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Legislation to Bring Back Gill Nets Dies in Committee (Seawatch, May 2005)
by Ted Forsgren, CCA Florida Executive Director
Thanks to strong grassroots opposition by CCA Florida and marine conservation interests, bills in the Florida Senate and House of Representatives that tried to legalize 500-square-foot gill nets were stopped.
Once again, an attempt by entrenched commercial netting interests to circumvent the net ban has been turned back. This time, it came in the form of bills introduced by two north Florida legislators that would have legalized 500-square-foot gill nets.
The legislation was introduced in March at the beginning of this year’s two-month legislative session. House Bill 741 by Representative Will Kendrick (D-Carrabelle) and Senate Bill 1178 by Senator Al Lawson (D-Tallahassee) attempted to amend state law so that "Any net constructed of braided or twisted nylon, cotton, linen twine, or polypropylene twine, regardless of its mesh size... shall not be considered a gill or entangling net... in the waters of this state."
Background
In November 1994, the constitutional amendment limiting marine net fishing (the net ban) was passed by an overwhelming 72 percent of Florida voters. Since passage, there have been numerous lawsuits, attempts to create law enforcement loopholes, and outright scams designed to invalidate or circumvent provisions of the constitutional amendment. Every single one has failed while the Florida Legislature, Florida Courts, and state agencies consistently upheld the clear intent of Florida voters. More than a decade later, there are still factions within the commercial industry who refuse to accept the legal reality that the constitutional prohibition on gill nets means no gill nets.
One of the most common attempts to create loopholes for gill nets over the years has been to try to change laws to allow any mesh size in the 500-square-foot seine nets permitted in the amendment. The first attempt took place in 1995, when fishermen started using nets with mesh sizes commonly used in gill nets prior to the amendment. They claimed the nets were seine nets, even though at the time of arrest, their nets were filled with gilled fish. To resolve enforcement and prosecution issues, the Florida Marine Fisheries Commission adopted a regulation to establish a distinction between legal seine nets and illegal gill nets. The regulation restricted seine nets to a mesh size no larger than two inches and established a "bright line" between illegal seine nets and gill nets.
That regulation has been tested repeatedly in administrative hearings, various Florida courts and before the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). The outcome in every case has been an upholding of the two-inch mesh regulation. One of the major legal findings was that the two-inch maximum mesh size for seine nets was "historically based, rational and practical." Commercial netting interests have appealed that finding all the way to the Florida Supreme Court, which denied the appeal and allowed a District Court of Appeal ruling to stand, which upheld the two-inch regulation.
2005 Legislation
This year’s legislation was in direct conflict with the constitutional prohibition on gill nets, and more than eight years of court decisions defining gill nets and the gill net ban. Simply put, you cannot pass a law saying that nets with mesh sizes that are used to gill fish are not gill nets.
Throughout the session, each time the bills were scheduled for committee hearings, CCA Florida’s grassroots network was called upon to contact local senators and representatives, urging them to oppose the gill net loophole legislation. In the Senate, in mid-March the bills were discussed in a workshop before the Environmental Preservation Committee. CCA representatives spoke against the legislation. Senator Paula Dockery (R-Lakeland), the Chair of the committee, indicated in advance that the issue would be heard but no vote would be taken on the bill.
The House version of the legislation was then heard by the House Water and Natural Resources Committee in April, and again after calls from CCA members and presentations by CCA representatives, it was tabled, effectively stopping the legislation.
Attorney General Crist Weighs In
Before the bills were even heard by either branch of the legislature, Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist sent letters to both sponsors pointing out that the proposed legislation would violate two provisions of the Florida Constitution. Crist urged the sponsors to reconsider their support of the legislation in order to save the taxpayers the inevitable costs of litigating the changes.
The letter noted that Article X, Section 16 of the Florida Constitution prohibits the use of gill nets or other entangling nets in Florida waters, while Article IV, Section 9 places all regulatory and executive authority regarding fishing issues with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
"Florida is finally seeing positive results through improved marine populations, and this would be the worst possible time to turn back the clock by weakening the net ban," said Crist in a press release regarding the legislation. "The people have spoken overwhelmingly in support of the net ban, and we must respect their wishes."
Crist added that "Florida courts and the Fish and Wildlife Commission have consistently upheld the purpose of the net ban amendment."
Back Door Attempt to Weaken FWC Also Fails
Representative Kendrick also introduced HJR 1581, a joint house resolution that attempted to remove the constitutional authority of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The independent, constitutional authority of the FWC, and its predecessor the Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, has been a recognized cornerstone of the successful fish and wildlife programs in Florida. Constitutional status allows for management based on science and conservation, not political pressure.
