Hoping to avoid becoming “another California” (where recreational fishermen felt left out of a process that led to a vast crazyquilt of no-take areas closed to all angling), Florida Keys charter captains joined commercial fishermen to pack a meeting in Marathon recently, where they just said no. That they did, according to Mike Leonard, Ocean Resource Policy Director for the American Sportfishing Association. The result: A planned vote on a proposal to create new and expand existing no-take areas throughout the Keys was tabled in favor of gathering more public input at meetings to be held throughout the Keys in coming weeks. “Although our work here is far from over,” Leonard says, “this is a significant victory and demonstrates the impacts that our community can have when motivated and united.” As noted, the recreational-fishing ...Image may be NSFW.
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