SS
IGNIFICANT EVENTS tend to stick in an angler’s memory: your largest fish, the first of a particular species, a special trip with a loved one or good
buddy. But one milestone has pro- foundly impacted millions and its influence is still spreading like a ripple on the water. Florida’s historic cam- paign to limit net fishing, better known as the Net Ban, celebrates its 16th anniversary this year, and residents and visitors alike continue to reap the lasting benefits.
“It has just had a phenomenal
effect,” says Karl Wickstrom, founding editor of Florida Sportsman magazine and the chairman of the Save Our Sealife Committee that initiated the campaign. “You won’t hear that from government, of course, because they didn’t support it in the first place. We were turned back by the Legislature, Marine Fisheries Commission — all the powers in fishing were against it. We had been screaming about the prob- lems with nets for 10 years prior to pushing for the ban. The real turning point was November 1992. After that, it was obvious it had legs and would happen. But it still took a tremendous effort to finally pull it off.”
PETITION DRIVE During the November 1992 general
election, thousands of volunteers all over the state manned polling places asking voters to sign a petition to estab- lish a constitutional amendment that would ban gill and entanglement nets and greatly restrict seine nets. The response was overwhelming. In that one single day, 201,000 signatures were collected, a record mark that still stands. For more than a year that followed, the all-volunteer army continued collect- ing petitions at sporting events, parades, boat shows, tackle shops, civic func- tions and throughout neighborhoods. The commercial netting industry
responded by waging a bitter public relations battle against the proposal, distorting facts and trying to generate sympathy. Recreational groups pushed
back. Florida Conservation Association (now CCAFlorida), Florida Sportsman, other conservation groups, outdoor writers, newspaper editorial boards and individual citizens countered with facts. Eventually, more than 550,000
The Net Ban, celebrates its 16th anniversary this
year, and residents and visitors alike continue to reap the lasting benefits.
petitions were tallied and the amend- ment language passed legal muster by the Florida Supreme Court. The pro- posed amendment was placed on the November 1994 ballot. Floridians, tired of diminishing fish and bait stocks and shocked by sea tur- tle, dolphin and bird mortality caused by gill nets, approved the measure by an overwhelming 72 percent margin. The law went into effect July 1, 1995. “It’s pretty obvious stocks are up,” says CCA Florida Executive Director Ted Forsgren, who has guided the asso- ciation since its inception. “Mullet went from being severely overharvest- ed before the ban to a healthy 35 per- cent Spawning Potential Ration (SPR) now. There are waves of mullet coming down both coasts of all different sizes. And they feed a lot of different marine fish and animals. Menhaden, herrings and sardine stocks are all up, too. When the nets were removed from the water, all the fisheries got better. It was like turning on a light switch.”
NIGHT AND DAY Contrary to claims otherwise, the
commercial fishing industry in Florida hasn’t collapsed because of the net ban. In fact, it is holding steady based on landings data collected by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Com- mission. For example, in pre-ban 1993,
TIDE
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