Fishing  & Boating News

            There has been a lot of talk concerning the Proposed Alternatives from the Park Service. But, please keep in mind this is the first of many rounds we as concerned citizens, have to get involved in. The General Management Plans as well as the General Fisheries Plans will encompass both Biscayne Bay and the Everglades National Parks. There will be a set of plans for Biscayne Bay and a set of plans for the Everglades that, if not for our involvement, will vastly restrict our use of these National Parks.

            From what I have been told Alternative #4 is the favorite for passing by the Park Service.  This proposed set of restrictions will cripple ALL of the guides who make their living in Biscayne Bay as well as put ALL of the small boaters in dangerous waters on a windy day. The deep-water passes through the Arsnicker Islands and Midnight pass are “SAFE PASSAGE ZONES” for every small boater that uses the south bay, period. When the wind whips up over fifteen knots we all use those sheltered passes to navigate our way back to Homestead Bayfront Park and Black Point without putting ourselves as well as our anglers in harms way.

          Almost all of the guides, anglers and recreational boaters I have talked to in the last three weeks agree that we need some protection for our grass flats by the way of “NO MOTOR ZONES” No Motor Zones are areas for poling and/or electric trolling motors only, and will restrict the use of outboards in less than three feet of water, but the vast no motor zones proposed in Alternative #4 are much to large to pole into and fish. If three feet and shallower is the major concern to the National Park Service, then lets make a ring around both East & West Arsnicker out to three feet of navigable water. If three feet and shallower is the major concern, then lets take our no-motor-zones out from Cutter Bank to three feet of navigable water. I don’t think making a 3.5-mile east to west by a 2.5-mile north to south no motor zone that fully encompasses the Arsnicker Islands is the answer.

In this guides humble opinion we need to protect this resource from the boaters who do not read their charts, or do not know how to color navigate the clear waters of OUR Bay. We need to protect our flats from the boaters who don’t care …. so I guess littering up the flats with no-motor-zone signs is the only answer. We would propose that we use the same size and type of marking we now see surrounding the Ocean Reef area flats. This would be the safest and least visually obtrusive form of restrictive boundary marking. 

            The National Park Service maintains that we will have a voice in the outcome of these proposed restrictions. But my question to you is were our voices heard during the elimination of our hunting camps in Big Cypress, were our voices heard in the elimination of buggies and airboats in Big Cypress? Well, ok, maybe I am being to critical of the decisions that were made, and maybe I am not as knowledgeable as I should have been when we lost are rights of use in Big Cypress National Park, and just maybe the decisions haven’t already been made on the Alternatives for Biscayne Bay National Park. Maybe our voices will be considered in the continuing push for conservation in our National Parks, but in our rush to conserve we must also consider our RIGHTS TO USE and enjoy these areas as American Citizens. There have to many who have paid for these rights with their blood. 

Of course this is just my opinion, I would love to hear yours. 

If you are not on the mailing list and haven’t seen the newest Draft Alternatives 1-5 you can see them at the National Park Services web site at;  www.nps.gov/bisc/GMP/GMPNewsletter3.PDF 

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 Proposed Alternative #6

Memorandum 

TO:                  Ms. Linda Canzanelli, Superintendent of Biscayne National Park

FROM:             Capt. Dave Sutton

RE:                   Biscayne National Park, General Management Plan, Proposed Alternative # 6 

            I am writing this memorandum on behalf of numerous professional fishing guides that work in Biscayne National Park (the “Park”).  We have held various meetings to review the draft alternatives 1-5 that have been identified by the Park in this public comment period of General Management Plan (the “GMP”) process.  We have memorialized our collective ideas in the attached proposed alternative (“Alternative # 6”).  Although we are fishing guides, we should not be solely classified as “fishing guides”.  We also represent many diverse users groups, including, but not limited to: environmentalists, photographers, writers, naturalists, kayakers, boaters and eco-tourists.   As such, we have attempted to align our collective interests with the other user groups that will be using the Park over the next 20 years.  

We propose the following restrictions in Biscayne Bay National Park. As professional guides we all agree that we need to keep our grass flats and shallow water areas in pristine condition in order to maintain the ecosystem that supports our living.  Many of the guides listed on the following pages participated in first bonefish census conducted by Bonefish & Tarpon Unlimited in cooperation with the University of Miami Bonefish Research Project.  We care about the environment and support responsible protective measures to assure future use and enjoyment of the Park by flats fisherman.   However, we are opposed to limiting our rights to use areas of the Park to allow one user group greater benefit.  As an example, the Park should not create a “non-combustion engine zone” for over 11,500 acres or 6.6% of the 172,924 acre Park for kayakers when that user group is a very small minority of the users of the Park.  Additionally, Manatees have been offered as the rationale for the “non-combustion engine zone”, however, with the exception of an occasional sighting of a Manatee a couple times a year in the marina, Manatees are seldom seen in the Park and when they are, they certainly are not on the flats near the Arsnicker Keys, Caesar’s Creek or Cutter Bank.             

