Saw a story this morning on Moldy Chum about the (FL) Bonefish Census.
I wonder if they sent armies of old guys out to the flats where no bonefish were counted to ask why they had not returned their census… might have something to do with the higher numbers.
Exactly.
The guys over at Skinny Water Culture have a message that I think most of us would agree with. A portion of the proceeds ($10 a shirt) from these shirts will go to folks helping with the clean up and recovery from this clusterfuque of an oil spill (Mobile Bay Keepers). The shirt is $24 and should be available today. I’m ordering mine now.
The Bonefish & Tarpon Trust is keeping an eye on things and they have a page devoted to BP Spill news.
Back when I was in high school a train derailed just north of my little mountain town. The two cars ended up in the river, one of those was full of a biocide. The poison killed everything in the river for about 45 miles or so… devastation.
This reminds me of that, just on a much larger scale and impacting more than just the residents of a tiny town with a pretty river.
After less than a year, a tagged bonefish has been re-captured off Abaco.
That’s the work of the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust for ya.
You should be a member… if you are reading this you probably want to catch bonefish in the future and the folks that are doing the science to figure out what areas even need to be protected are the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust.
Join.
Given my recent experience with turtles down in Mexico, I was intrigued to find a post about turtles and poachers on the Black Fly Outfitters blog.
Basically, there is now a price on the heads of the total douchebags that are pilfering turtle nests in Abaco.
“Nesting Giant Sea Turtles in South Abaco Face a Real Threat From Human Interference & Pilfering of
Nest Eggs – Cash Reward Now Offered to Help Find Culprits” (Link added)
bastidos.
I’ve said it before, one of the best things about fly fishing is how it connects you to the environment of the places you do your fishing. You come into contact with environments and creatures you’ve never seen before and you get to know the issues facing these places and animals. Maybe I wouldn’t care about turtles if I hadn’t seen one lay eggs in Vallarta. I did, though, and now this feels a bit more like my issue than it would have otherwise.
Hope they find the bastard(s) responsible.
Some bits and pieces from around the web.
It’s Census Time… although, if you are prone to government conspiracies and believe Obama is the Anti-Christ, you probably aren’t filling yours out… and that’s OK by me.
However, it is also Bonefish Census time, and that is important business. April 21st is the date for the “Great Counting.” The Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, as you might expect, is at the center of it all, along with Miami University.
Fall census results have indicated a population of just over 320,000 bonefish in the Florida Keys fishery. We want to use the Spring census to calibrate our Fall estimates and to determine if there is a seasonal component to the bonefish population size estimates. Of particular note, your participation in this year’s census is critically important because we are trying to get a handle on the extent to which January’s extremely cold weather has impacted the Florida Keys bonefish population.
Get the info you need at the BTT website and if you are out there, you should take part.
A Bruce Chard Bonefish from them there Keys.
Well… just how much are those Bahamian Bonefish worth? That’s the question asked by the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust (along with Bahamian National Trust and the Fisheries Conservation Foundation).
Turns out, it’s a pretty impressive pile of scratch.
To determine the economic impact of the bonefishing industry to The Bahamas, the Bahamian Flats Fishing Alliance (BFFA) commissioned an in-depth study, which has just been released. The results were astounding: the total economic impact of flats fishing in The Bahamas is nearly $141 million annually! Even in a time when global recession has caused fishing-related tourism to drop 11.6% from 2007, the fishery continues to provide considerable economic value to this region. The results of this study provide strong evidence of the need for responsible conservation and management of this vitally important cultural resource.
You probably have guessed bonefish are valuable. $141M is certainly impressive (out of a total GDP of about $9B). Of course, something worth so much deserves a fair measure of protection and that was really the point of the study (read it here). From enforcement of existing laws protecting bonefish to land use decisions and water quality efforts, the Bahamian people can now put a number on exactly just how important is is to protect the Gray Ghosts.
Hey Buddie... you are worth a LOT!
Yeah, I know, it isn’t about bonefish. Part of what I really enjoy about fishing is that it draws you deeper into the environment you are fishing. You become more aware of what is there and how it all interacts. You also learn where the problems are. The more you are out there, the more you see, both good and bad.
O.R.T.
After being down in Vallarta, seeing a turtle come ashore and lay eggs, seeing the spoiled nests and the baby turtle tracks, I contacted a turtle conservation program, Sociedad Ecologica de Occidente.
This is what the biologist, Oscar, had to say:
This is the Olive Ridley turtle, the most common species of marine turtles in the entire world, and the less threatened. However, they´ve to face a lot of dangers, of course. Fortunately the olive ridley population is very stable and increasing every year…
Well… that’s good news indeed. More on Olive Ridley Turtles.
That's hope for the future... baby turtle tracks.
Building on the data gathering goodness from their bonefish tagging program, the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust has launched a Permit tagging program with the support of Costa Del Mar. Seems things kicked off on March 15th while I was away paying attention to other things.
Thanks Costa del Mar
Here is what BTT has to say about it:
Costa Del Mar has agreed to fund and support a multi-year, statewide tagging study of Permit in Florida. A donation of $15,000 in the first year will allow us to purchase thousands of tags and materials for tagging kits, and will go a long way toward researching permit movements and the fishery.
Seems Costa Del Mar is doing some pretty interesting things these days between this investment in Permit research in Florida and their recent short film about Permit/salty goodness in Belize.
Only good stuff can ensue
The hope really is to build the body of knowledge about Permit. If you want to preserve Permit, or Bonefish or Tarpon, you need to know what they need, where they go and where they breed so you know where to focus your efforts. This is a great step forward.
