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What’s Ahead for 2008…………Al
Ovies, President
SAFER has begun
what promises to be a busy year in our efforts to “Save Our Canals.”
Representatives have attended two important meetings affecting the
WCA
3A & B fisheries and the reservoirs. The first meeting, which took
place at South Florida Water Management District’s Headquarters in
West Palm Beach, was the quarterly meeting of the Water Resources
Advisory Committee’s Recreational Issues Committee (A mouthful that
in bureaucratize is SFWMD WRAC Rec Issues). The second was
attendance at a panel discussion hosted by the National Parks
Conservancy Association (NPCA) at the Everglades Coalition’s annual
conference, held this year at Captiva on Sanibel Island. SAFER
members need to be informed of the issues discussed at these two
separate but important initiatives.
First the WRAC Rec Issues:
For the past 7 years SAFER has not only worked to preserve the
Everglades fishery, but has been aggressive in the pursuit of
establishing a full fledged bass fishery in the mammoth reservoirs
planned for the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Project (CERP).
For the past year or so, we have been hearing from the SFWMD staff
that there had been objections to the establishment of any fishery
by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). For months, we
have been asking that a representative of DEP be present at a
meeting of the Rec Issues, and for months nothing happened. Well, we
finally got the chance to question their representative, and his
answer was simple enough: As far as he knew, DEP had no objections
to the public fishing on the reservoirs! They had objections to any
fishing that relied on some means of propulsion, whether gas or
electric, on the Stormwater Treatment Areas (STA’s). And they even
left the door open to some kind of bank/dock bound fishery, as
proposed by SAFER.
Our message
to the agency leads has been “That a Boat Ramp Does Not a Fishery
Make.” We have seen the plans for what are no doubt, excellent boat
ramps, but if plans aren’t built into the design of the reservoir
for the creation of a bass fishery, then the fish population will be
at the mercy of any low water event. Littoral Zones, an area of deep
water for refuge in case of draught conditions, and the stocking of
bait and sportfish are all issues which need to be addressed, if
future generations of Floridians are to enjoy quality bass fishing
such as we have on reservoirs like the Stick Marsh and Farm 13.
One of the
reservoirs is already built and operating, so it’s too late to do
things right there. But the plans of the reservoirs on the drawing
boards haven’t been finalized yet. It is important that SAFER
members urge the members of the project teams to incorporate plans
for establishing a fishery on each of the reservoirs. In this day
and age of internet and emailing, and all the technology, it is
easy enough to log on to the websites of the participating agencies,
and voice your opinions directly to those that matter.
The Everglades Coalition Conference:
It was certainly with mixed feelings that SAFER accepted an
invitation to participate in a panel discussion on the effects
Everglades Restoration on the different fisheries in the CERP
‘Footprint.” The Everglades Coalition is “an
alliance of 45 local, state and national conservation and
environmental organizations dedicated to full restoration of the
greater Everglades ecosystem, from the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes into
Lake Okeechobee, through the "River of Grass", out to Florida Bay
and the Keys.” Like us, their representatives have laid out their
agendas at the public meetings, and it is safe to say that very
rarely did we share the same view of life, nature and restoration.
Nonetheless, SAFER has stated often that we will sit down with any
group/organization at any time or place, to ensure that recreational
fishing is an integral part of the restoration process. As in any
process, circumstances change, often times due to the dialogue that
takes place amongst the participating stakeholders. And it is clear
that SAFER’s message that there is nothing more natural than an
incredible bass fishery, in the heart of the Water Conservation
Areas and with access within minutes of major urban centers, is
being heard.
In a discussion that has
been called “thoughtful and robust,” SAFER was given every
opportunity to state its view of restoration, and discuss fishing’s
place in the overall scope of restoration. The discussion and
question and answer period that followed our brief presentation
showed that the people there, were there to listen, and learn. It is
important that an on going discussion of the many issues involved is
established. If anything, these discussions showed that there are
still many serious misconceptions about the canals in the WCA’s, and
about the future of fishing in the STA’s and reservoirs. Even
amongst our salt water brethren, there are misconceptions about what
is happening to the water in the WCA’s and its impact on the Florida
Bay ecosystem. SAFER needs to continue to get its message out to
people, especially those who might not have agreed with us in the
past.
A
Brief History of the Weigh-in Pavilion…….….Rick
Persson, Vice President
Back in 2003 Brad
Arnold, then secretary of S.A.F.E.R., Inc had the vision of building
a much needed weigh-in pavilion at Holiday Park. He contacted SFWMD
and found out what needed to be done to get approval, had plans
drawn up, and went so far as to submit the plan to SFWMD. Problem
being there was no money in our budget at that time, we didn’t even
have the funds to pay the $165 permitting fee. The project was
dropped. A year or so went by, Brad moved to Arizona, and I started
hearing from the anglers at Holiday Park, “Where’s the weigh-in
Pavilion?”
I started
doing research on finding money, and heard that B.A.S.S. Federation
Nation had grant money available for conservation projects. I
contacted Chris Horton, and he said that we should qualify for a
grant, he gave me the forms to fill our and I did and sent them
directly to him. It took several months to get the approval for the
grant in the sum of $5000. As soon as I found out that we had the
money coming, I started the permitting order of business. After
many attempts to find out who to contact, I finally hit on Herky
Huffman, then Chairman of FWC. Shortly after talking with Herky, I
was contacted by Carol Wehle, and Laura Lythgow of SFWMD permitting
office, and made an appointment to see her. She walked me through
the procedure to fill out the forms and also told me of a waiver of
the application fee to ask for. I went home and filled out the
forms, and hand carried the forms and the check for $165 directly to
Laura Lythgow on March 22 2007. In June, I was notified that all
the applications were accepted, and our permitting fee was refunded.
Alex Supik, an active SAFER member, put me in contact
with the Chickee Hut Company, and they agreed to build the hut for
$4200. The chickee is up, and we ordered the lumber for the
build-out on Jan. 16th, 2008. The floor went in on Jan.
13th, 2008 and we should have the walls, counters and ads up by mid
February.
I am working with Jon Fury of FWC to
develop a suggested method of live release for Tournament Directors
to consider.
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