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Redfish
Posts: 392
 
Location: Tampa Bay | FWC will consider proposal to change mesh size limits
By NICK WALTER
nwalter@bradenton.com
No gill nets means no gill nets.
Fourteen years ago, millions of Florida citizens voted to pass a constitutional amendment that banned the use of gill nets, which capture fish by entangling and capturing them in their gills.
Yet, efforts continue by hardcore netters to push the removal of mesh size limits on legally-permitted nets.
The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will consider the proposal during its June 12 meeting in Dania Beach.
Currently, seine nets are permitted to sizes of 500 square feet, or up to 100 feet long and five feet deep. However, mesh sizes cannot be more than two inches. The sizes of gill nets were three inches or more, so an increase to the current state regulation would in essence bring about a return to the use of gill nets.
Netters claim two-inch nets have a bycatch rate of 98 percent and an increased mesh size would allow for a catch of marketable fish and the release of juvenile fish.
Although this may be true, it also would increase the number of gill-netted fish. One of the drawbacks to this is the staggering number of mullet that are killed with gill nets. Most gamefish feed on mullet.
Which side of the argument you're on likely depends on the sector in which you claim - recreational or commercial. Numerous recreational anglers and conservationists claim that the recreational fishery is far superior to the one before the gill net ban. And commercial anglers will be more profitable using nets with larger mesh sizes, which allow for a more efficient catch.
It certainly seems far-fetched that most netters would have the well being of pilchards, and not profits, in mind.
"The bottom line is that millions of Floridians said 'No gill nets,' and that means, 'No gill nets,' " Forsgren said. "(Netters) are trying to use a larger mesh size to circumvent the clear intent of a constitutional amendment."
If netters really wanted to save juvenile fish, they could use a smaller-mesh net. A net with a 1/8-wide mesh, for example, would encompass a group of fish but would not kill baby fish.
"Or if they want to do something about (killing juvenile fish) they could do something about shrimp trawls," Forsgren said. "One shrimp trawl kills magnitudes more fish than all the little seine nets we're talking about.
"There is no future in the Florida fishery for gill nets," he added. "We urge the commission to respect the millions of votes in the state."
For those who want to send an opinion and cannot attend the meeting, Forsgren recommends e-mailing the conservation commission at commissioners@myfwc.com.
The meeting will be held at the International Game Fish Association Hall of Fame Museum.
For more information visit www.myfwc.com.
http://www.bradenton.com/nick_walter/story/658530.html
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FWC Considers Nets - Nick Walter | BH
