Fishermen Take a Stand - Page 2

Fishermen Fight Back
by Dave Grix
www.fishingforfreedom.net

Net Fishermen have been battling to save their livelihoods since the “Limited Marine Net Fishing Amendment” went into effect in 1995. In 1996, the Florida Supreme Court determined that the voters of Florida did not vote to ban nets, but to “limit” nets to 500 square feet. The court also determined that the “sole purpose of the amendment was to prevent overharvest, unnecessary killing and waste of the resource.”

In 1997, the Florida Legislature determined that only monofilament nets were constitutionally prohibited “gill and entangling nets,” leaving nets made of visible material such as nylon, when limited to 500 square feet, legal to fish with.

On July 1st the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) arbitrarily ruled any net (except cast nets), including nylon nets, with over a 1-inch square opening is a prohibited gill net. Net fishermen and scientists claim the new rule violates the constitution’s “sole purpose” by forcing fishermen to use nets that gill and kill mostly undersized, illegal unmarketable juvenile fish that will never have an opportunity to spawn. Scientists claim that such juvenile fish kill rates may destroy future breeding populations of fish, and result in a non-sustainable fishery. Under pressure from the Florida’s Legislature this year, the FWC decided to have net workshops with the net fishing community to test their new 1-inch square mesh nets against the fishermen’s proposed nets.

Net tests were arranged in three locations around the state, the panhandle, the southwest coast and in Martin County. The first net tests were held last month in the panhandle region of Florida under FWC and Florida Wildlife Research Institute supervision. The results were so conclusive, that all future net tests were halted. After two days and 20 deployments of each net, the state’s 1 inch square net captured only 7 marketable fish and had a 95%+ by-catch (waste and kill rate), in severe violation of the constitutional amendment. Among the unnecessarily killed and wasted fish were redfish and trout.

The fishermen’s proposed net with minimum 1 and 1/2 inch square openings was also deployed 20 times, resulting in a catch of about 100 marketable fish and less than a 3% by-catch. The only by-catch the fishermen’s proposed net caught were 3 catfish, which were returned to the water alive.

So where does that leave net fishermen?

The fishermen have gone many times to the FWC for relief from their unconstitutional rulemaking, all to no avail. The FWC was created by a constitutional vote in 1998 under the guise that the agency would be good for Florida’s resource management.

The public was – and still is – mostly unaware that they were duped into unwittingly signing away ALL due process in the creation of the FWC. The creation of this completely autonomous agency (an agency without any oversight, checks and balances), was especially unfortunate for the net fishing community, whose lives they completely govern.

Without “due process,” net fishermen have no protection from FWC commissioners doing whatever they please. The 1” square mesh fishing net is a prime example of what can happen to the environment, economy and people when we have a group of seven appointed commissioners that refuse to listen to any of their 574 scientists and feel they are above all of the laws of this country.

The only immediate hope for net fishermen, the environment and economy is the courts. Currently, net fishermen are fighting this net issue with an injunction hearing to be held in Tallahassee within the next few weeks.

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