State to host tarpon meeting in St. Petersburg

Florida has made great strides in tarpon management in recent years, thanks to ground-breaking research by state biologists who have learned how to track the silver king of gamefish.

But researchers rely on average anglers like you and me to help with this ongoing study. To learn how you can do your part, join in the discussion on Dec. 3 when the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's hosts a tarpon tracking seminar in St. Petersburg.

Biologists from the FWC's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI hope tarpon enthusiasts and anyone else interested in helping preserve one of Florida's signature gamefish will attend the seminar.

The presentation, which is free and open to the public, will run from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at the FWRI headquarters, 100 8th Ave. S.E., in downtown St. Petersburg.

State researchers will update anglers on the Tarpon Genetics Recapture Study. For the past four years, scientists from FWRI and Mote Marine Laboratory have been using DNA samples to track tarpon in the Gulf of Mexico.

However, the success of this project depends on the participation of local anglers. For more information, call 727-896-8626.

Amberjack season closes in federal waters

The recreational harvest of amberjack in the Gulf of Mexico will be close Oct. 24 and remain so through Dec. 31.  The ban will apply to federal waters, which begin nine miles offshore, but anglers fishing in state waters may still catch and keep one amberjack per day, 30 inches or longer.

Federal officials say they were forced to shut down the fishery because recreational anglers exceeded a quota established last year, but at least one major sportfishing group has challenged that claim.

“The National Marine Fisheries Service continued its bizarre history of biased management regarding Gulf amberjack when it announced this week that the recreational season for the popular offshore species will close…” began a press release form the Texas-based Coastal Conservation Association. “This announcement comes barely two years after the arbitrarily shifted a significant portion of recreational allocation to the commercial sector.”

The CCA’s release said the feds should be looking at the commercial, not recreational sector. “If the Council had left the allocation where it was in 2007…recreational anglers would not have been over their quota,” said Dr. Russell Nelson, CCA Gulf Fisheries consultant.

 For more information, click here.

Grouper Lawsuit

The Texas-based Coastal Conservation Association, which has a chapter in Florida, has filed suit against the federal government over pending grouper regulations.

The Florida Chapter of the CCA led the fight to ban inshore netting in Florida waters and has a strong following among recreational anglers. The lawsuit, filed this week in Ft. Myers, challenges Amendment 29 to the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Management Plan, which the CCA contends gives the bulk of the Gulf’s grouper fishery to the commercial industry.

 “CCA has stated from the beginning that this management action is fundamentally flawed,” Chester Brewer, chairman of the CCA National Government Relations Committee, said in a press release.  “In moving forward with Amendment 29, the federal government has disregarded multiple provisions in the Magnuson Stevens Act designed to govern the impacts of such action on other participants in the fishery. The only ones considered in this amendment are the commercial fishermen.”

The new rules would divvy up this public resource among a select group of fishermen based on previous catch history. The CCA has long contended that the recreational sector should have greater access to grouper stocks.

To see a copy of the official comments the CCA submitted to the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council in June, visit the Catch Share section of the CCA Newsroom at http://www.joincca.org/.

 

Powerboat Racing Comes to Clearwater

When offshore racing fans cruise the dry pits at this weekend's Super Boat National Championship in Clearwater, many will stop and linger at the Miss GEICO tent. Most powerboat enthusiasts are familiar with standard piston engines, but few have ever seen a boat powered by helicopter turbines.

 Powerboat enthusiasts have been experimenting with Army surplus engines since the mid-1970s. But it wasn’t until the mid-1990s that turbines gained widespread acceptance. These engines are more powerful, and some believe, more relaible than piston engines.

Miss Geico, a 50-foot Mystic that was built in Florida, can hit speeds in excess of 200 mph. “That is unheard of in offshore racing,” said driver Marc Granet of St. Pete Beach. “In many of the other classes, guys go through engines every other race. That is costly in both time and money. If your boat is in the shop all the time, you can’t be out on the water testing.”

Organizers are billing this as a family-friendly speed fest, with food, entertainment and free fans access to the dry pits all weekends. For more information, click here.  

 

Big bass could tie world record

George Perry, a farmer in Montgomery, Ga., never intended to set a world record when he went fishing on June 2, 1932. The weather was too bad to work in the fields, so he rowed out in a homemade wooden boat to catch dinner.

Then, with a lure known as a Creek Chub Wiggle Fish, Perry hooked a bass that would break the world record of 20 pounds, 2 ounces. The farmer took the fish into town and had it weighed at the post office. It tipped the certified scale at 22 pounds, 4 ounces. Perry then went home, and cooked his catch, which netted him $75 worth of merchandise in a Field and Stream contest.

Manabu Kurita, however, had his eye set on breaking Perry’s 77-year-old record.  On July 2, the Japanese angler hooked a monster in Lake Biwa northeast of Kyoto. Details of Kuria’s catch were subsequently submitted to the Dania Beach International Game Fish Association for consideration.

