Blue Heron Bridge Trolls

[dumpsterDiver]

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

Possesion of a gun in the park is allowed. Using it within 100 yards of fishing bridge is not. Carrying a loaded gun through that area is not legal.

 

[danvolker]

Possesion of a gun in the park is allowed. Using it within 100 yards of fishing bridge is not. Carrying a loaded gun through that area is not legal.

I do not think underwater possession of a gun is allowed. Anyone could tell a marine unit they were just swimming out to the area 150 yards away..even if they were planning on shooting 40 yards out. Law Enforcement would never buy this.
If they are snorkeling or scuba diving with a speargun, and in the park area, I would consider this illegal...if the rules on it are not clear, I believe I can get the Park officials to make them clear, with the LEO's in the area.

I think this also calls for a hotline phone number, for divers to call if they see an obvious violation at the BHB Marine Park area. I can ask about getting this implemented.

 

[ConchyJoe]

I hate to break it to you but it is a moot point. Any sworn officer that has a reasonable belief that you are breaking a law will slap the cuffs on you until it is verified that you are or are not breaking the law. It does not matter that they have no jurisdiction, they will find someone that does. I would have done exactly what the person that videoed it did. On top of that I would have followed the individual back to his vehicle and got his car tag and any other info I could.

This reminds me of an incident where a fisherman on LBHB was sobbing because he should have told some kids to stop jumping off the bridge. One got caught in the swirl, pulled under and never came back up. Myself and Frank Hammett happen to be at the ramp dropping off divers, and threw on tanks and found the kid hung up in bottom clutter by the boilers. He didn't survive.

What if this individual shot one of the children in the water? Or came back some other time and something bad happened?

 

[Reck Diver]

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?

You are correct about the actual violation. I don't think it is enforceable in the case of the video, because you can not identify the actual location of the spearfisherman. I think the best you could hope for is if he did not possess a valid Florida fishing license.

Not only is it legal to have a speargun in Phil Foster park. It is legal to swim to the dock with a gun and a stringer of speared fish, as long as they were taken legally, outside of park waters. It is the obligation of law enforcement to prove where the fish were taken.

Can anyone provide actually park boundaries (with documentation). It would be a good thing to know. I've been told the Phil
Foster Park has no property over water. It seems portions belong to the county, but none belong to the park. Since there is no such entity as "Blue Heron Bridge Marine Park", this may be correct and the parks department would have no jurisdication.

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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

The FWC NOT going to get involved enforcing PBC park boundaries. Simply not there job. If there is spearing going on under a bridge where fishing is legal, they may take a look.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

The law states:

Spearfishing is defined as "the catching or taking of a fish through the instrumentality of a hand or mechanically propelled, single or multi-pronged spear or lance, barbed or barbless, operated by a person swimming at or below the surface of the water."The use of powerheads, bangsticks, and rebreathers remains prohibited. The following is a list of species that are prohibited for harvest by spearing. Any other species not listed that are managed by the Commission, and those species not managed by the Commission, may be harvested by spearing.​

• Billfish (all species)
• Spotted eagle ray
• Sturgeon
• Manta ray
• Sharks
• Bonefish
• Tarpon
• Goliath Grouper
• Snook
• Blue Crab
• Nassau grouper
• Spotted seatrout
• Red drum
• Weakfish
• Stone Crab
• Pompano
• African pompano
• Permit
• Tripletail
• Lobster
• Families of ornamental reef fish (surgeonfish, trumpetfish, angelfish, butterflyfish, porcupinefish, cornetfish, squirrelfish, trunkfish, damselfish, parrotfish, pipefish, seahorse, puffers, triggerfish except gray and ocean)

You may NOT spearfish (excluding bowhunting and gigging) as described below:​

• Spearfishing of marine and freshwater species in freshwater is prohibited. Possession of a spear gun in or on freshwater is also prohibited.
• Within 100 yards of a public swimming beach, any commercial or public fishing pier, or any part of a bridge from which public fishing is allowed.
• Within 100 feet of any part of a jetty that is above the surface of the sea - except for the last 500 yards of a jetty that extends more than 1,500 yards from the shoreline.
• In Collier County and in Monroe County from Long Key north to the Dade County line.
• For any fish for which spearing is expressly prohibited by law (listed above).
• In any body of water under the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection, Recreation and Parks. (Possession of spearfishing equipment is prohibited in these areas, unless it is unloaded and properly stored.)

Fishermen who catch and/or sell fish harvested by spearing are subject to the same rules and limitations that other anglers in the state are required to follow.
​

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The guy is clearly breaking the law. Just looking at the video I know it was on the east span. Public fishing is allowed there.
Has anybody contacted FWC yet??

 

[Splitlip]

I hate to break it to you but it is a moot point. Any sworn officer that has a reasonable belief that you are breaking a law will slap the cuffs on you until it is verified that you are or are not breaking the law. It does not matter that they have no jurisdiction, they will find someone that does. I would have done exactly what the person that videoed it did. On top of that I would have followed the individual back to his vehicle and got his car tag and any other info I could.

