The
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) on Thursday
advanced its long-standing policy
to protect stressed shark populations in Florida waters. The action
came during the second day of its three-day meeting in Naples.
Sharks
have been strictly regulated in Florida since 1992, with a
one-shark-per-person, two-sharks-per-vessel
daily bag limit for all recreational and commercial harvesters; a ban
on shark finning; and a prohibition on roughly two dozen overfished,
vulnerable or rare shark species.
“Florida
has been recognized as a pioneer and a leader in shark management
efforts for nearly 20 years,”
said FWC Chairman Kathy Barco. “We recognize that maintaining healthy
shark populations is critical to the sustainability of our marine
ecosystem. The additional protections we are proposing would help
preserve Florida’s valuable marine resources.”
The
Commission proposes protecting four additional shark species that rely
on Florida’s productive coastal
waters for their survival. The FWC’s proposed rules would prohibit
harvest of scalloped hammerheads, great hammerheads, smooth hammerheads
and tiger sharks from state waters. Scalloped hammerheads are considered
overfished and are experiencing overfishing,
which means that fishing pressure is too high to be sustainable.
Research indicates the other three species have also suffered severe
population declines in recent decades.
In
addition to the proposed rules, the Commission directed staff to work
with stakeholders and anglers to
develop an educational campaign highlighting proper fishing and
handling techniques when catching and releasing sharks. Commissioners
also asked staff to explore a trophy tag program for these important
sharks. The tag, similar to the one used for tarpon,
would allow anglers to harvest a shark for record purposes.
A final public hearing on the proposed shark rules will be during the November FWC meeting in Key Largo.http://www.oysterradio.com e-mail manager@oysterradio.com with comments
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