Blue Heron Bridge Trolls
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- Lake Worth, Florida, United States
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- I'm a Fish!
DjTimmy,
If this net reached the bottom and was used to scrape up bottom life, would you not think it illegal? I am moving this to the Park service to deal with....I already forwarded the post on this.
That is how they work to catch the bait. The lead weights sink to the bottom, trapping the fish, then when you pull on the center line they get brought together to the middle and you haul the bait up to your boat/bucket/etc. Definitely not illegal.
- Messages
- 5,884
- Reaction score
- 2,998
- Location
- Lake Worth, Florida, United States
- # of dives
- I'm a Fish!
Good to know.....Now the issue needs to be the probability of bycatch that represents the Marine Life the Park is trying to protect..like Frogfish, batfish, etc. And then there is destruction of Hydroid patches ---something that may suggest this is a place the cast nets can't be allowed....
dumpsterDiver
Banned
- Messages
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- 4,652
- # of dives
- 2500 - 4999
Yes it is surprising that there seems to be such a lack of understanding of basic fishing gear. The site is a DESIGNATED fishing location! There is a fishing pier there. The intent it to give the public access to take fish for their own use.
The last time I made an official inquiry as to the legality of catching tropicals, or fishing there (with the exclusion of spearfishing of course) I was told that the location was NOT afforded any special protection or restrictions which are unique to this area. Dan can call it an underwater park or anything else he likes, but unless something has changed...There are no special restrictions that are enforceable and unique to the BHB area.
If there are valid laws, I would like to see evidence of them.
Roto-tilling instructors and students are disappointing, but the last thing I want is the government further restricting our underwater activities.
Biminitwist
Contributor
That was my point in the dive shop debate, they have no legal recourse to stop any bad behavior. WE need to change the rules surrounding collection.
So there is an actual law being broken. There was no question they were destroying the bottom but if is not illegal what could they do.
Best would be make them move as they were inside the no motorized vehicles/swim area and they were running the motor over divers but that is any weekend.
Sad to see a very pregnant frogfish free swimming like mad to escape the destruction zone.
I would be in favor of the government interference called outlawing tropical fish collection or habitat destruction.
This no "commercial collection' rule is pretty weak.
---------- Post added July 23rd, 2014 at 01:06 PM ----------
A note on the Harvesting of Tropical Fish
While the “harvesting” of certain types of tropical fish is allowed in limited circumstances by private individuals with proper permits, it is highly discouraged. This is a finite resource that is heavily used. Snorkelers and divers are encouraged to enjoy the park’s exceptional and extraordinary resource and help preserve tropical fish and marine life for others to enjoy.
Please refer to: Full Rule Text By Species
This site provides information regarding the regulations including the limits of various species that can be taken, as well as the means in which they can be harvested.
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.
This is interesting.
While I didn't ask the last couple collectors Sandra and I ran into to produce their saltwater fishing licenses I now realize several of the fish in the aerated bucket were restricted from collection....
The park rangers have helped with this in the past but are rarely seen. Don't know how worked up FWC gets about it.
If they had a clearly enforceable law like no spearfishing it would be worthwhile.
So there is an actual law being broken. There was no question they were destroying the bottom but if is not illegal what could they do.
Best would be make them move as they were inside the no motorized vehicles/swim area and they were running the motor over divers but that is any weekend.
Sad to see a very pregnant frogfish free swimming like mad to escape the destruction zone.
I would be in favor of the government interference called outlawing tropical fish collection or habitat destruction.
This no "commercial collection' rule is pretty weak.
---------- Post added July 23rd, 2014 at 01:06 PM ----------
A note on the Harvesting of Tropical Fish
While the “harvesting” of certain types of tropical fish is allowed in limited circumstances by private individuals with proper permits, it is highly discouraged. This is a finite resource that is heavily used. Snorkelers and divers are encouraged to enjoy the park’s exceptional and extraordinary resource and help preserve tropical fish and marine life for others to enjoy.
Please refer to: Full Rule Text By Species
This site provides information regarding the regulations including the limits of various species that can be taken, as well as the means in which they can be harvested.
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.
This is interesting.
