• NOAA Fisheries is seeking public comment on a proposed framework that may, or may not, open a limited harvest of red snapper in the South Atlantic this summer.
Proposed amendment 28 would establish a process for determining whether a recreational and commercial fishery will be opened and — if it is — how many fish each sector could catch and for how long. If a fishing season is allowed, then the rule calls for a weekend-only recreational season beginning the second Friday in July with the closing date to be announced.
There would be no minimum size and the bag limit would be one fish per person per day.
On the commercial side, the harvest season would open the second Monday in July and end when the annual catch limit is projected to be met. There would be no minimum size and the trip limit would be set at 75 pounds, gutted weight. The agency will accept comments through May 13. Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2013-0040 and click on “comment now.” To comment by regular mail: Rick DeVictor, NOAA Fisheries, Southeast Regional Office, Sustainable Fisheries Division, 263 13th Ave., South, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701-5505.
• Gov. Rick Scott has made three appointments to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Scott re-appointed Ron Bergeron of Weston and Richard Corbett of Tampa and appointed Adrien “Bo” Rivard, a Panama City lawyer, to succeed Jacksonville’s Kathy Barco. All will serve four-year terms on the seven-member panel.
• Scientists from Sarasota’s Mote Marine Laboratory recently tagged their third great white shark for research purposes — a 2,000-pound, 14 1/2 footer they named Lydia — in the waters off Jacksonville. Working with the nonprofit OCEARCH and fellow fisheries researchers, the Mote team tagged Lydia with an accelerometer — a device that measures body movements using the same technology in smart phones. They also took blood and tissue samples and fitted the shark with a satellite-tracking tag.
• U.S. Sailing has named 34 athletes — including six South Floridians — to the 2013 U.S. Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider.
The national team, selected annually, is comprised of the top sailors competing in boats slated for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The locals are: Danny Evans of Miami in 2.4mR (Paralympic); Dave Hughes of Miami in 470 Men; Anna Tunnicliffe of Miami in 49er FX; Erika Reineke of Fort Lauderdale in Laser Radial; Raul Lopez of Miami in RS: X Men; and Kathleen Tocke of Miami in RS:X Women. They represent what US Sailing calls a “first look” at who might be representing Team USA in Rio de Janeiro.
• Jim Czarnowski of Fallbrook, Calif., director of engineering for Hobie, paddled, pedaled and sailed to victory in his class last weekend in WaterTribe’s 300-nautical-mile Everglades Challenge — a race for human-powered craft that began March 2 in Tampa Bay and ended March 10 in Key Largo.
Czarnowski took the longer inland route through Everglades National Park’s Wilderness Waterway to finish in 5 days 9 hours 26 minutes. His Hobie Mirage Adventure Island was equipped with an outrigger, pedal system and sail. Of the 88 Challenge participants, 62 finished.
Susan Cocking
















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