 The fish, which measured more than 27 inches long and had a girth of nearly the same size, is currently under consideration. But if approved, it will only tie Perry’s record. Could an even bigger fish be lurking in some Florida lake?

Giant squid found in Gulf of Mexico

One of the great things about fishing in the Gulf of Mexico is that you never know what you are going to catch. Biologists with National Marine Fisheries Service were trawling at a depth of 1,500 feet off the coast of Louisiana this summer when they caught something large in their net.

The sea monster turned out to be a 19-foot-long giant squid. Only once before - off the Mississippi coast in 1954 - had one of these creatures been spotted in the gulf. The researches were studying the availability and diversity of sperm whale prey.

The creature, which weighed 103 pounds, was preserved and sent to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. for further study.

"This is an incredibly rare find in the Gulf of Mexico," said Dr. Michael Vecchione, director of the Fisheries Service’s National Systemics Laboratory.  "Giant squid have been found more commonly in areas of the world where there are deep-water fisheries, such as Spain and New Zealand, but this is the first time one has actually been captured during scientific research in the Gulf of Mexico."

 

Casting for mullet

On Sept. 11-12, the Star Fish Company in Cortez is hosting the Ben Gullett Mullet Invitational. No, not the business-in-the-front, party-in-the-back hairstyle, but there is a party involved. Two-person teams (entry for adult team, $150; juniors 5-17, $75) will scour the water between Tampa and Venice, looking to cast net and weigh in their six-heaviest mullet. Competition starts Sept. 11 at 5 p.m. and ends Sept. 12 at 4 p.m. The weigh-in at the Star Fish (12306 46th Ave. W) runs from 2 to 4 p.m. with a fish fry ($5, open to the public) beginning at 6 p.m. The captains' meeting is Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. Proceeds benefit the Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage, which works to restore and preserve the Cortez fishing village. For more details, call (941) 794-1243 or click here.

Manatees on the move this Labor Day

Florida’s waterways will be crowded this Labor Day. But remember that when you are cruising you are sharing the water with manatees.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, more than 70 of these endangered animals have died so far this year as the result of boat strikes.

Boaters should post a lookout and obey all manatee slow speed and no wake zones. Manatees are particularly active this time of year and can be found from inland rivers to the open ocean. So stick to marked channels and wear polarized sunglasses to help improve your visibility.

You can often tell if a manatee has been in the area by looking for the telltale whirlpools or swirls left by their flukes, or tails. Feeding manatees will also stir up patches of muddy water.

But even non-boaters can help protect these animals by buying a manatee license plate. Money from the sale of these plates goes directly to manatee research and protection.

If you see a hurt or injured manatee, call 888-404-FWCC (3922). To learn more about manatees, click here.

Snorkel Safe

With scallop season under way, boaters should pay close attention to the state’s “diver down” rule. Less than one month after the state held its first “Dive Flag Awareness Week,” a Cross City man was killed after being struck by a boat near Steinhatchee.

Charles D. Sheppard, 50, was snorkeling southwest of Rocky Creek when the accident occurred, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The incident is still under investigation. Sheppard is the 23rd diver or snorkeler to be killed in Florida waters in the past five years.

Some of these deaths may have been prevented if the boat operator had a lookout on board. That is why the FWC is asking boaters and divers to remember the following:

The law requires that a vessel display a divers-down flag, which is red with a white diagonal stripe, whenever divers or snorkelers are in the water The flag must be at least 20 by 24 inches if displayed on a boat; at least 12 by 12 inches if towed on a float by the diver or snorkeler.

In open waters, vessels must make an effort to stay 300 feet from a divers-down flag.  In a river, channel or inlet the distance is 100 feet.  Vessels may operate within those distances, but at idle speed.

Terry Tomalin

Lobster season

Divers and snorkelers from all over the United States are heading to the Florida Keys for the special, two-day spiny lobster “sport” season.

This “bug” catching frenzy, which occurs every year on the last consecutive Wednesday and Thursday in July, is designed to give recreational lobster hunters a chance to gather some of these tasty crustaceans before the commercial traps go in the water.

The regular lobster season begins Aug. 6 and runs through the end of March.

State and local law enforcement officers will be out in force for the two-day mini season. So be sure to follow all rules and regulations.

For the record, Florida spiny lobsters must have a carapace (body) length 3 inches or longer. Divers must carry a measuring tool. Lobsters must be measured in the water.

Bug hunters may keep up six lobsters per person daily in the waters of Monroe County and Biscayne National Park and 12 lobsters per person daily in other Florida waters. You may not possess more than the daily bag limit of lobsters when on the water. Off the water, you may possess the daily bag limit on the first day and double the daily bag limit on the second day.