FWC: Status of Redfish in NE Florida

 Last Monday a I attended a Redfish focus group hosted by the FWC over in Jacksonville. The group was led by FWC Marine Inshore Recreational Fisheries Management Coordinator Jacob Espittia, and supported by Erika Burgess, FWC Analysis and Rulemaking Section Leader. Also attending were a couple of FWC biologists. In addition to myself, the focus group was made up of other fishing guides, surf anglers, and bait and tackle shop owners, totally about 15 attendees. 

There were three discussion topics: 

Satisfaction with Redfish fishing. Overall, those present expressed good satisfaction with our Redfish fishing.

How are Redfish Doing? Overall, those present felt our Redfish population is doing good.

Top Issues Redfish face?  Overall, those present felt that coastal development, habitat loss and fishing pressure will be the main issues that affect our Redfish fishery.

I brought up a concern that I had since the last time FWC did these studies, focus groups and workshops that culminated in a Redfish Summit down in Ocala. From all of that the FWC staff made their recommendations to the Commissioners. At that final meeting, a handful of anglers stood up and made passionate pleas for changes contrary to the staff recommendations. Based on those last minute subjective opinions, Our NE Florida Commissioner made the motion, and the changes were made. You can read all about that fiasco HERE. 

The point I wanted to make at the focus group the other night was this: Setting catch limits and bag limits based on folks emotions and personal experiences really worries me. If I fish 20 times per month, on any given day I can have an average day, an above average day, a terrible day, or even a Banner Day. But even that is based on my personal subjective idea as to what a "good" day of fishing is! If you have the " everyday Joe", who fishes once a week or once a month, and he/she happens to have a terrible day of fishing (and that is based on their opinion of what a "good day" is), then they may answer any survey, or focus group question, based on that. Some people may think catching just ONE Redfish is a good day. Some people may think catching only 15 "rat" Reds is a bad day. Some may think catching their personal best Bull Redfish and nothing else is a good day. It's all subjective. 

You have differences in skill level and experience. I see it all the time on my boat. Those that have just started are not going to catch as many fish. You may have someone that has never fought a big Red on light tackle. They may not be able to cast to the "spot". They may not catch fish. They may say, "the fishery is no good".  It took me years to get better at catching Redfish. And I did get better, but I still have a lot to learn.

So why does the subjectivity bother me? For one, there is a demographic out there that is anti-fishing, anti-hunting and anti-boating.  As Florida grows, so will that anti-fishing crowd. If you go on U-tube you can easily find videos of activists who are attacking anglers for even catching a fish, much less keeping it. So what happens when that attitude begins to outweigh those of us who love to fish? If we are basing catch limits on emotions? Will we be able to keep ANY fish even though FWC studies show the populations are good? 

You say it will never happen? With all the crazy stuff going on today in our world it's not too far off to think that a group of emotional activists can't affect our FWC rules. They did just a couple of years ago. 

If you click on the FWC's 2023 Annual Review of Redfish Management Metrics, you can see that our Redfish fishery is looking good. At that Summit a couple of years ago there were a few people advocating for making it All Catch and Release. That is based on their emotions and beliefs, not what the health of our Redfish population is about. The FWC has bookoodles of researchers and biologists and experts studying the fish population and as you can see in the above Annual Review, they have a good idea of how the fishery is doing. 

I had no problem with the change in limits downward a couple of years ago. I rarely keep fish personally. Heck, I purchased some frozen fish sticks from the Dollar Store the other day! But I do like a good, blackened Redfish on occasion.  I have no problems with my customers keeping their legal limits, but many choose to release them. I understand and appreciate why there are size and bag limits, but basing those limits on how some "feel" is edging towards a dangerous "slippery slope" for anglers. Let the FWC staff do their studies and research and base the limits on that data.
 

 

 

FWC Redfish Summit News You Should Know About

Carol and I attended the first annual Redfish Summit hosted by the Florida Wildlife and Fish Commission (FWC) down in Ocala yesterday. It was a very informative event  and well organized Summit. The FWC, along with their sponsors (Coastal Conservation Association, American Sport Fish Association, Sea & Shoreline Aquatic Restoration and the Fish & Wildlife Foundation) did an outstanding job in welcoming attendees, their presentations, and facilitations of information and discussions. It was truly an eye opening event in more ways than one! I was surprised to receive a nice "bucket" of material - goodies to take home and handouts to read later. The entire Summit was well organized, well run and the agenda ran smoothly. Even a slight hiccup from trying to share a room with another breakout group was quickly remedied with a 3-minute move to a quieter area of our group-NE Florida.

There had to have been well over 100 people attending from all over the state of Florida. Of that large group, there were only 10-12 people representing the NE Florida Region. Of those 10-12 people, I think Carol and I were the only ones from the Jacksonville, Amelia Island area(I could be wrong on this-I didn't pole the others, but from their comments, they seemed south of us). If you are an angler in Fernandina Beach or the Jacksonville area, you really need to be aware of the following comments. If you are a Guide or Charter boat captain, You REALLY need to be aware of  them. 

