Blue Heron Bridge Trolls

[Biminitwist]

Very sad to hear, it seems weekends bring out the crazies.
Hopefully this guy will get busted soon.

On a more positive note my wife and I had a great near 3 hour dive Sat.
We saw Jim and quite a few of the regulars while gearing up.
It helped we went in quite early before the mobs.
Every dive here is so great, I haven't been able to go since Easter so I was a little rusty with the super macro work.
We saw seahorses, pike blennies (not fighting) lots of free roaming mantis shrimp, multiple octopi, polk a dot bat fish batfish, nudies along with lots of regulars.
For me the highlight and bridge caveat "always something new" was fulfilled by the discovery of a saddled stargazer!
Impossibly camouflaged it was sheer luck. Special thanks to Judy T who gave me an idea what it might be after the dive.
See him in the first picture plain as day right? About 2 inches long.:banana:
John

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More pictures to come possibly even video some day.....

 

[Splitlip]

spearfisherman BHB video.wmv - YouTube

[video=youtube_share;9TBUw6s4i7A]http://youtu.be/9TBUw6s4i7A[/video]

Thanks for posting and having the balls confront an armed criminal.

 

[fisheyeview]

Very sad to hear, it seems weekends bring out the crazies.
Hopefully this guy will get busted soon.

On a more positive note my wife and I had a great near 3 hour dive Sat.
We saw Jim and quite a few of the regulars while gearing up.
It helped we went in quite early before the mobs.
Every dive here is so great, I haven't been able to go since Easter so I was a little rusty with the super macro work.
We saw seahorses, pike blennies (not fighting) lots of free roaming mantis shrimp, multiple octopi, polk a dot bat fish batfish, nudies along with lots of regulars.
For me the highlight and bridge caveat "always something new" was fulfilled by the discovery of a saddled stargazer!
Impossibly camouflaged it was sheer luck. Special thanks to Judy T who gave me an idea what it might be after the dive.
See him in the first picture plain as day right? About 2 inches long.:banana:
John

---------- Post added ----------

More pictures to come possibly even video some day.....

Great find on the Stargazer!

 

[Splitlip]

Well if he is doing this habitually, somebody should tell the FWC.

e.

I'd be surprised FWC has not been contacted. Remember the flounder.

It bugs me too that the spearing is occurring in a confined area packed with swimmers, divers and snorkelers.

At least you got a picture of face. He will be spotted and recognized.

 

[Reck Diver]

What about this..

Harvesting of Tropical Fish
The recreational harvesting of tropical fish from the Blue Heron Bridge area is strongly discouraged.
The Blue Heron Bridge area has become internationally recognized by scientists, scuba divers, underwater photographers, and snorkelers for its abundance of unique marine life. Snorkelers and divers are encouraged to enjoy this exceptional and extraordinary resource and help preserve tropical fish and marine life for others to enjoy.
There are no local regulations against recreational harvesting of tropical fish; however, a proper saltwater fishing license is required, and regulations established by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) must be followed. These regulations include the limits of various species that can be taken, as well as the means in which they can be harvested.
Use of knives or spear guns to capture fish in County park waters is not permitted.
(Palm Beach County either owns or has management rights for most of the submerged area around the Blue Heron Bridge.)

Commercial activity, including the harvesting of tropical fish, is not permitted within County park property unless authorized by the Director or Assistant Director of the Parks and Recreation Department. No commercial harvesting of tropical fish is currently authorized.

And the east side was at least covered in the proposal to make the area a sanctuary but I haven't seen the final decision yet.
http://www.pbcgov.com/parks/publications/pdf/ProposedSanctuaryZone.pdf

So while it is discouraged to harvest tropicals for recreational purposes, it is not illegal. It is illegal to use a spear of knife to harvest fish in Park Waters. So the question is what are the park's water boundaries? Of course it is illegal to spearfish at a bridge where it is legal to fish with hook and line.

We can agree that all harvesting of fish at the bridge is discouraged, but that does not make it illegal by any stretch (unless there is some other ordinance I have missed and would appreciate being made aware).

And if someone is legally engaged in harvesting fish, I believe it is a misdemeanor to harass them. If the person in the video is illegally spearfishing, he should be dealt with accordingly.