             Closure of large areas that include water depths of three feet and deeper will not be recommended due to daily safety issues confronting small boat owners.  We must be allowed travel lanes to and from our daily fishing grounds with safety in mind.  A fifteen to twenty knot wind can make the exposed areas of Biscayne Bay un-navigable to small boats. The boats we operate from are predominately, flat bottom, ultra lightweight skiffs that are not safe to run in an exposed three-to four-foot chop.  Accordingly, we must have access to areas such as between the Arsnicker Keys, Midnight Pass and the channels around the Rubicon Keys’s.  We must have access to the channels between the flats from Boca Chita Key to Stiltsville. We must have access to the western shores of the Bay as well as the deep areas surrounding Cutter Bank. This is not a matter of we want for convenience, it is a matter of what we need for safe transportation.  Considering, the conservation efforts of all who are involved, we as guides think this list of recommendations will be more than adequate. 

            Please keep in mind that Bonefishing with a guide in The Biscayne Bay National Park brings over $23 Million tourist dollars per year to the South Florida area. Yet this is only a part of the revenue that is generated by the guides that use Biscayne Bay. Tarpon season in the April thru July months and Permit through the summer months can easily equal the aforementioned figures. 

            Over seventy-five professional guides that fish the Park and its surrounding waters for over 100 days per year have been involved in creating Alternative # 6.  Exhibit “A” is attached to provide our contact information should you need additional input.  We look forward to a favorable integration of our ideas in to the Park’s GMP.    

                                                                                    Sincerely,

                                                                                    Capt. Dave Sutton

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The professional guides support the following new restrictions.

•     Clearly mark the existing 1000-foot no-wake zones that run along the western shoreline of the Bay from Homestead Bayfront Park to Black Point and extend same to the northern boundary of the Park and south to Midnight Pass. Within the 1000-foot no-wake zones, create no-motor zone from the shoreline to 500 feet out. 
  

•     Create no-motor zones surrounding each of the four Arsnicker Keys and out to three feet of water.  Allow Midnight Pass to remain open for safety considerations.
  

•     Create no-motor zones surrounding Cutter Bank up to the Rubicon Key’s out to three feet of water.
  

•     Create no-motor zones on both sides of the channel of Caesar’s Creek (bayside), including around Adams Key and flats between Adams Key and Elliot Key; and Caesar’s Creek (Oceanside) including the north and south flats out to three (3) feet of water out to the head marker. 
  

•     Create no-motor zones from shoreline out to three (3) feet of water from Broad Creek to Caesar’s Creek and then north to Sands Cut. 
  

•     Create no-wake zones surrounding the Featherbed flats, but allow the channels to remain open. 
  

•     Create two designated areas (see map, Areas marked in Orange south & east of Pelican Bank) as no-entry zones for the purpose of research and the studies of this ecosystem. These designated areas will not impede the traffic of the general boating public but have been proposed to enhance our knowledge to help the conservation of our Park. 
  

•     No restrictions will be recommended for the areas from Stiltsville south to Ragged Keys due to safety issues and the open waters that surround this area. Allow small vessels to use the edges to safely navigate in both directions during medium to high wind (15 to 20 knot) conditions is imperative. 

•     Three (3) foot depth to be measured by the average daily tide. 
  

•     The permit area for Solider Key should be limited to the land only and not the flats surrounding it.
  

•      We would propose the use of the same type and size of marking system we see surrounding the Ocean Reef area flats. This would be the safest and least visually obtrusive form of boundary marking.

Press Release

CCA FLORIDA JOINS STATE OF FLORIDA AND BOATING INTERESTS TO BLAST FEDERAL DEAL FOR MORE MANATEE SPEED ZONES

Today, in their strongest statement ever on the manatee issue, CCA Florida joined Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and boating interests in blasting action by the U.S. Department of Interior which will "undermine state manatee conservation efforts." In a deal worked out between Interior officials and the Manatee Club, another major wave of federal manatee speed zones are scheduled to be enacted in Florida waters.