This reminds me of an incident where a fisherman on LBHB was sobbing because he should have told some kids to stop jumping off the bridge. One got caught in the swirl, pulled under and never came back up. Myself and Frank Hammett happen to be at the ramp dropping off divers, and threw on tanks and found the kid hung up in bottom clutter by the boilers. He didn't survive.

What if this individual shot one of the children in the water? Or came back some other time and something bad happened?

Hey Joe. I'm one of Frank's students. 1973. I know a little history of the old bridge.

 

[danvolker]

The law states:

Spearfishing is defined as "the catching or taking of a fish through the instrumentality of a hand or mechanically propelled, single or multi-pronged spear or lance, barbed or barbless, operated by a person swimming at or below the surface of the water."The use of powerheads, bangsticks, and rebreathers remains prohibited. The following is a list of species that are prohibited for harvest by spearing. Any other species not listed that are managed by the Commission, and those species not managed by the Commission, may be harvested by spearing.​

• Billfish (all species)
• Spotted eagle ray
• Sturgeon
• Manta ray
• Sharks
• Bonefish
• Tarpon
• Goliath Grouper
• Snook
• Blue Crab
• Nassau grouper
• Spotted seatrout
• Red drum
• Weakfish
• Stone Crab
• Pompano
• African pompano
• Permit
• Tripletail
• Lobster
• Families of ornamental reef fish (surgeonfish, trumpetfish, angelfish, butterflyfish, porcupinefish, cornetfish, squirrelfish, trunkfish, damselfish, parrotfish, pipefish, seahorse, puffers, triggerfish except gray and ocean)

You may NOT spearfish (excluding bowhunting and gigging) as described below:​

• Spearfishing of marine and freshwater species in freshwater is prohibited. Possession of a spear gun in or on freshwater is also prohibited.
• Within 100 yards of a public swimming beach, any commercial or public fishing pier, or any part of a bridge from which public fishing is allowed.
• Within 100 feet of any part of a jetty that is above the surface of the sea - except for the last 500 yards of a jetty that extends more than 1,500 yards from the shoreline.
• In Collier County and in Monroe County from Long Key north to the Dade County line.
• For any fish for which spearing is expressly prohibited by law (listed above).
• In any body of water under the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection, Recreation and Parks. (Possession of spearfishing equipment is prohibited in these areas, unless it is unloaded and properly stored.)

Fishermen who catch and/or sell fish harvested by spearing are subject to the same rules and limitations that other anglers in the state are required to follow.
​

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The guy is clearly breaking the law. Just looking at the video I know it was on the east span. Public fishing is allowed there.
Has anybody contacted FWC yet??

I shared the video with Carmen Vaire of ERM, and he shared with the head of the Parks Dept....I think the Parks Dept will be shocked at the flagrant disregard exhibited by ReckDiver and the guy in the video ....

 

[dumpsterDiver]

You are correct about the actual violation. I don't think it is enforceable in the case of the video, because you can not identify the actual location of the spearfisherman. I think the best you could hope for is if he did not possess a valid Florida fishing license.

Not only is it legal to have a speargun in Phil Foster park. It is legal to swim to the dock with a gun and a stringer of speared fish, as long as they were taken legally, outside of park waters. It is the obligation of law enforcement to prove where the fish were taken.

Can anyone provide actually park boundaries (with documentation). It would be a good thing to know. I've been told the Phil
Foster Park has no property over water. It seems portions belong to the county, but none belong to the park. Since there is no such entity as "Blue Heron Bridge Marine Park", this may be correct and the parks department would have no jurisdication.

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The FWC NOT going to get involved enforcing PBC park boundaries. Simply not there job. If there is spearing going on under a bridge where fishing is legal, they may take a look.

"Park Waters" are not an issue here.

I myself have come ashore there with fish and a speargun and was met by an FWC officer. However, the speargun was secured to a kayak, was unloaded and I made sure to indicate to the officer that I had traversed the no spearfishing zone before actually taking the fish in my possession. The fish on this occassion were taken many hundreds of yards away from the bridge.

The officer was extremely professional and asked only for me to present a fishing liscense and he examined the fish.

Consequently, I am comfortable launching and returning from this facility (in some sort of vessel) with a speargun that is unloaded and secured, however I think that any person who attempts to swim to shore and claim that they were spearfishing in a legal area, may have to plead their case to a judge, even if they were technically not actively spearfishing in the prohibited area.

We are pretty much splitting hairs here. The video depicts what I believe to be a willful disregard for the law.

Spearfishing is an extremely ecologically sound and responsible means to harvest fish. The clown depicted in the video is NOT representative of 99.9% of the spearfishing community.

 

[ConchyJoe]

Hey Joe. I'm one of Frank's students. 1973. I know a little history of the old bridge.

Those were the days... not to mention boilers and turning basin when it was crummy outside. Frank would go out in much worse conditions than my Mom would..

 

[danvolker]

Those were the days... not to mention boilers and turning basin when it was crummy outside. Frank would go out in much worse conditions than my Mom would..

OK....and since Frank had a reputation in the 80's and 90's when I was diving with him, for refusing to cancel when the seas were even 10 feet and more....I guess I want to know who your Mom was....and was she running a charter boat ?