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Cabinet OKs No-Take Zone

Posted on: Wednesday, 10 August 2005, 21:00 CDT

Aug. 10--Strongly backed by a coalition of Florida Keys residents, a move to halt fishing on 46 square miles of water in Dry Tortugas National Park won the endorsement of Gov. Jeb Bush and the Florida Cabinet.

But Tuesday's unanimous Cabinet vote in Tallahassee may not end the debate.

Still to weigh in on the new no-take area is the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, charged with approving state fishing regulations.

"My guess is, I'll defer to [the Conservation Commission's] decision," Bush said.

Some recreational fishermen, headed by the multi-state Coastal Conservation Association, dislike the proposed closure for 46 of the national park's 100 square miles.

"We don't believe that's necessary," group representative Ted Forsgren said. "That's really half the park."

Advocates of closing the waters - to be designated a Research Natural Area - to fishing call it essential to preserving the shallows of a marine ecosystem protected by the much larger Tortugas Ecological Reserves, the largest no-take marine area in the United States.

"We really need the area inside the park," Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Superintendent Billy Causey told the Cabinet. "Those are the nursery areas for all the juvenile fish that grow up there."

"What happened [Tuesday] was very important," Causey said following the vote.

"No one with the sanctuary or the national park is trying to usurp the authority of [the Conservation Commission] but we see this as much bigger than a fishery management issue," Causey said. "We believe it's critical to set this area aside to protect the biological diversity of a much larger system."

A local working group drafting the reserve boundaries in the late 1990s identified the waters in the national park as a key element of the Tortugas no-take zones.

Park waters were not affected by the 2001 declaration of the two Tortugas Ecological Reserves because the National Park Service retained jurisdiction.

The Park Service eventually agreed to the Research Natural Area concept, but a decision was delayed because of a century-old dispute between the federal and state governments over who has ultimate say over the Dry Tortugas.

The pact approved Tuesday by the Cabinet does not resolve the issue, but tentatively agrees to a joint management plan that creates the new zone on the 46 square miles inside the park.

"We really thought this was needed to get the full performance [of the reserves] in preserving the subtropical marine habitat," said Dan Kimball, superintendent of Everglades and Dry Tortugas national parks. "You need both the [shallow and deeper] areas."

The area that does not allow fishing, collecting or anchoring will "maintain park resources in a nearly pristine state for the benefit of future generations," Kimball said.

Boating and diving, with the use of mooring buoys, would be permitted.

Jerry Ault, an associate professor of marine science at the University of Miami, said current regulations on grouper and snapper are not adequately protecting the fish stocks from increasing pressure.

The reserve would be "good for the fish, good for the ecosystem, good for fishermen and good for the Florida economy in the long run," Ault said.

Marathon boatyard owner Bruce Popham said opponents of the closed area "don't speak for us" in the Florida Keys.

"We want to have a quality fishing experience for ourselves and our children," said Popham, who also chairs the Keys' marine sanctuary's Advisory Council.

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Copyright (c) 2005, Florida Keys Keynoter, Marathon

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Source: Florida Keys Keynoter, Marathon, Fla.

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