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Reef Anglers Come Together To Protect Offshore Fishing Rights

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By FRANK SARGEANT | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 10, 2008

The sleeping giant is again awakening. This time, it is reef anglers rising up to challenge government regulators who are making rules that fishermen say are unnecessary and based on false premises.

Some 500 anglers turned out at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission meeting in Panama City last week to challenge a plan that would have matched state red snapper rules to those recently enacted for federal waters. Among the proposals was a closure of the season from Oct. 1 to April 30, a span of seven months including the height of the tourist season, which many Panhandle charter-boat operators said would wipe them out.

After a boisterous hearing, the state commission agreed in part with the fishermen, proposing to shorten the closure in state waters; the season will run from April 15 to Oct. 31 in waters up to 9 nautical miles offshore. (Snapper are frequently caught this close to shore in Panhandle waters, but rarely in our area).

The commission did agree with federal rules cutting the red snapper bag limit in half (from four to two), and requiring circle hooks, venting tools and dehooking devices on boats fishing for reef species.

The meeting came on the heels of a recent Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council meeting where hundreds of anglers turned out to protest a change in gag grouper rules that dropped the bag limit from five fish to one.

For both species, as for red grouper two years ago, anglers have challenged the fishery managers based on survey methods, which mostly involve dock surveys and telephone calls rather than on-the-water observation. Many anglers say both species of grouper, as well as red snapper, are more abundant than they have been in decades.

The federal councils have generally turned a deaf ear to the protests of fishermen, but the situation is reminiscent of the way the state's fishery managers ruled inshore and nearshore fishing well into the 1980s, when many rules seemed to promote commercial harvest and limit the recreational take.

After a massive confrontation at Crystal River, where close to a thousand advocates from both sides turned out to argue whether redfish should become a gamefish, the commission seemed to realize it had constituents on both sides. That appeared to be a turning point in state management; afterward, commissioners became more conservation-oriented and appeared to give more weight to the opinions of recreational anglers. There's no doubt the creation of the saltwater license fee - a source of commission income - also had a major impact, as did appointing commissioners with no ties to the commercial industry.

While large numbers of angry anglers will not - and should not - bully managers into decisions that are not in the best interest of the fishery, anglers taking the time to show up at meetings shows commission members their decisions have serious impacts on real people.

While the biologists and the commissioners are no doubt doing their best, using doubtful data to shut down the harvest creates distrust and anger, and could encourage some to break the rules.

At the heart of the issue is the Magnuson Fisheries Act, which orders the councils to halt overfishing by 2010 based on the "best available data." But in the case of the reef species, those who are out on the water agree that the "best available data" is wrong because it is based on poor survey techniques.

The success of offshore regulation depends largely on self-enforcement, so the commissions need the backing of the fishermen to make the rules work. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has made a step in the right direction by ruling to assist anglers in the red snapper fishery.

AN APOLOGY: I ran a photo of anglers holding up a goliath grouper on Friday's Outdoors page, but under an interpretation of the "no harvest" rule issued by the state last fall, goliaths are not to be removed from the water for photos. Biologists say that hoisting larger specimens into a boat can damage internal organs. While the fish in the photo was small, the rule makes no exception. I regret running the photo.

SALTWATER SEMINAR: Captain Richard Howard will offer a five-week saltwater fishing class at West Marine on Gulf To Bay Boulevard in Clearwater stating Wednesday at 7 p.m. Fee is $50. Call (727) 446-8962 for details.

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