A federal Sanctuary plan to ban all family-level fishing in the western half of the Tortugas National Park goes to the Florida Cabinet Aug. 3 and 9. Anglers who want to preserve this fishing paradise should contact the governor and cabinet members right away.

A fast way to get all the contact info, phone, fax and addresses, is to put "Florida Cabinet" in the Google search engine.

The issue involves a complex question of whether the state or federal government should control fishing laws in the park. Federal agents are asking the state to sign over rights, whereas Coastal Conservation Association Florida and others insist that fishing laws must be approved by the state, which is largely against creation of no-fishing marine reserves unless proven necessary.

"The Tortugas is not heavily fished by anglers, but we all like to dream of spending more days in this paradise," said Florida Sportsman Founder Karl Wickstrom. "It's outrageous to snuff out that dream for no good reason whatsoever. Our national parks like the Everglades and Yellowstone welcome recreational fishing and so has the Tortugas Park until this bizarre proposal."

Cabinet aides are to discuss the issue Aug. 3, followed by Cabinet consideration a week later.

FS