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| You are Here: | Home >> Conservation Front >> Let Alex Say It | | |
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Let Alex Say It
He would just as soon be anonymous about this. But naw, Alex, your good name, reputation and deeds are what make these thoughts significant. Alex Jernigan is one of the really esteemed names in Florida fishing and fisheries conservation. He was a top-flight Keys angler for a generation and a kingpin in the Everglades Protection Association that stopped commercial netting in Everglades National Park, after which he was at the heart of founding the Florida Conservation Association, now the Coastal Conservation Association of Florida. An outstanding engineer by trade, Alex until recently also was a longtime member of the federal Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council.  Anyone looking for fundamental insights about our fisheries would be wise to seek Alex's counsel, and pay close attention. That I did when Alex faxed a note to me the other day, a sort of follow-up to my column last month about The Immovable Fox guarding the hen house. Writes Alex: Karl: During my last term on the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council I came to the conclusion that the council system is irreparably broken and should be abolished. In fact at the last meeting I attended, when asked by a group of my colleagues why I would not consider another term, I explained that the system was so out of control that if I thought that I had the political strength to do so I would move to abandon the system and place fisheries management under another government organization. As you know, the Magnuson Act does not prohibit appointment of persons who have financial conflicts and as a result there are numerous members with conflicts of interest. The results are that many votes reflect the financial interests of the members rather than proper management of the fisheries. In addition, when good measures are occasionally recommended by the Council, they frequently get rejected by the National Marine Fisheries Service. Over several years the South Atlantic Council developed a Dolphin/ Wahoo Plan with the specific purpose of preventing development of a longline fishery for dolphin fish. One or more NMFS representatives were present during the development of the planned regulations. And yet when the plan was sent to NMFS for approval they unceremoniously rejected the 1,000-pound trip limit for dolphin off Florida and in essence gutted the plan. This rejection occurred despite the fact that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission had endorsed the trip limit. In addition to the other problems, both the Councils and NMFS consistently violate the time constraints in the Act. A good example is Secretarial Reef Fish Amendment One to the Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan. This was supposed to reduce overharvest of red grouper to permit rebuilding of a fishery that was overfished, with overfishing still occurring. Both the Council and NMFS flagrantly violated the mandated schedule. I could go on endlessly with examples of failure of the system but what is worse is that as a result of these failures fisheries are severely damaged, and much of the public is wrongly convinced that traditional regulations will not work. Thus, the public can fall prey to the unwise use of such things as Marine Reserves or Marine Protected Areas. -Alex Jernigan Now there's some inside baseball from a player who knows the game. |
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