85°
Fireworks are likely at this week’s Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission meeting in Lakeland.
Commissioners on Wednesday will take up a draft rule addressing the long-running controversy over using jigs as opposed to live bait to catch and release tarpon in Southwest Florida’s Boca Grande Pass.
The proposed rule would prohibit the use of a weighted jig attached to the bottom of a hook while fishing for tarpon or any other species in the pass. The rule also would broaden the definition of “snagging” or “snatch-hooking” tarpon statewide. The rule effectively bans the most popular type of tarpon fishing rig used by competitors in the Professional Tarpon Tournament Series held in spring and summer in the pass. Live-baiters and jig fishers are expected to show up in force to testify.
Commissioners will make a decision on a separate rule designating tarpon and bonefish as catch-and-release-only species. They also will decide whether to reopen the snook harvest season Sept. 1 in the Gulf, Keys and Everglades National Park. That fishery has been closed since the killing freeze of January 2010.
The meeting runs from Tuesday afternoon through Thursday at the Hilton Garden Inn.
Monitoring systems
• The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council meets Monday through Friday in Stuart. On the agenda there: a controversial proposal to require commercial grouper-snapper fishers to install a monitoring system on their vessels that would let law enforcement officers know where they are at all times.
At a public hearing in April in Key Largo, fishermen voiced unanimous opposition to Amendment 30, saying it is too costly and might actually create a safety hazard.
The council is expected to vote on whether to forward the amendment to the Secretary of Commerce for adoption.
Susan Cocking
RSS
My Yahoo