Last spring I was asked by the SAFMC if I would like to serve on an Expert MPA workshop in order to look at developing more Marine Reserves or MPAS (Marine Protected Areas) off of the SE coast in order to help protect Warsaw grouper and Speckled Hind from incidental bycatch mortality.
I fought this and condemned the process from the beginning because the NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) was moving ahead with this process even though the scientific data to support these actions was not there. Even the chairman for the SSC (science and statistical committee) Dr. Luiz Barbieri, Chair
FL Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission/FMRI didnt agree with the NMFS.
A lot of things have gone on behind the scenes that a majority of the public has absolutely no idea about.
Amendment 17B in 2010 which included a deep-water closure from 240ft. seaward and a prohibition on harvest and retention of snowy grouper, blue line tilefish, yellow edge grouper, misty grouper, queen snapper, and silk snapper, beyond 240 feet (73 m) in federal waters of the South Atlantic in order to help reduce incidental bycatch of speckled hind and Warsaw grouper was implemented.
The deep water closure was determined that it was not working and was lifted last year (see below), but in its place comes a push now for more MPAs which will close off areas of the ocean to ALL bottom fishing.
Regulatory Amendment 11 was approved by the Council in August 2011 for submission to the Secretary of Commerce. The Final Rule approving the Amendment was published on May 10, 2012 with an effective date the same day. See Fishery Bulletin. The amendment eliminates a current restriction on the possession or harvest of some deepwater snapper grouper species in waters greater than 240 feet deep. The deepwater species closure was implemented in January 2011 to help protect speckled hind and warsaw grouper; however, data indicate that the closure may not significantly reduce bycatch of these species while the socioeconomic impacts of the closure are
Green is existing MPA’s and the Brown colored is proposed areas!
The Edisto S. EXT carry’s the SW boundary of the MPA down into the mid to high 60300 line TD area on or very near the ledge!
Some of the proposed sites are within two miles of another, making the logistics of any enforcement a nightmare. This is why I say VMS will always be a consideration!
Skinnee J warned us about this a long time ago. It looks like Southwest banks and Georgetown hole will be closed. I am to the point of not giving a $^&* anymore! Until you remove that CANCER from the board, NOTHING will change. All this is doing is turning good people into law breakers.
David Cupka can go #$%^ himself!
Catch me if you can…
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NMFS = No More Fishing Season
“Back home we got a taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him”
Skinnee J warned us about this a long time ago. It looks like Southwest banks and Georgetown hole will be closed. I am to the point of not giving a $^&* anymore! Until you remove that CANCER from the board, NOTHING will change. All this is doing is turning good people into law breakers.
David Cupka can go #$%^ himself!
Catch me if you can…
.
NMFS = No More Fishing Season
“Back home we got a taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him”
Yep, their plan to grab it all at once during the red snapper snaffu back fired on them. Now they are just going to chip away at it until they get the desired result.
I could be wrong, but I see Waugh just as big of a part of this as Cupka (even though I know Cupka is a strong supporter of MPA’s).
I promise you guys it’s not just the NGO’s… Waugh and Cupka are just using those guys as pawns. SAFMC doesn’t have any money and the NGO’s do, so Waugh and Cupka kiss up to them so that all of the “Public Outreach”, lawsuits, reseach, etc. is funded by the likes of PEW and such. They want to switch over to this “ecosystem based management”. I know that Waugh isn’t anti-fishing. I’ve seen him eating sushi at Nakato before. They have a 20+ year vision in their head. They literally want to make history and be the first ones to manage limits by how much live bottom they close off, not by bag limits. They want to close off just enough live bottom to protect their minimum “SPR”. Let’s say that there are 100,000 acres of live bottom off our coast. If they can close off just the right 40% of it, then they believe that they can protect that 40% of spawners and they really don’t care what goes on outside of that area. It means that DNR does not have to check bag limits anymore. It just means that they have to keep people out of those zones which is a lot easier with modern day radar and of course VMS…
It’s kind of like the popcorn machine at the movie theater. They just want to close the little metal “popper” off to harvest and let people fight over the popped kernels that fall to the bottom…
I realize others have interest in this too, but this latest push comes directly from Dr. Roy Crabtree and it all hinges directly on this lawsuit I mentioned!
The entire EEZ is actually already an MPA by the UN’s definition. Every bit of it is ALREADY protected and regulated.
Not good enough for these people…
Instead of solving problems around the world where there is rampant tragedy of the commons action going on, they want to keep taking everything away from us?
This is a stupid idea, how do we get these idiots making these rules, that are only being put in place to make themselves feel like they have accomplished something, out of office? I absolutely hate, more than anything, someone who messes around with perfectly functioning system just to have something to do. All they want to do is beat their chest about how good they are at their job when we do not need then in the first place.
I have no problem with limits , but there has to be scientific data showing why it is there.
This is a stupid idea, how do we get these idiots making these rules, that are only being put in place to make themselves feel like they have accomplished something, out of office? I absolutely hate, more than anything, someone who messes around with perfectly functioning system just to have something to do. All they want to do is beat their chest about how good they are at their job when we do not need then in the first place.
I have no problem with limits , but there has to be scientific data showing why it is there.
Thank gov. Haley for putting my hero back on the board for three more years. David Cupka has had a grand vision for many years. He has a personal agenda to close off as much bottom to us as he can. The slob won’t even acknowledge you when you go to the SAFMC meetings. Must be nice to knock down close to six figures of taxpayer money and then turn around and pee on the voters that have zero chance of removing you.
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NMFS = No More Fishing Season
“Back home we got a taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him”
I’m pretty sure the government doesn’t like fishing, and it will always be that way. In school we used to do “walk outs” as a protest of things we didn’t agree with as a group. This should be applied to the closers, but not by chaining yourselves to the whitehouse. Everyone goes fishing for what they tell you that you can’t fish for, or in areas that you’re not supposed to fish as an orgainized group. True people will get in some trouble, but if you really believe in it, and it’s that important, sacrifices need to be made. Just complaining about it, obviously doesn’t help, they’re going to do whatever they want. They’ll get the picture, can’t stop us all. I know it’s far-fetched, but it’s time for fisherman not politicians to learn to govern themselves, be honest and decide they’re own closures.
