Author(s)
Chad Hanson
Author(s) Description
Chad Hanson is a Crawfordville resident, a coastal angler and a fisheries science and policy analyst for the Pew Environment Group's Gulf of Mexico Fish Conservation Campaign. Hanson spent about 10 years collecting data and assisting in the management of marine fish for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
A virtual but important line, running through the Gulf of Mexico, may determine whether one of Florida's most popular — and most severely depleted — fish will recover. It's the line between state and federal waters.
In federal waters, which start nine miles offshore, the dwindling gag grouper have won significant protections. After gag plummeted to 40 percent of a healthy level, federal fishery managers reduced the allowable catch and shortened the recreational fishing season. If these measures, approved in August, succeed, managers may permit catch levels to increase incrementally, as long as quotas are maintained and the species shows signs of recovery.
In state waters, however, the story is different. State rules currently allow more fishing and a longer fishing season. These are problems that could seriously hinder the recovery of gag — a favored local catch and a mainstay of the famous Florida grouper sandwich — on both sides of the line.
On Wednesday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will vote on whether to adjust Florida's gag fishing rules to correspond with the federal protection plan. Since fish obviously swim across state and federal boundaries, consistent rules make sense. Such standards will avoid confusion among anglers and also allow better enforcement.
For example, if there are different fishing seasons in state and federal waters, how would regulators know that anglers with gag in their boats took them from the part of the Gulf where the fishing season was open?
More troubling is how different state and federal rules could affect the total catch of these fish.
The federal plan determined how much gag grouper could be taken throughout the Gulf while still allowing the species to begin its recovery. But if more fishing is permitted in state waters, that impacts the federal plan's calculations and effectiveness, and fishing in the area under federal control might need to be much more severely restricted. Anglers will benefit from standard measures that will treat then equally throughout the Gulf.
Florida has brought its gag grouper fishing rules in line with federal regulations several times in the past. This should be no different, especially since state regulators have worked hand-in-hand with their federal counterparts to study the plight of the gag grouper.
The federal plan stems from a comprehensive, peer-reviewed scientific analysis that involved researchers from both jurisdictions. State-derived research actually made up much of the information for a 2009 study that showed gag were in serious trouble. FWCC staff collected data from recreational anglers, sampled juvenile fish nearshore, and even chaired the panel responsible for analyzing data and reviewing the outcome. Still other scientific information came from studies at Florida State University and by the federal government.
The debate over gag grouper's future has lasted more than two years, throughout which anglers and others have had multiple opportunities to be heard. During this time, most of Florida's recreational fishermen favored the current federal plan of a late summer-to-fall season, which offered the longest possible fishing time — 123 days.
Not everyone is happy, but it actually works fairly well for us in the Big Bend, where gag are accessible from July through October, the proposed open season, in both state and federal waters.
If state and federal authorities continue to cooperate to protect this popular fish, the species can recover more quickly. That means anglers can enjoy more fishing in all waters, and everyone will benefit from the healthier marine ecosystem.
View this op-ed on the Tallahassee Democrat website. [Paywall]