 

[danvolker]

So while it is discouraged to harvest tropicals for recreational purposes, it is not illegal. It is illegal to use a spear of knife to harvest fish in Park Waters. So the question is what are the park's water boundaries? Of course it is illegal to spearfish at a bridge where it is legal to fish with hook and line.

We can agree that all harvesting of fish at the bridge is discouraged, but that does not make it illegal by any stretch (unless there is some other ordinance I have missed and would appreciate being made aware).

And if someone is legally engaged in harvesting fish, I believe it is a misdemeanor to harass them. If the person in the video is illegally spearfishing, he should be dealt with accordingly.

I sent the video to Carmen Vaire of Environmental Resource Management ( ERM). His response :

Dan: I just spoke to the Parks Director, Eric Call, regarding
spearfishing prohibition around Phil Foster Park. He confirmed that no
one is permitted to have a spear gun on Parks property and that the western
portion of the submerged lands under the Causeway Bridge is within the
Park.

So it is not legal to spearfish under the bridge. If this activity is attempted any more, expect the Parks Department to take a very active interest in the enforcement issue.

 

[ConchyJoe]

You can contact Palm Beach County Parks at pbcparks@pbcgov.org.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

What about this..

Harvesting of Tropical Fish
The recreational harvesting of tropical fish from the Blue Heron Bridge area is strongly discouraged.
The Blue Heron Bridge area has become internationally recognized by scientists, scuba divers, underwater photographers, and snorkelers for its abundance of unique marine life. Snorkelers and divers are encouraged to enjoy this exceptional and extraordinary resource and help preserve tropical fish and marine life for others to enjoy.
There are no local regulations against recreational harvesting of tropical fish; however, a proper saltwater fishing license is required, and regulations established by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) must be followed. These regulations include the limits of various species that can be taken, as well as the means in which they can be harvested.
Use of knives or spear guns to capture fish in County park waters is not permitted.
(Palm Beach County either owns or has management rights for most of the submerged area around the Blue Heron Bridge.)

Commercial activity, including the harvesting of tropical fish, is not permitted within County park property unless authorized by the Director or Assistant Director of the Parks and Recreation Department. No commercial harvesting of tropical fish is currently authorized.

And the east side was at least covered in the proposal to make the area a sanctuary but I haven't seen the final decision yet.
http://www.pbcgov.com/parks/publications/pdf/ProposedSanctuaryZone.pdf

for the most part, all of the above is unenforceable BS.

The (real) state law says you need to be 100 yards from a pier or bridge from which hook and line fishing is allowed (when spearfishing). He was in violation of that.

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I sent the video to Carmen Vaire of Environmental Resource Management ( ERM). His response :

Dan: I just spoke to the Parks Director, Eric Call, regarding
spearfishing prohibition around Phil Foster Park. He confirmed that no
one is permitted to have a spear gun on Parks property and that the western
portion of the submerged lands under the Causeway Bridge is within the
Park.

So it is not legal to spearfish under the bridge. If this activity is attempted any more, expect the Parks Department to take a very active interest in the enforcement issue.

Dan:

You should know this has nothing to do with the County....State law has jurisdiction. Plus the part about the spearguns is NOT true. You are absolutely allowed to possess a speargun at the park. Many people launch their boats from that ramp and many have spearguns. Why make it confusing or ambiguous or complicated?

 

[mscott556]

You should know this has nothing to do with the County....State law has jurisdiction.

I'm just curious but how is that? What is your source?
"(Palm Beach County either owns or has management rights for most of the submerged area around the Blue Heron Bridge.)"

 

[danvolker]

for the most part, all of the above is unenforceable BS.

The (real) state law says you need to be 100 yards from a pier or bridge from which hook and line fishing is allowed (when spearfishing). He was in violation of that.

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Dan:

You should know this has nothing to do with the County....State law has jurisdiction. Plus the part about the spearguns is NOT true. You are absolutely allowed to possess a speargun at the park. Many people launch their boats from that ramp and many have spearguns. Why make it confusing or ambiguous or complicated?

I think it is one thing to have a speargun on a boat...I think it is illegal to be swimming in the water under the bridge, with a speargun in your hands. Even with the State as having jurisdiction, assuming this is true ( probably), the Parks Department would be the entity that "could" cause a sudden change in the enforcement behavior of the Law Enforcement Officers in the vicinity.
If you don't think so, I would be happy to bring this up with them