Aquarium Fishery Under Fire (This time FL)

[reefcleaners]

A group of SCUBA divers and the same conservationist orgs who shut down the Hawaii fishery are now looking to make inroads at the Blue Heron Bridge in FL. They are claiming it is for conservation efforts after a TX aquarium collected 50 fish and 12 inverts from FL.

According to Florida legend, the Blue Heron Bridge is a “premier dive site”. It has “more sightings of rare fish than any other place in FL”. The truth is it is a convenient dive location for the SCUBA shops around it, the owners of which just happen to be leading the charge to ban the aquarium fishery.

If you watch dive videos of the Blue Heron and then compare other locations in FL you will see the location is commonly stocked. I kept quiet about this tourist trap out of respect for local trappers, but now they are talking about people like me!

The real issue is these businesses don’t want to take a group of people out and they find out there are aquarium fisherman collecting where they want to dive.

Outside of labor, the largest expense running a a dive operation is maintaining and fueling a big boat. With this location they just idle a few hundred feet from their dock on the commercial strip and they are good to go, they then charge their customers for the trip.

Food fisherman have to stay clear of their dive flags. They pull bait fish out of that and surrounding location though by the thousands every morning. Anglers take home food fish that fed on 100s of our pets to get to slot size every day. They aren’t a target of conservation groups because they are better organized and don’t disturb the SCUBA shops, who have organized their well meaning customers.

It is my opinion that if the aquarium fishery doesn’t fight in Florida now we will go the way of Hawaii. FWC will be meeting in St Augustine, on December 12th to discuss the issue. My experience with regulators is they will regulate unless they expect pushback. It is just their job.

I think it is important that we make sure it is clear that if the area is closed to collecting, it is being done so purely to accommodate the tourist industry and not out of conservation, a bad precedent to set.

I personally don’t collect in publicly visible spots for the same reason I imagine hunters don’t prowl the suburbs despite all the rabbits in my backyard.But I have read of lots of hobbyists that have gone to the Blue Heron and set out to find that special pet for their aquarium.

They don’t deserve jail for that. Collecting a non endangered Angelfish in an ethical manner isn’t morally wrong.

Done responsibly, there is nothing wrong with us sharing this renewable resource. I am personally of the mindset we shouldn’t accept blame where it is unfounded, and we should fight to be heard.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Thanks for sharing.. hobbyist, manufactures and retailers seriously need to band together and fight against efforts to destroy our hobby.

 

[reefcleaners]

Thanks for sharing.. hobbyist, manufactures and retailers seriously need to band together and fight against efforts to destroy our hobby.

We have one major disadvantage, our fish are good looking. I get the desire to want to protect them. But man are they looking the wrong way.

Shops next to the water with runoff going right in. Drain pipes going right in from city streets. 400,000 new basin residents in my lifetime. Oil off the back of their boat and a thousand people trampling about on the sand bar...

I personally believe that aquarium in TX by raising awareness of the natural world will have a greater long term impact on even that particular spot. We need to reconnect the Everglades and we need out of state federal support to do it.

 

[fish farmer]

Food fisherman have to stay clear of their dive flags. They pull bait fish out of that and surrounding location though by the thousands every morning. Anglers take home food fish that fed on 100s of our pets to get to slot size every day. They aren’t a target of conservation groups because they are better organized and don’t disturb the SCUBA shops, who have organized their well meaning customers.

Thanks for sharing.. hobbyist, manufactures and retailers seriously need to band together and fight against efforts to destroy our hobby.

These are points that I have brought up before. I work in a Government based recreational/restoration sportfishing program. It is State/Federally funded, by fishing/hunting license sales, motor boat fuel tax, federal matched money collected from taxes on fishing and hunting equipment, some state general fund taxes, etc.

The sportsman has a bigger voice because he pays the salary of the biologists, pays for the access area, land aquisition, etc, etc. They are organized and have a deep rooted connection to the land and waters. We have industry leaders like Orvis that have a voice in protecting fisheries. It should untimately however come down to the state/federal biologists decisions on closures/limits/ and ultimately patrolling heavily used areas. We have laws on the books where I live that limit boat launch used by "non paying" non consumptive users like canoers and kayaks.

I think it's time for an aquarium license....it wasn't that long ago where I didn't need a saltwater fishing license. If you're consuming wild collected specimens you should have some sort of licence or a tax system that can go directly into conservation efforts at the local level.

 

[reefcleaners]

These are points that I have brought up before. I work in a Government based recreational/restoration sportfishing program. It is State/Federally funded, by fishing/hunting license sales, motor boat fuel tax, federal matched money collected from taxes on fishing and hunting equipment, some state general fund taxes, etc.

The sportsman has a bigger voice because he pays the salary of the biologists, pays for the access area, land aquisition, etc, etc. They are organized and have a deep rooted connection to the land and waters. We have industry leaders like Orvis that have a voice in protecting fisheries. It should untimately however come down to the state/federal biologists decisions on closures/limits/ and ultimately patrolling heavily used areas. We have laws on the books where I live that limit boat launch used by "non paying" non consumptive users like canoers and kayaks.

I think it's time for an aquarium license....it wasn't that long ago where I didn't need a saltwater fishing license. If you're consuming wild collected specimens you should have some sort of licence or a tax system that can go directly into conservation efforts at the local level.

You need a license and it is a closed commercial fishery. The gear is also taxed like other fishing equipment.

Canoes and kayaks have pretty limited impact on navigation here. They do spend on their launches with boat money, just like bike lanes with gas taxes. FL used to be free everywhere and we had so much more access. Used to just pull off on the side of the road and walk your kayak in. Would get fined for something like that now.

FWC was the one who signed off on the special activities permit that allowed the TX aquarium to come and fish that has caused all the recent outrage but I think it is a cover for old desires. I think if they discover an impact now after signing off before it is really due to public pressure and season rather than any long term impact on the site. They do a fine job managing the species under their care, the numbers speak for themselves.

 

[fish farmer]

If you watch dive videos of the Blue Heron and then compare other locations in FL you will see the location is commonly stocked. I kept quiet about this tourist trap out of respect for local trappers, but now they are talking about people like me!

Are there any regulations on the books regarding movement of fish? If they are "overstocking" an area just because it suits them, raises a red flag in my book. Granted the ocean is connected, fish and diseases can move, but can this be considered counter productive with regard to true conservation efforts?