What is up with that, Sierra club, Audubon?!?

[kitester]

About a week ago I heard a story that I dismissed as just part of the rumor mill. The way it went was this.....there were two meetings hosted by either Sierra Club, Audubon or both concerning an effort to build support for whale protections in Florida coastal waters. Sounded like a good idea to me. I mean, who wouldn't want to back whale protections? But there was a catch. Those protections were tied to two other pet projects these organizations have pushed for years. One was the prevention of offshore oil drilling. Again, who wants nasty oil rigs along our beautiful coast? Oil companies probably. Keeping that from happening is also a good idea, I think. But the second thing that was tied to prevention of oil drilling and whale protections was the complete ban on all fishing, both commercial AND recreational! WHAT! I thought that could not be true. When I asked him if he was sure he said that is what was talked about at the meeting. He said it was also tied to the effort to prevent other access to our waters and beaches. Now we know they have tried and been successful for years to limit or remove driving access to the beaches. Some areas along our coasts now have almost no access because of that. They often throw road block after road block in front of much needed improvements or public access backed by nothing more than warm and fuzzy feelings. Apparently the idea is that if they can prevent fishing they can remove yet another user group from our shorelines. It seems the real erosion along our beaches is access erosion. So I asked another friend of mine who is more in the know than I am if these accusations were true. He assured me they were. The plan is to ban All fishing from Jacksonville, south to West Palm Beach. Could that really happen? He said that the effort is kept on the down low to prevent the fishing community from mounting an effort to stop it. Here is what I think. If this a real effort, the fishing ban is a smoke screen to divert attention from the real effort of further limiting access to the beaches. You know the old saying, "Shoot for the stars if you want to reach the moon". But as I said this might be all part of a rumor mill. So the question is, do you fish or do you know anyone else who does? Have you heard of this effort? If so tell us what you know.

[river4340]

i think it's safe to say that it's not just a rumor, but a complete fabrication.

[Noone]

What happened to my post?
We aren't getting more Public Access we are getting less

[Noone]

Does Putnam county know about this?

[bobsim]

Here you are: http://www.nominate.noaa.gov/nominations/nomination_florida_eubalina_oculina.pdf

[kitester]

So it is a real effort. Interesting. It seemed that the real issue affecting whales is not the fishing so much as the traffic of large transportation vessels. The proposal listed recreational fishing as a hazard though. It stated that collisions with recreational fishing boats have caused the deaths of whales. Does anyone know where those stats might be? The problem is that if a marine sanctuary is designated the rules inside it change. To some that might seem like a good thing. But think about it this way. If you live in a neighborhood that is proposing to become a protected association  it may sound like a good thing. I mean it keeps out the riff-raff right? But after its established you get a notice that your boat on a trailer in your back yard is in violation of the new association rules. And they have the legal ability to make you move it or be finned. Weird that it was never a problem before. Or perhaps you planned on building a pool for years but now you can't get permitts because the association forbids any construction or improvement that is not in keeping with their opinion of what should be allowed in the neighborhood. They can even keep you from putting up shutters or installing new energy efficient windows. My point is this. Once the rules change you can never go back.  This proposal needs to be vetted very well by All the people affected. written assurances needto be in place to protect access. otherwise all bets are off. Many people have a look but dont touch attitude about the lakes rivers and beaches and would not hesitate to force you to give up your abilliyt to enjoy these areas. It would be a shame to give them the teath they need to bite the rest of us.