In 1994, a majority of Florida voters said “yes” to the constitutional amendment limiting “marine net fishing.” The amendment prohibited the use of gill nets in state waters. It was a monumental victory for inshore fish species in many Florida fisheries, and became known simply as “the net ban.” The direct resurgence of many inshore fish species, such as the redfish, can directly be attributed to this law.

Now, a group of commercial netters is trying to circumvent the law by pushing for larger net mesh in seine nets. But the law is not on their side. There are already rulings in place for this specific maneuver to get around the net restrictions. After the 1995 implementation of the net ban, a regulation was added to differentiate legal seine nets and illegal gill nets. The regulation restricted seine nets to a mesh size of no larger than two inches. Seine nets are meant to surround fish and trap them, rather than “gill” the fish in the net meshing.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has this issue on the agenda at their Thursday, June 12 meeting at the International Game Fish Association in Dania Beach. The meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. It’s up to concerned recreational fishermen to show up in force and tell FWC commissioners that, in 1994, voters mandated there be no gill nets in Florida waters. A gill net is a gill net, no matter what it is called.

Since that 1994 ruling, Coastal Conservation Association Florida has counted numerous attempts by commercial interests to bring back gill nets, mostly under different names. Each time, Florida courts and state agencies have upheld the Article X, Section 16 of the Florida Constitution that reads, “no gill or entangling nets shall be used in any Florida waters."

If you can not attend the FWC meeting, write your FWC commissioners at Commissioners@MyFWC.com. See Karl Wickstrom’s Openers column and On the Conservation Front in the June Florida Sportsman issue, and an upcoming segment on Florida Sportsman TV for complete details.