Outdoors

Grouper fishing vote postponed

Fishermen cheer the move, saying they're already reeling from high fuel costs, hurricane damage and Red Tide.

By TOM ZUCCO and TERRY TOMALIN
Published October 6, 2005

ST PETERSBURG - In what sport fishermen are calling a victory, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council postponed a vote Wednesday that would have stopped recreational grouper fishing for one month in 2006.

Anglers already face a two-month emergency closure of the gulf's most popular fishery this fall, a decision that has been challenged in court by the state's largest sport fishing advocacy group. A decision is expected later this month.

The council met here this week to adopt a rule to govern recreational fishermen next year. In addition to the monthlong closure, federal officials want to reduce the recreational bag limit from five to three fish, one of which may be a red grouper. Recreational fishermen and the state's fishery managers disagree.

"I urge the council to adopt the one-fish (red grouper) limit with no closure," H.A. "Herkey" Huffman wrote to council chairwoman Julie Morris on Sept. 29.

Huffman, chairman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said he recognized the difficulty of balancing competing interests.

"It is a challenging task to weigh the interests and needs of recreational anglers against consumer needs for fresh seafood," Huffman's letter stated. "In this case, we believe the economic value of the recreational fishery in Florida warrants a reconsideration of that allocation as soon as possible."

Federal officials have been criticized for caving into pressure from the Madeira Beach longline fishery, an industry that been characterized by some environmentalists as strip mining of the sea.

Dr. Roy Crabtree, the National Marine Fisheries Service representative on the board, swung the vote in favor of recreational anglers, cautioning his colleagues to proceed carefully on the issue.

"This is a very controversial and divisive issue," Crabtree said before voting for the postponement.

The vote was tied 5-5 when Morris decided to vote with the recreational anglers.

"Coming into this, it appeared the vote was stacked against us," said Dennis O'Hern of the Fishing Rights Alliance. "But we prevailed and I think we'll have a chance . . . to defeat this closure."

For more than three hours, a steady stream of recreational and commercial fisherman addressed the council, nearly all of them complaining that high fuel costs and extensive damage from hurricanes and Red Tide had already cut deeply into their catches.

Scott Robson, captain of the charter boat Phoenix and president of the 90-member Destin Charter Boat Association, said fuel rationing had come to the Panhandle. "We're down to 200 gallons per fillup," he said, "and we've had to cancel overnight trips."

Most fishermen focused on the closure.

"We can accept reduced bag limits," Robson said. "Let them work first. The closures are not necessary."

Critics say longline fishing accounts for more grouper taken than all recreational fishing combined.

Ed Brust, a former longline fisherman who lives in Steinhatchee, said just about everything hauled up on the lines, including young grouper, has a slim chance of survival.

"Most of the grouper too small to keep," he said, "were dead before they were taken off the hook."

But there is no evidence, said Bob Spaeth of the Madeira Beach-based Southern Offshore Fishing Association, that longline fishing has damaged grouper populations.

What most of the nearly 100 people at the meeting agreed on was that closing the season for any length of time was wrong.

"The closures are going to put us out of business," said Clearwater charter boat captain Maxie Foster. "We're fighting for our lives out there."

[Last modified October 6, 2005, 01:13:15]