While I didn't ask the last couple collectors Sandra and I ran into to produce their saltwater fishing licenses I now realize several of the fish in the aerated bucket were restricted from collection....
The park rangers have helped with this in the past but are rarely seen. Don't know how worked up FWC gets about it.
If they had a clearly enforceable law like no spearfishing it would be worthwhile.
One thing that is pretty clear to all.....the BHB has become a world famous "Dive Park"...DD, this is a bell you can not un-ring.
Over-promotion is not realistic as a discussion...people like to share what they do and experience, and this Blue Heron Bridge Trolls thread is just one small example of this sharing. No matter how much this may pain you, I'm afraid you will have to accept that the BHB will be heavily shared , discussed, and promoted from now on.
It is a "Dive Park", because of what it has become. The Park Service accepts this....maybe you might try to as well.
Now it is being looked at closely as an an extremely valuable county Resource. It is seen this way by the Park Service, the County film Commission, the Tourist Development Council and the CVB. All of these agencies were out in force for the recent Project Seahorse Event you might have noticed. Valuable County Resources "get protected" ---the county will not let a small number of fisherman or poachers or collectors destroy this valuable tourism resource for the tens of thousands it sees utilizing it as an underwater park. Even as you love to be a contrarian, surely you can see that the tide is turning
Sounds like they are heavily considering BHB in their restoration plans for Riviera Beach. It makes sense. They are sitting on a tourism goldmine.
dumpsterDiver
Banned
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If the county wanted to invest in the park and make it better for divers, they should have dredged tons of sand from in front of the southweastern beach area, placed it on shore and under the bridge They should have excavated as deep as possible to maybe a maximum of 20 plus feet. Then placed filter fabric on the bottom, then gravel over that, then boulders over top in order to make something that is divable to a useful depth (like 15-20) feet. Sand traps could have been excavated on the east and west ends of the area so the rocks would not be buried quickly. It would require periodic dredging, but if the County really wanted to make it functional, that would be worthwhile.
An underwater boulder field would provide a lot of habitat diversity.... maybe even add a few flat platform areas (within the disturbed dredged area ) for kneeling classes with dedicated marker floats for controlled ascents? These are the most basic of amenities that a dive quarry would include., yet the county has done nothing like that.. leaving Dan to whine incessantly about bad instructors impacting a marine slug zone that he seems to relish.
The county has spent an incredible amount of money moving literally thousands of CY of fill material and dredge spoils to fill in dead, deep muck zones in the bay (miles from the BHB), and also to create mangrove islands, sea grass areas (which are intended to offset sea grass destruction elsewhere by the county) and other expensive, very visible projects, but very little work or $$$ at the BHB.
Placing Rocks way off shore in 8 feet of water at the BHB and near where the boat channel is located was pretty lame, in my opinion. At the very least they should try to set up a perimeter rope system underwater to delineate the "relatively" safe dive area and help reduce the potential for lost divers wandering into the navigational channel which is all too common in my experience. They've made very little investment in the facility to enhance it's suitability. Why not work toward something along those lines?
An underwater boulder field would provide a lot of habitat diversity.... maybe even add a few flat platform areas (within the disturbed dredged area ) for kneeling classes with dedicated marker floats for controlled ascents? These are the most basic of amenities that a dive quarry would include., yet the county has done nothing like that.. leaving Dan to whine incessantly about bad instructors impacting a marine slug zone that he seems to relish.
The county has spent an incredible amount of money moving literally thousands of CY of fill material and dredge spoils to fill in dead, deep muck zones in the bay (miles from the BHB), and also to create mangrove islands, sea grass areas (which are intended to offset sea grass destruction elsewhere by the county) and other expensive, very visible projects, but very little work or $$$ at the BHB.
Placing Rocks way off shore in 8 feet of water at the BHB and near where the boat channel is located was pretty lame, in my opinion. At the very least they should try to set up a perimeter rope system underwater to delineate the "relatively" safe dive area and help reduce the potential for lost divers wandering into the navigational channel which is all too common in my experience. They've made very little investment in the facility to enhance it's suitability. Why not work toward something along those lines?
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