A February 10, 2003 statement and objections filed by the FWC states that remedies for the Department of Interior's mishandling of the settlement agreement "should not be to prematurely create additional Federal manatee refuges and sanctuaries" and that "it is unfair to the Commission (FWC) and to all Floridians to thrust burdens on them because of the alleged failure of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) efforts."

CCA Florida's comments were even stronger. "The issue here is not mismanagement of manatees, whose populations are at record levels of abundance, but of gross mismanagement of a manatee lawsuit settlement agreement by high level federal officials, " said Michael Kennedy, Chairman-CCA Florida. "Federal judges shouldn't punish Florida's citizens and saltwater anglers for the incompetence of the leadership and legal staff of the U.S. Department of Interior."

The federal deal includes extreme restrictions that would wreck recreational fishing in the Caloosahatchee, Tomoka and St. Johns rivers. In addition, premier saltwater recreational fishing areas like Chokoloskee Bay, the Ten Thousand Islands, and Whitewater Bay in Everglades National Park are on the hit list for more restrictions.

"The State of Florida alone has already established more than one quarter of a million acres of manatee protection zones and Florida's manatee population is continuously expanding," said CCA Florida Executive Director Ted Forsgren. "There is simply no justification or science to support federal action."

As an example of the incompetence demonstrated by the federal officials, Forsgren noted that several areas targeted for year-round extreme regulations do not even have manatees in those areas year-round. "This is clearly a political deal created by Interior's leadership to get them out of the legal mess that they created," said Forsgren. "These federal officials do not care at all about the interests of Florida's Fish and Wildlife Commission or Florida's recreational fishers."

The whole legal battle began two-and-a-half years ago when the Manatee Club and others filed lawsuits claiming that the State of Florida and the federal government had not done enough to protect manatees and that such inaction had caused manatees to decline and "sink further toward extinction."

"That representation by the Club was then, and always has been false," said Forsgren.

In support of their strong objections to the federal plan, CCA Florida offered the following information:

For many years, the State of Florida has taken the lead in manatee protection and their efforts have been a success leading to substantial increases in abundance. The FWC's scientific report entitled "Re-Evaluation of the Biological Status of Manatees" clearly documents that there is no evidence of any declines in manatee populations over the last 45 years and that, in fact, manatee populations have been expanding since the 1970s. (FWC 2002)

In January 2001, scientists counted an all time record 3,276 manatees in statewide aerial surveys; more than double the number counted 10 years previously.

In January 2003 scientists counted 3,113, the second highest count on record. The 2003 counts included the highest number of manatees ever counted on Florida's east coast and in Tampa Bay. (FWC 2003)

The state and federal government have established "measurable biological goals" for manatee recovery. In three of the four subpopulations where complete data is available, manatee populations have exceeded the biological goals for recovery. (FWC 2003)

The State of Florida alone has established MORE THAN ONE QUARTER OF A MILLION ACRES OF MANATEE PROTECTION ZONES. Those 298,816 acres represent 24 percent of Florida's coastal and inland waters. (FWC 2002)

CCA Florida stated that the manatee issue is being driven by manatee groups emotionally exploiting a single issue, the number of animals killed by watercraft. Twenty-seven years of data in the state carcass recovery program indicates that efforts by manatee groups to portray watercraft mortalities as skyrocketing out of control are deliberately misleading.

"The rate of increase in watercraft related deaths is less that the rate of increase in natural mortalities and the rate of increase in the total of all non-watercraft deaths," said Forsgren. "A steady increase in all forms of mortality validates and fits with what is being seen in the annual population counts which have more than doubled in the last 10 years. An increase in all mortalities is exactly what you would expect to see with a manatee population that has been continuously expanding for 45 years."

Even with expanding manatee populations, CCA Florida has stated that conservationists and recreational fishers who share the coastal waters with manatees should support reasonable protection measures to help reduce accidental watercraft mortalities, which is why CCA worked cooperatively with the FWC to develop manatee zones that would protect manatees and still provide reasonable access for recreational fishing."From the beginning, our goal in this process has been to insure that the interests of saltwater anglers are fairly considered and to offer reasonable recommendations and alternatives based on facts not emotion," said Dr. Ernie Hendry, Past Chairman-CCA Florida. "We supported virtually all of the new zones created by the FWC last September. However, we are not about to accept federal government deals developed behind closed doors that are not science based and where no meaningful public input has been or will be allowed."CCA Florida urged all saltwater anglers to join CCA, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and boating interests in adamantly opposing the deal developed by U.S. Department of Interior and Manatee Club.