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View from the Helm
By Dennis O'Hern
Congratulations to
all of you who showed up at the January Gulf Council Meeting for
public input. You all made Fisheries Management History. You should
be proud of the effect your participation is having on fisheries
management. Susan V from LA asked me to express her thanks for all
of your input. She was paying attention. The short of it is: We
have some work to do. Our gag bag limit is threatened, but not yet
given away. Final rule will be made in April (as of right now, it
could go to June if something happens).
TightLines Tackle,
Bett’s Fishing Center, Dogfish Tackle, Aquatic Obsessions, Fanta-Sea
Scuba, Florida Freedivers, Narcosis Scuba, JBL Guns and so many more
need to be thanked. Watch the FRA site as we update it with names
of and links to supporters of YOUR FISING RIGHTS.
Gag Grouper is far
from a done deal. There will be another round of public input and
another Full Council hearing before the rule is finalized. The FRA
intends to force the National Marine Fisheries Service to estimate
the recreational sector gag landings based on the significantly
reduced effort. We expect the State of Florida to get involved (see
below).
Remember this, my
friends:
It aint over until WE
say it’s over. (Really, I’ll tell ya if I ever think it’s over…)
We are going to make
those NMFS people do their jobs while the Gov. Charlie and our
Senators and Congressmen make sure that our state is protected from
undue economic and social impact.
In pursuit of
fairness,
Denny
January, 2008 GULF COUNCIL MEETING REPORT
WOW! Wednesday, Jan
30th saw the largest public input before a FULL GULF
COUNCIL in history. We presented the most united (and LARGEST)
front the Council has ever seen. And they heard us. The comments
made by Council Members on Thursday morning during deliberations
indicated that every single sector said the same thing and the
tackle shop people, the electronics guys, charter captains and even
the commercial sector backed the recreational sector’s claims of
reduced effort and potential economic devastation.
Our testimony
about effort was heard. How do we know, you might ask?
AMBERJACK
WILL HAVE NO
CLOSED SEASON, ONE FISH PER ANGLER and a 30 inch minimum
fork length vs the original proposed rule of half an AJ per angler
and a three month closure. That no closed season and the
30 inch length were a DIRECT RESULT of public input.
The big news is Gag Grouper
The Gulf Council
voted to go to public hearing with the available
PROPOSED
alternative of ONE
GAG per day, per angler, three aggregate (including Red),
three month closed season as their preferred alternative.
Why did they do
this? Because they had no alternatives with the corrected effort
(YET).
What is next? An FWC
meeting, a new scientific review, another round of public hearings
(this time at night) throughout the Gulf States. Then a final
Council public hearing and a final vote. We expect the public input
to be taken in March, with the final rule being determined in April.
FRA outlook- With the
proper support and some good science, we should have a much more
reliable, believable gag stock assessment soon. Too bad we have to
get it done, when it is NOT our job to be a scientist. With the
reduced effort in the Gulf applied to a more reliable stock
assessment, we think that there will be no need for reduction in the
recreational bag limit and no need for a closed season. We await
the reliable science upon which to base our judgment of the health
of the fish stock.
Islands In The
Stream –
Most seem against it,
so why is it moving forward? We think Billy Causey wants to expand
the reach (GRIP?) of the FL Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The
result would be Sanctuary status for the Florida Middle Grounds. We
all know where that will lead. There is time to stop this bad idea
from becoming a bad reality. Watch for the Islands Action Alert
from the FRA. You should have it by Feb. 8th and it will
be posted here. In it, you will find contact information for the
officials that can help us and a list of the points that need to be
made to these officials, who include President Bush, Senators Nelson
and Martinez from FL, Gov. Charlie, plus the legislators of AL, MS,
LA and TX. Be prepared to spend an hour on this project. It will
be worth it.
More to follow.
Watch for the transcript of the entire meeting to be available here.
JOIN THE
FRA NOW! |