There were a number of presenters who went over data that they have accumulated over the years, discussing Redfish biology, sustainability, stock assessments and Redfish management, past, present and the future. . (Click on image at right to enlarge) Amazing, eye opening stuff. For me, I have already begun to sense the dire issues down in south west Florida with issues with Red Tide, evidently a natural occurring event but compounded by human/manufacturing waste run off, and all over  south Florida with algae blooms and fish die-offs and fishing pressure. Before the trip I had had a conversation with my Ft. Myers cousin where he described miles and miles of dead lobsters during his last visit to the Florida Keys

But here in NE Florida, specifically at Amelia Island, we've had a relatively great fishery. But are the issues heading our way? According to the sentiment of the other 8 NE Florida attendees who reside just south of us in St. Johns County and Flagler County, yes, our fishery is declining. I was somewhat surprised that they were struggling to find Redfish. I know I track each trip that I do and most of them I rate as "average". Once in a rare while we will have a bad trip, and a few times in the month we will have an outstanding trip, but I haven't noticed a downward trend in our catch rates.

After the main presentations and after lunch we broke out into smaller groups and of course, we were in the NE Region. I have no idea what the much larger, south Florida and west Florida regions talked about. BUT, I was actively engaged in our NE Florida break out session. After all discussion we 11 attendees were asked take some Red Dots and rate what of the issues, comments, suggestions were most important to us. We could put one dot on each item, or 3 dots or all 10 dots on each item if that was really important to us. I took some pictures of the comment/issue boards and you can see for yourself what issues garnered the most "dots".  The top issues NE Florida attendees "voted" on were Declining Numbers, Increasing Fishing Pressure, and Water Quality. Again, most of these NE Florida attendees were south of us. I spoke personally to a few of them and they attested to the difficulty of finding Redfish to catch. I haven't experienced that here at Amelia Island, BUT I can surely see the increased pressure. I told Carol one day recently that "if I fish 6 trips a week, 4 of them have either just moved here or they're looking to buy". The boat ramps have gotten so crazy on weekends that I quit booking trips on Saturday and Sunday (I probably will pick up weekends this Fall and Winter). Sooner or later the fishing pressure will surely begin to affect our fish stock. I really hope we never see the poor water quality and fish die offs that our south neighbors are experiencing.  Again, you can "click" on the image to enlarge it.

Now for the really good stuff! As you see on the image the left (click on to enlarge), the overwhelming sentiment of the 11-12 people representing the NE Florida group "voted" to change the limits on Redfish to (1) per angler. Don't like that? You should have been there. FYI, I actually voted for that, too. If I have 4 people on my boat, I really don't like killing 8 Slot Redfish, but that's just my opinion. I take a fish home once in a while and don't begrudge others, but taking home fish to feed the neighborhood with a fish fry is a time gone by. Maybe I'm just getting old. But there were some suggestions proposed that I thought  were "off the wall", fringe, restrictive regulations, see the below, right image. This is where those of you that have interested in our fishery need to step up and participate. As you can see most did not garner any real support: Closed Season, Reduce Vessel Limit to 1 (can you imagine the march on Tallahassee?) Artificial Lures Only, Catch and Release Only(a 2nd march on Tallahassee?). But I don't laugh as much about that when I know there is a Catch and Release order right now for Redfish down in the South West area of Florida. Still, I've had a long sinking suspicion that there is a growing demographic of folks that are "anti-angler" who would rather we don't fish at all. I've seen internet videos of altercations between anglers and anti fishers and I've experienced first hand 

conversations with those that I sense would rather we not be taking fish from the sea. You need to be aware of this. Read that again. You need to be aware of it. 

And then there were comments related to Guides and Charter Boat Captains. Readers need to know that there are over 60 guides and Charter boat captains working out of Amelia Island. A third of those are strictly "off shore". Many do the jetties and rivers only. Many like myself, stay inshore/backwater. Some try to stay on the flats and a good number do tours and sightseeing trips. There's a good number that are "full time" with fishing as their main income, then there are others that have other jobs and use charter fishing as a way to fill in.  There are Guides that have retired from previous careers and now use fishing as supplement income- and because they love to fish! Each year there's a few new Guides added to the list, and then there are a handful that don't make it businesswise, or retire, or move. That  said, with over 60 it's a competitive small business we are running and with  over 60 of us, that's a substantial economic impact. As I commented at the Summit, the market will determine whether these Guides make it as a business here at Amelia Island. The State doesn't need to limit it. If the Guide can't run a small business, doesn't brand or market his service correctly, or doesn't produce a good product, he/she will eventually be out of business. BUT, as with the growing "anti-angler" sentiment, there is (and probably always have been) an anti-Guide sentiment. This was very evident at the Summit.

As a side, it's amazing to me sometimes how the every day angler will blame we Guides for their issues. I see it at the boat ramp daily. I'll be tied up at the dock, with plenty of space for another boat to come in, and they will get angry because I'm in THEIR spot. I've figured out that THEIR spot is the only place that they feel comfortable bringing their boat to. If they need to dock in any other location, they're not experienced enough to maneuver their boat to that location so they get angry at we Guides rather than learning to operate their boat. 

