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Research Vessel Has Captains Seeing Red

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By FRANK SARGEANT | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 21, 2007

Recreational anglers, fishing guides and marine scientists bumped heads on Tampa Bay on Friday when a state redfish research vessel ran a net around a school of redfish near the mouth of the Manatee River.

'The net boat came within 15 yards of my transom running out the net,' said captain Todd Romine of Bradenton. 'We were approaching the school, as we have every day for several weeks, and they moved right in and scooped up the whole bunch of them.'

The incident began at around 8 a.m. according to Romine, who said he and several other guides, including captain Justin Moore of Holmes Beach, had been fishing the school of adult reds for several weeks.

'What really concerned us was that a lot of the fish caught in the net stayed in there for a long time, and many of them went belly up during that time,' said Romine, who sent digital pictures of the capture to confirm his observations. The set and the captured fish are clearly shown in the series of photographs, viewable at www.thecrazyfish.com.

The reported dead fish, however, are not evident in the photographs. The water is murky in the area, making it difficult to photograph objects on the bottom. Unlike the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute snook netting incident this summer in the clear waters along the beach, where a number of snook died as a result of being gilled in a research net, there is no clear photographic evidence here.

Moore arrived shortly after the net had been set, and he said it appeared that some of the fish, which he estimated at 27 to 34 inches long, were rolling over and dying on the bottom immediately after being measured, tagged and released by the scientists.

'Netting the fish like that just wipes out the chances for fishermen, and it seemed like quite a few of these fish would not make it after that handling, either,' Moore said. 'They caught too many fish at one time, and then it took them a long time to get the fish handled and released.'

Ed Lunz of Lakeland, an angler on Moore's boat, forwarded a number of photos of the net set, including one showing what appears to be a single dead fish in one of the pockets.

'The tactics seemed to result in over-handling, poor recovery and breakup of the school,' Lunz said.

Luiz Barbieri, program administrator for marine fisheries research at the St. Petersburg Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, confirmed that the netting took place, but said the four scientists aboard deny there was any significant mortality of the fish after release.

Barbieri said that the FFWCC boat captain, Brent Winner, was 'flabbergasted' by the claims of the anglers.

'Brent has been netting our redfish for tagging for 20 years, and he's expert at keeping them alive,' Barbieri said.

Who's right and who's wrong? Hard to say, but one lesson seems evident. It would make sense for the FFWCC, from a public relations standpoint if nothing else, to avoid scooping fish from under the noses of their constituents, the folks who pay a portion of their salaries through purchase of fishing licenses.

SEMINAR: Captain Bill Miller of Catch 47 and his son, captain Billy Miller, present a free kingfish seminar Wednesday at Golden Triangle Fishing Club, meeting at 7 p.m. at Bill Currie Ford, 5815 N. Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa; (813) 935-3293.

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