New Rules for Fishing Reef Species in Gulf - Charlotte County ...

May-Aug 2008
Volume 2, Issue 2
Charlotte County Extension
Inside this issue:
New Reef Rules 1
Regional Waterway
Management
Kids Cup Redfish
Tracking
2
3
Clean Marina 4
Boating Accidents 4
Rip Currents 5
From the Agent 6
Mark The Date:
• May 13-Reef Gear
Rule Workshop, Herald
Rec Center—6pm.
• June 14-Pirate Coast
Dive Festival-Siesta
Key Public Beach-
Sarasota
• August 9-National
Marinas Day, Fishermen’s
Village
New Rules for Fishing Reef Species in Gulf of Mexico
As of June 1, 2008,
new state and federal
regulations will require
commercial and recreational
fishermen
angling for reef species
in the Gulf of Mexico
to carry and use circle
hooks when fishing
with live or cut baits, a
dehooking device and
a venting tool.
The intent of the new
regulations is to reduce
bycatch and discard
mortality of reef
fish that are caught
and not kept. If the
gear associated with
these new regulations
is used properly, it will
help more reef fish
survive when they are
released.
Florida Sea Grant provides
the following
information to help
bring fishermen up to
speed as quickly as
possible on the
changes, as well as encourage
them to adopt
fishing techniques that
lead to a reduction in
the mortality of fish
caught and released.
About Federal Reef
Fish Regulations in
Gulf
Non-stainless steel
circle hooks are required,
along with
venting tools and dehooking
devices when
angling for reef fish
because they reduce
mortality on released
fish.
(effective June 1,
2008)
New Reef Fish Gear
Rules for Florida
FWC has approved
changes to management
rules for red
snapper harvested in
Gulf of Mexico state
waters, and also has
approved new rules
that will require all
commercial and recreational
anglers fishing
for any Gulf reef
fish species to use circle
hooks, dehooking
devices and venting
tools.
Continued Page 2
The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is an Equal Employment Opportunity—Affirmative Action Employer authorized to
provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function without regard to race,
color, sex, age, handicap or national origin. COOPERATIVE EXTENSION WORK IN AGRICULTURE, FAMILY AND
CONSUMER SCIENCES, SEA GRANT AND 4-H YOUTH, STATE OF FLORIDA, IFAS, UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, AND BOARDS OF COUTY COMMISSIONERS COOPERATING.

Page 2 The Lateral Line Volume 2, Issue 2
Regional Waterway Management System
Florida Sea Grant, the
West Coast Inland Navigation
District, and Charlotte
County are partners
in a Regional Waterway
Management System
(RWMS) project that will
provide a tool to help balance
coastal resource use
and protection. The
RWMS combines boat
census information
(especially, boat draft) and
waterway depth data to
provide area-wide insights
into channel maintenance
needs. The boat census is
under way and will continue
through spring
2008. Crews in small
boats are visiting the principal
waterways of the
county, including canal
systems, marinas, creeks,
and rivers. They record
information to verify vessel
draft, such as make/
model, length, vessel type,
and estimated age, as well
as the registration number
(“bow number”). The
data is logged in a GPS,
along with each vessel’s
position. To help characterize
the capacity of boat
source areas, empty
“moorings” (wet slips, dry
stack slots, actual moorings,
anchorages, and so
forth) are mapped, too.
The crews try to stay clear
of boats and docks, and
often they use a laser
rangefinder to map
Continued on pg 5
Reef Rules (continued from page 1)
General Catch-and-
Release Information
line to improve the survival
of the fish that they
catch and release.
shapes and sizes; use the
tool that works best for
the fish you are releasing.
Dehooking tools
Catch-and-
Release:Things you can
do to help saltwater fish
survive
New brochure with tips
to help saltwater fishermen
increase survival of
fish they catch and release.
Includes information
on 2008 Gulf reef
fish regulation changes.
Venting Fish
Learning the simple technique
of venting fish can
help reduce the mortality
of reef fish whose swimbladders
have overexpanded
or burst when
the fish is brought quickly
to surface.
Circle Hooks
Circle Hooks
Circle hooks have been
used by commercial fishermen
for decades due to
their ability to efficiently
catch fish, but they can be
used on any species of
fish caught on hook and
Dehookers
De-hooking tools, or dehookers,
are instruments
used to dislodge the hook
from the fish’s mouth
without removing the fish
from the water. Dehookers
come in a variety of

