Off-Beat Conservation Measures
Gulf Council red snapper plan revolves around shrimpboat decline.

Common sense tells us that decreased pressure on a resource should help that resource’s numbers grow. But, this seems a strange way for the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council to conduct business. Specifically, when it comes to red snapper stocks.

A report in International Angler, the newsletter of IGFA, details the unusual snapper twist. Seems that the federal Gulf Council approved a rebuilding plan for red snapper in the Gulf “that counts on an additional 50 percent of commercial shrimpers going out of business rather than taking any management action to recover the red snapper population.”

Council reasoning is that “the decline of the shrimping industry will result in a reduction of red snapper bycatch. That reduction should be enough to bring about the recovery of red snapper.” Countless millions of small red snapper are killed in shrimp trawls.

Low-cost, farm-raised shrimp have taken quite a bite out of the shrimp market. Americans consumed some 964 million pounds of imported shrimp in 2002--approximately 88 percent of the shrimp eaten in the U.S.

Poll on Bush’s Environmental Record
The results weren’t so hot for the White House.

A sample poll of 284 Florida fishermen and hunters (who are said to have voted for George W. Bush by a three to one margin in the last election) showed they oppose current administration policies that destroy critical wetlands, or roll back key environmental protections. The Florida Wildlife Federation, in conjunction with the National Wildlife Federation, conducted the non-partisan poll.

Their findings? Some 85 percent favor, and 64 percent strongly favor conducting environmental studies to assess the impact that the new water supply and waste disposal methods will have on fish and wildlife habitat, before allowing a permit for development.

Eight-four percent favor, and 66 strongly favor, requiring coal-fired energy plants to reduce mercury pollution by the maximum extent possible with current technology. Seventy-two percent said they believe power plants should be required to remove mercury pollution by the end of this decade.

A mere 22 percent feel that Florida’s sugar industry is entitled to have extra water stored in Lake Okeechobee to irrigate sugarcane fields during droughts.

Seventy-two percent believe natural wetlands should not be filled or drained in most cases, even if developers replace them with manmade wetlands, because manmade wetlands do not replicate all the important functions of natural wetlands.

A mere 20 percent of sportsmen polled believe the best way to address America’s energy needs is to drill for more domestic oil and gas, including areas within wildlife refuges and other public lands.

The same poll also found that 82 percent of participants indicated that conservation issues will be somewhat important or very important, when they cast their vote this fall.

Circle Hook Research
Yamaha Contender Miami Billfish Tournament funds circle hook study.

Tournament directors adopted a new rule for the tourney starting in 2003: circle hooks only. Some competitors complained, but overall, directors say, the rule has been a huge success and sailfish release numbers kept pace with previous years when anglers could use J hooks.

The tournament committee also presented a grant to the International Game Fish Association for circle hook research. That research will compare two tournament-approved circle hooks—the Eagle Claw 2004EL and the Owner s5179. IGFA scientists are about to conclude the grant study—they vowed to catch 100 sails on each style hook to compare results—and digest the data.

While factors like dropback time and hook angle have yet to be evaluated, data has already established that for circles to function properly “anglers must modify their angling technique” and that offset circle hooks are more prone to gut-hook fish.

Go Gator Grunting
Put your bid in for a license. Time’s running out.

Those who predict such phenomena say that 2004 will likely be an excellent year for gator hunters. That is, if you scored a permit. Florida will issue 3,800 Alligator Harvest permits this year.

Each permit entitles the holder to take two gators. Hunting season begins a half hour before sunset on September 1 and ends a half hour after on October 8. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will issue permits on a first-come, first-served basis.

Cost of the permit will set Florida residents back about $275; out-of-staters pay about $1,025. For details or to register call (888) 486-8356 or visit www.wildlifelicense.com/fl and www.MyFWC.com/alligator (click on statewide hunts).

Circle Up For Turtles
Feds ban “J” hooks in Atlantic longline fisheries.

Sea turtle fatalities have long been a blot on the otherwise clean (yeah, right) record of high-seas longline fishing. Authorities are now convinced that converting the U.S. longline fleet to circle hooks will reduce sea turtle “interactions” with the fishery. They’ve made it a requirement that U.S.-flagged pelagic longliners in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico use circle hooks of size 16/0 or larger. Also mandated is the use of whole finfish or squid, instead of cut baits, which presumably result in more turtle bycatch. Boats must also be equipped with turtle landing and release tools.

The upshot of all this is, the Grand Banks of Newfoundland are again open to U.S. longliners. The Banks had been closed because of high bycatch of sea turtles.

By the way, it’s well-known that Florida recreational anglers soaking baits for catfish or bass occasionally “interact” with an unexpected freshwater slider, cooter or soft-shell turtle—of whose numbers none of which are in any danger of decline.

Should you desire to release a turtle, by extension we suggest either using circle hooks, or perhaps studying the 52-page official NMFS turtle-release handbook for longliners. click here.

Then again, should you fish to release your turtle into the pan (assuming it’s not a protected marine species!), we suggest this succinct treatise on cleaning freshwater turtles, from the Missouri Dept. of Conservation. click here.

Possession limits on freshwater turtles in Florida can be found by clicking here.