If passed, the resolution would have placed an amendment on the November 2006 statewide ballot to remove the FWC’s authority, thus allowing decisions regulating fish and wildlife resources to take place within the turmoil of the political process. For a third time CCA’s grassroots network went into action, and again the bill was tabled at its first committee hearing before the House Environmental Protection Committee because of lack of support by committee members.
Thanks to CCA Members and Supporters
A special thanks is due to all CCA Florida members who took the time to let their legislators know of the strong support the net ban has throughout the state. CCA Florida continues to work to improve the fishery resources of Florida and remains vigilant against attempts to weaken marine conservation standards.
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CCA Seeks Emergency Measures for Red Snapper in the Gulf (Seawatch, May 2005)
Convinced that current management efforts to recover red snapper stocks are destined to fail, the Coastal Conservation Association has petitioned the Secretary of Commerce to put emergency measures into effect to end the overfishing of red snapper by the Gulf of Mexico shrimp fleet.
"We are not going to get a recovery of the red snapper stock based on the existing management plans," said CCA Government Relations Committee Chairman Fred Miller. "It simply cannot be accomplished without directly and immediately addressing shrimp trawl bycatch. The Gulf Council is aware of this, but has generally chosen to ignore the problem. The next stock assessment will make it clear that this is a problem that cannot be ignored any longer."
Every year more than 80 percent of juvenile red snapper are caught and killed in shrimp trawls at an average size of 4 inches. Red snapper recovery plans to date have been predicated on bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) developed in the 1990s which held the promise of reducing bycatch by at least 40 percent. However, studies last spring by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) revealed that BRDs had achieved only a 12 percent reduction. Noncompliance by the shrimping industry was cited as the main reason for the BRDs’ failure to achieve the target reduction.
Given bycatch reduction of only 12 percent, even the complete elimination of the directed red snapper fishery, both commercial and recreational, would fail to generate a recovery of the stock within the next 100 years. CCA’s petition is asking the Department of Commerce to exercise its authority to immediately implement a diverse and effective array of management tools on the shrimping industry, including bycatch quotas, area closures, seasonal closures and effort reduction measures, to achieve significant by-catch reduction on the order of 60-80 percent.
"Enough is enough. Recreational and commercial fishermen have adhered to their quotas, seasons and bag limits, and the shrimping industry has essentially wasted all those efforts," said David Cummins, CCA president. "We have done all that has been asked of us to rebuild this fishery. It’s time for the shrimpers to accept some responsibility for the current situation."
CCA has been actively involved in the management of the red snapper fishery for a quarter century and litigated to force the shrimp fleet to install BRDs in 1998. CCA’s demands that the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council meet its own targets on red snapper bycatch in the shrimp trawl fishery over the past year have been ignored, leaving no option but to file the petition.
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Major Grouper Restrictions Proposed for Gulf Recreational Fishery (Seawatch, May 2005)
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has indicated an intent to enact, by emergency action, major new restrictions on the recreational fishery for red and gag grouper in the Gulf of Mexico. The action is caused by a bizarre, and unprecedented increase in the estimated recreational catch of red grouper in 2004.
The management measure being considered would include lowering the recreational aggregate grouper bag limit to three fish in which only one can be a red grouper, and prohibiting all recreational take of red and gag grouper for four months. These draconian recreational measures are being proposed at the same time NMFS is allowing commercial longline boats to take red grouper with a 10,000-pound trip limit.
Since the Gulf of Mexico red and gag grouper fisheries exist almost exclusively off of the State of Florida, we urged the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to become actively involved in the issue to prevent the virtual elimination of the recreational grouper fisheries.
The FWC agreed with CCA Florida’s recommendations, and sent a letter to NMFS requesting that the agency "conduct public workshops in Florida to ensure that affected parties have an opportunity to understand and respond to the issue. This would include a thorough understanding of the harvest data driving the proposed actions and the range of options being considered to reduce recreational harvest in federal waters."
The FWC further requested that NMFS "evaluate the potential economic impact of proposed rules that would restrict recreational activity in Florida."
It's CCA’s position that NMFS should consider reallocating a portion of the commercial longline take to the recreational fishery.
Acting upon another CCA Florida recommendation, the commissioners agreed to have the FWC staff investigate the possibility of petitioning NMFS and the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council to delegate to Florida the authority to develop management plans and regulations for Gulf red and gag grouper. The commissioners will discuss the issue further at their June meeting.
Accuracy of Landings Estimate Questioned
NMFS claims that estimated recreational landings of red grouper increased from 1.536 million pounds in 2003 to 3.530 million pounds in 2004, a whopping 130 percent increase! Such an increase is completely unprecedented in the history of red grouper landings since regulations began 14 years ago. NMFS claims to have rechecked the data and found no errors. However, nothing remotely close to such an increase has ever occurred although there have been dramatic reductions over the years caused by new regulations. The estimates become even more suspect when you consider that fishing activity was impacted by a record four major hurricanes in 2004.