Page 3 The Lateral Line Volume 2, Issue 2
Kids Cup Redfish Tracking Project
Have you ever wondered
what happens to your fish
when you release it after it’s
weighed in at a tournament
If you catch your
redfish in Pine Island
Sound, do you think it will
go back Or, will it hang
around in the upper harbor
These are great questions,
and the answer is, we
don’t know, but we want
to. This year Kids Cup participants
are helping researchers
learn more about
Redfish behavior and specifically
where Kids Cup
redfish go after being released.
Thanks to a collaborative
effort of the Water-
LIFE Kids Cup tournament
and a number of scientific
entities, weighed in
redfish were tagged as part
of a research and education
program. The beauty of
this tagging program is that
not only are researchers
having the opportunity to
learn about redfish behavior,
so are participants.
At the April 19th Tournament
Weigh Master, Capt.
Ralph tagged every redfish
weighed in with a dart tag.
Each tag has a unique identification
number. This tag
is visible to anglers and the
data received from these
tags is almost entirely angler
dependent. What I
mean by this is that researchers
and participants
only receive information
about the tagged fish if an
angler catches the fish, records
the tag number and
location the fish was
caught, and reports these
finding via the phone number
listed on the tag.
In addition to the dart tags,
20 randomly selected tournament
redfish received a
sonic tag. The sonic tag was
implanted into the redfish
by scientists from Mote
Marine Laboratory and
Progress Energy. The sonic
tag is not readily visible to
anglers. Data is being received
from these tags using
under water sensors
called VR2s (VEMCO).
Mote and Sea Grant have
deployed VR2s along the
path that we suspect redfish
will travel. Each unit is
able receive information
from the sonic tag within a
radius (array) around the
underwater sensor. So if a
sonically tagged fish travels
within the underwater array,
the tag transmits a
unique signal (frequency) to
the VR2 where it is stored.
Weekly, we are going out to
download the underwater
sensors to receive the data
so that we can see which of
our tagged fish were in the
area of the VR2s.
The sonic tags can also be
picked up by a unit deployed
off of the side of a
vessel. This unit is called a
VR100. FWC and Mote
each provided a VR100 for
the tournament. FWC is
also loaning us theirs for
some follow up events.
With the VR100 we will
attempt to go out and find
our tagged fish and follow
them for a period of time.
Continued on Page 5

Page 4 The Lateral Line Volume 2, Issue 2
Clean Marinas in Charlotte County
With the second largest
coastline in America (after
Alaska), Florida has more
registered boaters and marine
facilities than any other
state. Over 800,000 boats
are registered in Florida,
with an additional 400,000
boats estimated to visit the
state annually. Nearly 2000
marinas and boatyards service
these boaters. The Department
of Environmental
Protection (DEP), Florida
Sea Grant, Marine Industry
Association of Florida, and
U.S. Coast Guard formed
the Clean Boating Partnership
to help sustain and
protect Florida’s coastal resources.
As part of the program, marinas
and boatyards can be
certified as a Florida Clean
Marina or Boatyard by voluntarily
adopting extra procedures
to eliminate water
pollution at their facility.
Once certified, patrons
know these facilities go the
extra mile to protect local
water quality. Designated
facilities provide pumpouts
for sewage disposal, prevent
spills during fueling, and
provide recycling or disposal
for oil, batteries, lights,
switches, and other hazardous
materials. Additionally,
these facilities educate boaters
on how to protect the
environment while boating.
Who are our Clean Marinas
Palm Island Marina, 2006
Fishermen’s Village Marina,
2007
Laishley Marina, 2007
Isles Yacht Club, 2008
MarineMax of Cape Haze,
2006
is a Clean Boatyard &
Clean Marine Retailer
Boating Accident Stats from 2007
2007 marked a slight increase in terms of the number of boating accidents reported. 668 accidents in 2007 compared
to 671 in 2006 and a high of 1,159 in 1999. The top causes of accidents: operator inattention, no proper
look-out, excessive speed, and carelessness/inattention.
Source: FWCC Law Enforcement 2007 Reportable boating accidents.
County
Recreational
Vessels
Total Vessels
Reported Accidents
Fatalities Injuries Property Damage
Statewide Rank
Monroe 25,370 28,235 74 4 35 $1,489,795 1
Miami-Dade 59,651 62,324 67 13 30 $809,975 2
Palm Beach 42,968 44,416 52 5 34 $2,310,480 3
Pinellas 54,315 56,386 50 4 22 $559,243 4
Broward 38,863 40,407 23 1 9 $164,500 5
Lee 49,095 50,642 32 5 20 $331,800 6
Volusia 30,884 31,891 25 0 13 $93,100 7
Duval 33,630 34,494 23 1 11 $263,867 8
Brevard 38,863 40,407 23 1 9 $164,500 9
Collier 23,504 24,458 18 5 10 $258,300 10
Charlotte 21,918 22,613 8 0 6 $24,500 Not Ranked

