FWC Trying to Combat Overfishing: Agency Aims to Maintain One of State’s Essential Attractions

By David Angier, The News Herald, Panama City, Fla.

Feb. 5–The future is catching up to Bay County, and it’s changing the seascape as well as the landscape. In 2005, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission began reshaping its goals as to the management of fishing — taking into account that up until 2005, it had no goals — considering the enormous impact the growth of the human population is having on the decline of fish. Overfishing, habitat destruction, by-catch mortality, insufficient fishing law enforcement and research that lags years behind the implementation of policy — all these were brought up as issues that needed to be answered so Florida could maintain one its most important tourist draws, fresh fish. “Are fish stocks in Florida like they were 30 years ago?” Mark Robson asked, then chuckled. “Of course not.” Robson, FWC Division of Marine Fisheries Management director, was addressing a small group of anglers that had come to a “Future of Saltwater Fishing” workshop at Gulf Coast Community College. The workshop was a leg of a statewide tour by commission officials to collect public input into the state’s long-term plan for maintaining and improving fishing for the foreseeable future. “For some dangerously imperiled species in the state, we don’t even have a plan for what we want for that species in the next 20 years,” Robson said. “We don’t have a goal.” It’s the habitat, stupid Robson used snook, a sportfish in South Florida but one rarely caught this far north, as an example of poor planning. He said snook have a rigid bag and size limit, but despite that their numbers have not climbed out of what most consider a dangerously low level. Simply put, snook have seen their habitat, coastal mangrove stands and grass beds, chewed up by bulldozers preparing coastline areas for development. Without the proper habitat, the snook population cannot come back, regardless of harvest limits. “To paraphrase a common theme among the stakeholders, ‘It’s the habitat, stupid,’” according to a commission report on research taken in developing the long-term plan. Stakeholders are representatives of the three groups that have the biggest stake in the fishing industry: recreational, commercial and environmental. Stakeholder representatives were the first groups asked for input into the plan. Local fisherman Gerald Welch told Robson he wouldn’t mind seeing a system in St. Andrew Bay where segments of the bay are closed to fishing to act as a nursery. He said the closed area could be rotated through North, East, West and the central bays so as not to inconvenience any one group. The suggestion was well received. Robson and Lee Schlesinger, a government analyst, were quick to make a note. They said most, if not all, the game and food fish caught in the Gulf of Mexico begin their lives in bays. “I know that we need our nursery back,” Welch said. Robson said there also was discussion of setting aside protected fish preserves and creating more artificial reefs to better protect fish stocks and encourage growth. Danny Grizzard, director of Florida Aquatic and Marine, said he hopes the commission’s workshops will at least get people thinking again about the value of artificial reefs. He said the Oriskany project in Pensacola, the sinking of an aircraft carrier as an artificial reef, put a three-year freeze on large reef projects as officials watched the Oriskany’s progress. The carrier was sunk last year. Grizzard said he’d suggested that small concrete structures, the type still being sunk regularly off Mexico Beach, could be placed around existing sunken ships to enhance fish populations and add to the dive-site diversity. Concrete pyramids by themselves are not a big tourist draw because they’re not very interesting for divers. “Those things are good, but they’re not exciting,” he said. “When you mention sinking concrete structures, everyone says, ‘That sounds great; why don’t you go do that.’” The draw is in ships, he said, and it doesn’t look like another attractive ship will come to Northwest Florida any time soon. Walter Akins, who spoke at the workshop, said he was a big believer in artificial reefs. “It’s hard to catch fish in the middle of nowhere,” he said. “We need more artificial reefs.” Lt. Stan Kirkland, local commission spokesman, said St. Andrew Bay is fortunate to have Tyndall Air Force Base, with its miles of undeveloped coastline. “You hear discussions from time to time that Tyndall is going to shut down, or rumor that the base is going to be sold and developed,” he said. “You just cringe at the idea. The military base, in this case, not only are they safeguarding our country, but they’re preserving the coastal habitat. You can’t put a price on that.” Kirkland said future development on the beach, in East Callaway and in association with the new airport off West Bay have the potential to seriously impact the bay’s health. Catch and release The statistics vary, but the results are the same — a lot of fish are killed unintentionally. Robson said there is some discussion of doing away with limitations on the size of fish caught and concentrating more on the number. He said many undersize fish caught in commercial nets or on recreational lines die even though they’re released. Several people complained during the workshop that red snapper they caught off-season, even though legal size, had to be released and died. More said they were tired of feeding the dolphin that follow offshore boats to gobble up released fish. Neil Bates told Robson the red snapper season was at the wrong time of the year. He said he’s been fishing Florida waters since 1957 and is amazed to see red snapper being taken in late summer and early fall, despite the fish being full of roe. “By Oct. 15, the fish you catch very rarely have roe in them,” Bates said. “We’re gonna have to bite the bullet if we’re gonna get the red snapper back and quit fishing for them during spawning season.” He said some species, like flounder and red fish, seem to be doing fine. “It’s crazy,” he said, “to limit people to one red fish (a day, bag limit).” Several people said what irks them is lax enforcement of fishing regulations. Robson acknowledged the commission has too few officers to cover too much area. He said the Legislature last year helped the situation by increasing penalties for repeat offenders of state fishing laws. Robson said first offenders generally face a fine, but the penalties now increase for repeated offenses, up to felony status. “Hammering people who are repeat offenders,” Robson said, “is something we’ve heard a lot of.”

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Copyright (c) 2007, The News Herald, Panama City, Fla.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

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