| 25 January 2011
(Click Image To Enlarge) Results from Snook Foundation Red Drum PollRed Fish reg changes proposed: Here's what some Anglers think
Between November 17 and December 30, 563 participants in a Red Drum Poll on Snookfoundation.org voiced their preferences regarding proposed Red Drum management changes.
Read about hunting for Redfish on Sisters Creek in Reel Fishing NewsSnook Foundation Poll participants were allowed to select more than one option. 239 (42.4%) voted to keep Red Drum Regulations as they are, while 206 (36.5%) voted to create a vessel limit of 2 Red Drum per person.
31.9% wanted to increase bag limits in the northern regions of the state.
FWC also conducted an online survey as well as surveying participants in the public workshops and their very interesting findings are listed at the end of this article.
Snook Foundation's Red Drum Poll : Please check all items that apply to you.
|
Result |
Responses |
Percentage |
|
|
I prefer to leave Red Drum rules as they are |
239 |
42.4% |
|
|
I prefer the Red Drum bag limit in northern Gulf and Atlantic counties be increased to 2 per person per day |
180 |
31.9% |
|
|
I support a vessel limit for Red Drum up to 1 per person per day |
122 |
21.6% |
|
|
I support a vessel limit for Red Drum up to 2 per person per day |
206 |
36.5% |
|
|
I would like to see a review of Sea Trout rules and be able to keep more |
151 |
26.8% |
|
|
I have attended or plan to attend an FWC Public Workshop on Red Drum rules. |
44 |
7.8% |
|
|
I have other comments |
50 |
8.8% |
FWC Commissioners to Decide February 23rd.
On February 23, FWC Commissioners in Apalachicola will evaluate the proposed draft rule that could establish management areas for red drum, raise the bag limit from one fish to two fish in the two northern areas, establish a statewide vessel limit of eight fish, and eliminate the off-water possession limit. Here is a link to the Red Drum Draft Rule presentation by FWC that will be reviewed. Here are some excerpts from the report by Jessica McCawley and Carly Canion.
The commercial harvest and sale of red drum was prohibited in 1989 due to severe overfishing. The current red drum recreational regulations in Florida are a slot limit of 18 to 27 inches total length and a bag limit of one per person per day. These two limits went into effect in 1989, after several years of emergency closings. There is currently no vessel limit for red drum in Florida. There has not been a closed season for red drum since 1996. There is also an off-water possession limit of two red drum. This regulation was created in 1987 in order to aid law enforcement of the bag limit, and to aid the overall goal of limiting the fishery, which was overfished at that time. All of these regulations currently apply statewide.
Red drum management in Florida is considered a success story. Other than eliminating closed seasons and modifying the definition of total length, significant changes to red drum regulations have not been made in over 20 years, and the fishery has recovered from severe overfishing. Based on the past two stock assessments and comments from the public workshops in 2007, managing the fishery separately by coast or by region may be a more flexible management strategy.
Staff recommends establishing regional management areas for red drum that are the same as the spotted seatrout management areas. Staff recommends raising the daily recreational bag limit for the two northern areas in Florida from one red drum to two red drum per person, while keeping the bag limit at one red drum for the southern areas.
Staff also recommends establishing a statewide vessel limit of eight red drum, and eliminating the off-water possession limit. Staff recommends continuing to monitor catch rates and conducting another assessment in three years following these changes.
FWC Public Hearing and Online Survey Results
FWC Workshop participants diverged widely from FWC online survey respondents in public comment on the proposed changes.In the months of September through December, Division of Marine Fisheries Management staff held seven in-person public workshops around the state to gather public comment about the proposed management changes. The final public workshop held was via video and phone. In addition, the workshop presentation was available online for the public to view, and the survey given at the public workshops was also available online for the public to fill out from November 18 through December 17.
In total, 155 people attended the workshops. Of those 155, 109 people filled out a survey. Between the surveys filled out at the workshops and those filled out online, 1462 people filled out a survey about the proposed management changes for red drum.
Workshops and online survey respondents were asked their opinion on the proposed bag limit increase in the two northern areas of Florida. The answers from the workshop and the online surveys are split into separate graphs on this slide because of the significant difference in opinion between the two groups. Of the public workshop respondents, only 8% were in favor of increasing the bag limit in the two northern areas of Florida. Ninety-two percent of the public workshop respondents preferred no increase in the red drum bag limit. Additionally, most of the public workshop attendees commented that they preferred that no changes be made to current red drum regulations. However, of the online survey respondents, 60% of respondents were in favor of increasing the bag limit to two fish in the two northern areas of the state. Of both public workshop and online respondents from the northwest and northeast areas, 59% and 43%, respectively, were in favor of the increase.
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