committee’s first meeting held in February, Senator Webster, the committee’s chairman, stated that his reason for putting the pregnant pigs provision in the bill was to provide a procedure and format where committee members could offer amendments to add other provisions for repeal and conversion to statute. Because the bill amends the state constitution, if passed it would be placed on the November 2006 statewide ballot for approval or rejection by the public. As a statute, provisions such as the constitutional netting restrictions could then be modified or repealed.
As the legislative session unfolded it became apparent that an attempt would be made at some point to add the net ban to the bill for removal from the constitution. That attempt came during a meeting of the judicial committee in late April when Senator Charlie Clary (R-Destin) moved to add the net ban amendment to the legislation.
At the meeting, CCA Florida addressed the committee members and pointed out that among the amendments they were considering as statute material, the net ban was perhaps the only one that was a true "citizen initiative." In fact, between 1992 and 1994, volunteers collected every one of the 550,000 petitions required to put the net ban, officially titled the "Save our Sealife Amendment," on the ballot. No paid petitioners were used in the process. CCA added that the net ban was created only after years of effort to get the Legislature and the Marine Fisheries Commission to act to rid the state of gill nets and huge seine nets that were devastating Florida’s inshore resource.
The committee was also reminded that more than 200 conservation and fishing organizations endorsed the net ban along with nearly every major newspaper in the state, and that it passed with an overwhelming 72 percent "yes" vote. In addition, the Constitutional Review Commission in 1998 looked at the net ban, and after hundreds of hours of testimony, decided that it belonged in the Constitution.
Eventually a number of citizen amendments were added to the legislation, most dealing with attorney fees and medical malpractice. The move to include the net ban, however, was defeated by a voice vote of the committee. Although SJR 1918 stayed alive until the final day of the session, it failed to pass.
Attempt to Dissolve the FWC
On an entirely separate front, CCA Florida opposed a House Joint Resolution (HJR 7129) introduced by state Representative Mitch Needleman (R-Melbourne) that would abolish the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as part of the creation of a Department of Interior (DOI). The new department, which would include the Department of Environmental Protection, would have cabinet level status and be run by an elected commissioner.
Representative Will Kendrick (D-Carrabelle), who attempted to get legislation passed last year that would return gill nets to Florida waters and eliminate the constitutional status of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, was a co-sponsor on the bill. A Senate companion bill (SB 2680) was introduced by Senator Bill Posey (R- Rockledge).
Abolishing the FWC and rolling it into a Department of Interior would also remove the independent, constitutional authority to manage wildlife, freshwater and saltwater fisheries. The new department would then have authority to adopt or modify size and bag limit regulations for wildlife, freshwater fisheries and saltwater fisheries including redfish, snook and spotted seatrout. If passed, the resolution would be placed on the statewide ballot for consideration in November.
Since 1943 for wildlife and freshwater fish and 1998 for saltwater fisheries, the FWC has had independent constitutional authority to manage freshwater fish, wildlife and marine fisheries. Management actions are based on science and conservation, not political pressure. Since that time the FWC, which is directed by a board of commissioners appointed by the Governor, has established an outstanding management record and has been ranked among the top five fish and wildlife agencies in the United States. There is absolutely no reason to abolish the FWC and insert legislators and other elected officials into the process of establishing fishing and hunting regulations for individual species.
Fortunately, HJR 7129 failed to move to the House Floor by the end of the session.
Funding for Marine Conservation
CCA Florida also supported, and saw passed, an increase in funding for artificial reef construction from $600,000 in previous years to $950,000. In addition, 2 million dollars were included in the 2006 FWC budget to support the development of a new saltwater fish hatchery. The Port Manatee Fish Hatchery is being moved to a new location and reconstructed.
CCA Florida Legislative Updates for 2006.
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