The Lateral Line Volume 2, Issue 2
Page 5
RWMS (cont. from pg 2)
from a distance. Sometimes,
however, they need
to get in close to read the
registration numbers, especially
when boats are
oriented with bows toward
a sea wall.
Two of our research vessels,
a 17 foot Key West
center console fishing
boat and a 13 foot Boston
Whaler Sport, display
University of Florida and
Florida Sea Grant logo
decals. On occasion, the
crews also volunteer use
of their own boats, which
are not so marked.
Kids Cup Redfish Tracking (cont. from pg 3)
All of the information collected
(dart & sonic tag) is
coming back to you via this
website designed by Sea
Grant Extension with support
from Charlotte County
GIS. Every angler that
weighed a redfish in is
listed. The website interactive
map displays the area of
Charlotte Harbor where a
kid’s fish was caught, the
release location (Harpoon
Harry’s), and recorded fish
movement in a time series
loop which is being updated
as data is received. The data
link allows users to see a
listing of recorded movements
thus allowing users to
conduct their own research.
To Follow a Kids Cup
Fish:
http://
charlotte.ifas.ufl.edu/
kidscup/index.html
Need Some Local Knowledge—
Call us and ask for a FREE
Boaters Guide!
Rip Currents...Don’t Let Them Catch You
Rip currents, often mistakenly
called undertows, can
pull even the most experienced
swimmers from
shore. Rip currents are
formed when water is
forced through a narrow
path causing it to rush out
to sea. Rip currents are frequently
seen around jetties,
groins, and other barriers,
and can extend 1,000 feet
offshore, reaching widths of
100 feet and speeds of up to
3 miles per hour.
Some rip currents are present
only a few hours; others
are permanent.
Telltale Signs of Rip Currents:
• A noticeable difference
in water color (either
murkier or darker)
• A difference in waves
(larger, choppier waves
in the rip current;
smaller, calmer waves in
front of the bar)
• Foam or objects moving
steadily seaward
• An offshore plume of
turbid water past the
sandbars.
What To Do:
If you find yourself caught
in a rip current, most importantly,
Don’t Panic.
Never swim against a rip
current. Instead, swim parallel
to shore until you are
out of the current. Rip currents
are rarely more than
30 feet wide. If you can’t
break free of the rip current,
float calmly until the current
dissipates, usually just beyond
the breakers. Once
free, swim diagonally to
shore.
Rip currents can be killers,
so be safe, be smart, and
know what to do.
“Never swim against a
rip current. Instead,
swim parallel to shore
until you are out of the
current.”
Rip Current

Charlotte County Extension
Betty Staugler, Marine Agent
Email: Staugler@ufl.edu
Roger DeBruler, Jr., Program Assistant
Email: Roger.Debruler@charlottefl.com
Charlotte County Sea Grant Extension
25550 Harbor View Rd.
Port Charlotte, FL 33980
Phone: 941-764-4340
Fax: 941-764-4343
http://charlotte.ifas.ufl.edu
Science Serving Florida’s Coast
from the Marine Agent
Do you need a speaker for your group Give Roger and I a call. We are happy to
speak on a variety of Sea Grant topics.
Fair Winds & Calm Seas,
Betty Staugler
Florida Sea Grant Extension—Charlotte County