It’s a Florida Fishery
The Gulf red and gag grouper fisheries are Florida fisheries. More than 95 percent of all the gag and red grouper taken in the Gulf of Mexico are taken off of and landed in Florida. Despite the overwhelming dominance and importance of the fishery to Florida, representatives on the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council from the four other Gulf states have controlled the management decisions because Florida holds only 4 of the 17 seats on the Council.
Past Actions Favored the Commercial Fishery
In addition, the Gulf Council’s past actions toward recreational fishermen in gag grouper management have been horribly inequitable. A CCA Florida analysis of Gulf grouper landings before and after federal regulations clearly indicates that the cumulative impact of 11 years of Gulf Council gag grouper regulations have caused the annual recreational landings, after federal regulations, to be reduced by an average of 42 percent. Commercial landings were not reduced at all. In fact, after federal regulations were enacted, average annual commercial landings actually increased.
The process of adopting inequitable regulations began in 1990 when the Gulf Council approved major regulations to protect gag and red grouper including an increase in minimum size from 12 to 20 inches, a five-fish recreational bag limit, and a combined red/gag grouper quota on commercial fishers. Those 1990 federal regulations caused a huge 54 percent reduction in the recreational gag catch; however, there was no reduction in commercial take. The 8-inch increase in minimum size limit in particular had a very substantial impact on recreational anglers and no impact on commercial landings.
In 2002, NMFS released a stock assessment which indicated that for the first time in many years gag grouper were not overfished. The entire recovery of gag grouper came as a result of a series of inequitable harvest restrictions on recreational fishermen only. Commercial fishers were subjected to essentially fake regulations – quotas so high that they were never reached, a short one-month closure that was negated by increasing effort before and after the closure, and small area closures that were negated by shifts to other nearby waters. In fact, the increases in commercial gag landings after federal regulations were initiated actually undermined and delayed the recovery and caused even greater restrictions on recreational take.
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NMFS Trying To Bring Longlining Back To Florida’s Offshore Waters — Public Comment Period Only Seven Days Long
(Seawatch, May 2005)
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has stated a desire to permit six commercial swordfish longline boats to fish in areas previously closed to swordfish longlining along Florida’s East coast and in the Gulf of Mexico supposedly for scientific research.
The Gulf Stream off of Florida’s East coast and the DeSoto Canyon area off of the Florida Panhandle have been closed to commercial swordfish longlining for several years. As a result there’s been a dramatic recovery and increased abundance of sailfish, swordfish, dolphin and wahoo in these areas. Now NMFS is proposing to allow six commercial longline boats to fish in these protected areas under the guise of "research" to reduce longline by-kill. CCA Florida sees the action as unwarranted and just plain bad public policy.
In addition, and showing a remarkable disdain for input from the general public, NMFS chose to provide only a seven day notice for public comments. "Allowing such a short time for the public to react on such an objectionable proposal is simply offensive," said Ted Forsgren, CCA Florida Executive Director. At press time, NMFS had received thousands of objections, including a major objection from the FWC, and had delayed making a decision on the permits.
Commercial longliners and NMFS have virtually the entire Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico to conduct their so called by-catch research. There is absolutely no need to return longlines to the closed areas. In fact, the NMFS proposal looks more like a special deal for six longliners to fish in closed areas than any legitimate research.
It also appeared that NMFS had already decided to give the longliners the necessary permits to fish in the closed areas regardless of the public’s reaction. Although the comment period ended on April 11, anyone interested in expressing concern over NMFS actions can send their objections to Heather Stirratt, HMS Management Division, F/SF1, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. E-mail: ID032805A@noaa.gov (include in the subject line I.D. 032805A). Faxes can be sent to: (310) 713-1917.
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FWC Approves Manatee Zone Changes in Lee County (Seawatch, May 2005)
The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) voted in April to reestablish and amend manatee protection speed zones in Lee County. CCA representatives took part in the local review committee process and presented comments and recommendations regarding the proposals, including data on the effectiveness of some existing zones. Many of CCA’s recommendations were in support of findings of the local committee.
"Our objective was to recommend science-based proposals that benefit manatees and boaters alike," said Past Chairman Ernie Hendry who took part in both the local review committee and the FWC’s public hearing.
Local review committees are made up of local stakeholders representing various interests. "The group put aside their differences and worked toward a common goal for what would be best for boating interests and manatees alike," said Hendry, adding, "We worked very hard on this issue, especially over the last month with the individual commissioners and commission staff."
Of importance to boaters and saltwater anglers was that the commission amended three existing federal speed zones by adding 25 mph corridors, which will provide relief for boaters. In one case—the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River—CCA Florida was able to show that concentrating boats in a single channel had actually increased the number of manatee/boat collisions.
