BigBendFishing.Net

Time for Anglers to Make a Stand Against 'Sea Lords'
Florida FWC under siege by snapper barons

A federal program that is allowing almost half the Gulf red snapper fishery to be held by a handful of private business has created a class of Sea Lords who are fighting to keep their personal windfall. As outlined in this ground-breaking article in the Mobile Times Register, "Kingpins of the Gulf make millions off red snapper harvest without ever going fishing," these Sea Lords have been granted private ownership rights to red snapper, for free, to use for their own personal profit.

The private recreational angling community has been left to fight over scraps and 10 day seasons.

The Sea Lords, and those who would like to become Sea Lords in the charter/for-hire industry, are now engaged in a campaign of intimidation at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC). The Gulf States have been unified in their rejection of private ownership programs to manage fisheries and know that they can do a better job using traditional methods. Last year, the states put forth their own state plan to manage red snapper, a plan that resulted in federal legislation to transfer management of the fishery to Gulf States.

With their riches threatened and desperate to hide the truth, the Sea Lords are fighting to flood the FWC with their one-sided story, coercing state officials to abandon the state management model.

The FWC meets tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. at the Florida Public Safety Institute Conference Center in Havana, Florida. It is critical for recreational anglers to express their support of state management and of the FWC before and during that meeting. The simple message is that we trust the state to manage these public marine resources better. We believe in the FWC and its far superior track record of management. We must let our state commissioners know that there is another side to this story. We must not let greed dictate how our fisheries are managed.

Please take a few minutes today to click the link below and send FWC Commissioners a message of support for state management and urge them to stay the course. The future of our fisheries is at stake - don't let our state managers be led astray or intimidated by a few red snapper barons.

Click the link below to log in and send your message:
https://www.votervoice.net/BroadcastLin ... fr6aKo6V3A

Sad to say the Sea Lords already have the upper hand with BUTT HOLE Bergeron still being a commissioner.

The situation is despicable and the crushing effect upon recreational Gulf fishing is being felt all along the coast by communities that depend upon recreational dollars being spent in their towns. There should be no commercial harvest of any species until recreational anglers are afforded historic seasons and catch limits once more.

Not much response for such an important topic. The last several years we haven't even gone snapper fishing. The short season. small limits and gas prices make it a losing proposition. Maybe that's the way the big dogs want it so if we want snapper we just buy it from the barons. Sad but true.

Pirate wrote:Not much response for such an important topic. The last several years we haven't even gone snapper fishing. The short season. small limits and gas prices make it a losing proposition. Maybe that's the way the big dogs want it so if we want snapper we just buy it from the barons. Sad but true.

That is exactly the plan. Does anyone think the short staggered grouper and snapper seasons are an accident? They want to make it too expensive and inconvenient to do any recreational fishing anymore. The regulators are in the pockets of the commercial industry. Sad but true.

There were warnings given almost 8 years ago. I don't think anything will change until the administration changes.