I see on my boat every day that experienced anglers tend to catch more fish. Even with that, there's always a chance of having a bad day. And there's always a chance that an inexperienced angler will have a good day and catch the fish of a lifetime. Either way I try to do the best job I can to ensure that all guests have a good time. THAT SAID,  just because some anglers aren't catching Redfish doesn't mean they aren't there! Don't blame it on the Guides if you're not caching fish, especially here in our area.  The way I understood one of the presenters data, the stocks in NE Florida are looking really good. My last few trips we have had handfuls of small "rat reds" caught, once in a while a Slot or two, and each week a few oversized Redfish. All in all, a good average bit of fishing.  I guestimate that half of my customers release all their fish. Many of my guests will keep  few to take home and throw others back that they could have legally kept. And then I will have a few that want to catch and keep and take as many as they can. Like I told the scientist at the Summit, "I rely on you folks to set the rules as to what is sustainable and healthy for the fish population", so if the rule is 2 Reds per person, 18-27", then that's what I'm going to go by and allow on my boat.

In the above image you can see some of the suggestions that were brought up. I was the first to speak and gave my opinion on the first three. I didn't have an issue with 1) Reducing Bag Limit for Anglers On For Hire Trips. As I already mentioned, keeping and killing 8 Redfish on 4 person trip is an overkill in my opinion. It's rare that happens on my boat, but it has happened. Our Florida fishery is under severe pressure and sustaining our Redfish stock and keeping our fishery healthy is important. We Guides have to balance providing a good product to our customers, keeping in mind that we can't place the stock in dire straits. The days of "filling the cooler" are slipping by (there were days when the old timers put EVERY fish in the cooler, and kept all the huge Bull Redfish they could keep). Truth be told, most of the Guides I know would rather throw most fish back. 

2) Limited-Entry License. This is where I opined that the market would limit the number of  Guides and Captains. There will always be Captains that get in on a shoe-string, and some will make it-it's their dream, but many will fall by the way side. That particular item evolved into Item#4 - Increase requirements for Captains/Guide license. I mentioned to the group that our Amelia Island Guides Association requires all of its Guide Members to provide proof of Liability Insurance, their US Coast Guard License, and their FWC License. I joked with Carol on the way home that it might be kinda nice for the State to take over the responsibility of gathering that information-as the Secretary/Treasurer of the AIGA it's like pulling teeth to get all the paperwork in! My biggest concern, spoken at the breakout session, was that established Guides and Captains would use the State to limit their competition with more and expensive regulations. I've seen it done, here at Amelia Island (see the $1500 fee that the City of Fernandina charges Guides to launch at the Marina). I understand the need for Liability Insurance and can't imagine a Guide business not having it. Again, if they don't, and something happens, they'll be out of business soon. In my opinion this idea came from some Guide(s) that  wanted to limit competition. Are they wanting to limit licenses? I can still remember here in Fernandina growing up there was one man that held all the Liquor Licenses and thus owned all the bars. What a limit on competition that was! Can you imagine the back room dealings as to who get's a Captain's License?

3) No Bag Limit For Captain and Crew. As I mentioned at the Summit, I already do this. I don't count in the "take" on my boat. It's only been the last few years but I quit counting my self so I wouldn't have a problem with this becoming an established law. 

Solving Issues was another topic. This image is hard to see as it was stuck on window. But as you can see down at the bottom, #6 is Improved Access to Law Enforcement and was a popular, and voted on suggestion. That was basically a suggestion of a better "hot line" or Text Line to alert FWC officers of illegal harvesting.  This was not necessarily to be used to bust an uneducated (that was a topic) angler who happens to have a 17.5" Redfish, but those that have 13 undersized, Slot and Oversized fish in their bucket. You can read the other suggestions that came up but didn't garner much support. 

Items that did have a lot of support (I suggested #9) was to have an FWC "Ambassador" program where anglers could get certified by the FWC on some of these conservation, management, stock assessment issues - basically talking points, then be available to speak at fishing clubs, association, etc. in order to educate the public on where we are with the stocks, go over the rules and regulations, etc.

Note that item #10 had some support. This idea would create some Public Service Assistants, kina like a Public Service Officer in a police department. These PSA's wouldn't have arrest or citing capability, but they would be the eyes and ears (and possibility as Ambassador's?) for the FWC at boat ramps, etc. 

That's a long read! Thank you for hanging in there. IF you got down to this paragraph note that there will be Public Workshops thru-out the State of Florida on these very topics in October. Our area is scheduled for  6pm Tuesday October 12th, at the Southeast Regional Library 10599 Deerwood Park Blvd, Jacksonville. 

As we get closer and they put links up I will post them.

If you think you would like to have some input or don't like what you've just read, then it behooves you to attend and let you opinion known. It was my observation that these FWC staff members are trying to take in as much observations, information and opinions as they can from the public, and then take into account all the scientific data that they have collected then make recommendations to the Commission and ultimately the law makers who set the rules. I mean, that's all they can do, right?  You might have an entirely different outlook or opinion than I do and that's fine. But don't be bitch'n if you haven't at least spoken up and let the FWC know how you feel!  You can also make public comments to the FWC HERE.