Commissioners also voted to seek possible relief for boaters in a federally-controlled zone at Redfish Point in the Caloosahatchee. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be asked to install a 25 mph speed limit in the main channel instead of the current slow zone along a 1.5-mile stretch of the river.
"We were disappointed they didn’t endorse all of the committee’s findings especially a recommendation for a corridor behind Big Shell and Little Shell islands," said Hendry. "There was also a strong push by some groups to add new zones and manatee regulations, however, the FWC looked at the scientific data and chose to not recommend any additional zones."
The full text of CCA Florida’s Comments and Recommendations for Lee County Manatee Zone Rules.
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Imperiled Species Process Will Change (Seawatch, May 2005)
On April 14 the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted to update the state’s imperiled species listing process by adopting criteria developed by the highly respected International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
"We believe our actions will make Florida’s process one of the most effective, science-based, recovery-oriented processes in the world, but we recognize the process may not be perfect," FWC Chairman Herky Huffman said. "That’s why we directed staff to provide us with updates about how the process is working and recommend further refinements as needed."
The decision to update the criteria grew out of a request by CCA Florida to reevaluate the status of the Florida manatee. The goal was to get to the truth about the biological status of manatees so that science, not emotion, would guide the management of the species.
A study by FWC scientists showed that the population had expanded and that the manatee no longer qualified as an endangered species. Before taking action on the manatee’s listing status, however, the commissioners choose to reexamine the entire process.
This decision by the FWC does not immediately affect the listing status of any of the 118 animal species classified as endangered, threatened or species of special concern in the state list. It also will not affect the status of species on the federal list, which revolves around different criteria.
Whenever the agency considers listing, reclassifying or delisting a species, FWC staff will develop a management plan tailored to that individual species’ needs. The plan will outline species-specific protections, replacing less-effective blanket prohibitions of the past, which were tied to categories rather than species’ individual needs.
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CCA Representatives Speak at NMFS Recreational Fisheries Meeting (Seawatch, May 2005)
CCA had a significant presence at the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Saltwater Sportfishing Partners meeting held last month in St. Petersburg. CCA’s representatives recapped CCA’s role in recovering fish stocks in Florida, and made a case for the economic importance and contributions made by millions of saltwater anglers in search of an enjoyable day on the water. CCA representatives also made presentations of the state of recreational fishing in the future, IFQ’s (individual fishing quotas), the need for a saltwater fishing license, and methods to enhance saltwater fishing.
It was also pointed out that NMFS has done an insufficient job of managing long-lines, red grouper, and shrimp trawl bycatch. These particular issues were highlighted because of a recent application to allow testing of experimental longline gear and apparent support of the application by NMFS to allow these longlines into areas previously closed to longlining, and because of proposals to dramatically reduce recreational anglers’ share of the red grouper harvest. NMFS has also failed to control unwarranted shrimp trawl bycatch and waste of juvenile red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico prompting a lawsuit by CCA to force action on the issue.
CCA also expressed support for the expansion of saltwater licenses so that the full impact and extent of saltwater recreational fishing can be assessed when resources are allotted by federal fishery managers.
CCA Representatives pictured left to right are:
Dick Brame - CCA staff, whose work includes fisheries management with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and South Atlantic Fishery Management Council.
Michael Kennedy – CCA Florida Past Chair and CCA Vice President
Bob Hayes - CCA General Counsel
Sean Gucken - CCA Florida Pinellas Chapter
Chester Brewer - Chair Emeritus of CCA Florida
and Co-Chair of CCA Governmental Relations Committee
George Geiger – CCA Florida Vice Chair and member of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council
Brad Golomb – CCA Florida Pinellas Chapter President
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FWC Commissioners Receive CCA Florida Conservation Award (Seawatch, May 2005)
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) members Rodney Barreto and David Meehan have been selected to receive CCA Florida Conservation Awards. The awards were given in recognition of their leadership and support for marine fisheries conservation measures.
"We are very pleased to recognize these Commissioners," said David Howton, CCA Florida Chairman. "Their leadership has been instrumental in efforts to increase penalties for flagrant illegal netting, the establishment of protective management plans for snook, permit and other fisheries, and in getting the FWC more involved in federal fisheries management off of Florida."
Both men have served terms as Chairman of the Commission. Commissioner Meehan served as Chairman in 2001 and is currently Vice Chairman. Commissioner Barreto served as Chairman in 2004.
"All the members of the Commission have been conservation-minded in their decisions regarding Florida’s saltwater fisheries," said Ted Forsgren, CCA Florida Executive Director. "We felt, however, that the leadership and work of Commissioners Barreto and Meehan deserved special recognition."
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