A little PSA from the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust. Consider joining. I’m a member.
Archives
18
Oct 09
San Diego Bonefish… Get yer fin clip on
Reading the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust website revealed this little nugget about San Diego Bones.
Breaking News – Bonefish Genetics
It wasn’t long ago that word go out that people were catching bonefish in San Diego Bay. Now, with the help of some anglers who collected fin clips for bonefish research, BTT’s collaborators on bonefish genetics research have reported that San Diego anglers are catching two different species of bonefish! These are Albula esuncula, and Albula species A. If you fish for bonefish in San Diego and want to help, send us an email at bonefish @ mote.org and we’ll send you a fin clip kit.
17
Oct 09
Catch and Release Florida Bonefish
Some fights should be easier than they end up being. In Florida, the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust is trying to make bonefish a catch and release only species (they are also trying to get permit to be catch and release only). In Hawaii there is a long cultural history of eating bonefish (O’io), but the cultural depths of that practice in Florida are as shallow as the flats where these magnificent fish are found.
We know a few things about bonefish in Florida…
- They are big
- There are about 300k of them in Florida waters
- That number is a fraction of the bonefish population of 30 years ago
- A single bonefish contributes about $3,600 per year to Florida’s economy and about $75,000 over its lifespan.
So, the importance of bonefish minus the cultural weight of the fish should make this pretty easy… right? Maybe, maybe not.
I read in the minutes (page 29) of one meeting of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission where the Coastal Conservation Association Florida took the bold position of opposing any change to size, bag or gear restrictions and also opposed catch & release for both bonefish and permit. They also opposed a tagging program. Ah… with friends like these, Florida’s remaining bonefish may want to slide down to Belize, where both permit and bonefish are protected species and catch and release only.
To help the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust out, check out their page about making bones C&R in Florida and let your voice be heard. Let’s not be out-conserved by Belize. Come on folks.
lease support BTT’s effort to make bonefish catch and release in Florida by contacting the Commissioners and voicing your support. You can contact them by email (link to email not working) or by mail at the address below:Mr. Rodney Barreto
Chairman
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Farris Bryant Building
620 South Meridian Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1600
02
Oct 09
You + BTT + South Andros = Good times
Now, I’m not at the point in my life where $4,000 fishing trips are within reach. If, however, I were in that position, I can tell you where else I’d be… South Andros from Dec. 5th to the 12th for a week at Deneki Outdoors‘ lodge along with some of the good folks from the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust. BTT does this every so often and it just seems like a pretty amazing experience, if, ya know, you like bonefish. $1,000 from the cost of the trip will go to help BTT on their planned study of the economic value of the Bahamian Bonefish. This is the sort of study that has been done in Florida that put the $75,000 value on each bonefish in the FL fishery. Kind of important and valuable information that can drive all sorts of conservation/land use decisions.
As an example of how that plays out, Deneki Outdoors’ website shared this:
Impact:Quantifying the economic importance of the recreational bonefish fishery should provide leverage for improving conservation measures toward protecting healthy bonefish populations in The Bahamas. In Belize, for example, a similar study found that the ecotourism-related expenditures for recreational fishing for bonefish, tarpon, and permit exceeded $50 million per year. Based on this study the Belize Legislature passed legislation making bonefish, tarpon, and permit catch and release gamefish. We anticipate that the economic value in The Bahamas to be much greater, and to spur strong conservation measures.
Joining from BTT will be the captain, Aaron Adams (this guy co-wrote Chico Fernandez’s book on flyfishing for bonefish), and Stu Apte.
You do all the normal bonefishing you’d normally do, but you also get to hear about bonefish from a couple guys that have forgotten as much as the rest of us will probably ever know about the phantoms of the flats.
To review… catch bonefish in South Andros, help support the fishery as too few have and learn more about the fish from two anglers who have an incredible depth and breadth of bonefish knowledge.
16
Sep 09
Bonefish and Tarpon Trust + Pirates
Hey look… it’s Aaron Adams, from the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, talking about the goodness that is Pirates on the Flats. Seriously… I can’t wait for this show. High expectations have doomed many a fishing trip, restaurant recommendation and blind date, but I hope this won’t be a case of the let-downs. This is an interview from Fish Schtick (an audio pod cast that’s new to me).
Here’s an audio podcast from the Fish Schtick folks that also includes Brian Bennett (Moldy Chum contributor and Patagonia Fly Fishing rep). Bill Klyn is a big Marketing guy at Patagonia, as well as being involved with the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust. He’s on at about 21:05. Give it a listen.
Pirates
This show is now set for 12/27/2009!
26
Aug 09
Pirates of the Flats
No, not the Disneyland ride or a blockbuster movie. This is a new TV show, a bunch of legends, idols and… well, and an actor, out on the Flats fishing for bones, talking ecology, talking about their amazing lives… this is going to air on ESPN of all places, starting 12/27/2009 in January 2010. ESPN is starting to air more soccer and now fly fishing… now if we can just get Yvon Chouinard on Sports Center and Jim Rome eaten by a Bull Shark.
Check out the Tin Shed at Patagonia.com for all the goodies (they seem to have taken that down)! You not only see the trailer, but also photos by Val Atkinson (who is simply bad-ass at what he does, check out the link, as it is his own website and slide show of the Pirates).
The show has even linked up with the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, so they are really hitting on all cylinders.
Tom Brokaw quoted about the project in USA Today:
NBC News’ Tom Brokaw, in doing his first TV fishing series, says he “didn’t quite know what I was getting into, except it was a chance to go fishing with my friends. … I belong to an informal fishing posse, kind of an aging boys club. You end up in these fishing camps where the emphasis is on good fishing, good wine and lots of good storytelling.”
In Pirates of the Flats, an independently produced series that ESPN will announce today and will debut in January, the posse — including actor Michael Keaton, mountaineer Yvon Chouinard and author Thomas McGuane — went to the Bahamas in search of the elusive bonefish. And don’t get the wrong idea, says Brokaw, just because bonefish can weigh just 3-5 pounds: “It’s not just blind casting. You’re stalking the fish. … They’re ghostly, quite primordial.”
Update – turns out this is filmed mostly in the Bahamas.
