Sad day for Blue Heron Bridge

[Biminibill]

Hi, Bill. How's things?

Busy! No profit, but always busy! Right now I'm preparing my two portable little generators to take to friends in the Panhandle and Georgia who will no doubt need them.

 

[Biminibill]

Perhaps, but the issue here is the professional did not care. Their bad.

THEY WEREN'T PROFESSIONALS, just stupid, untrained college grad students from Texas A&M. Had they been professionals they never would have been at BHB or stripped anyplace bare. Bad practices and bad for the fishery.

 

[Biminibill]

@Wookie, thanks for your detailed reply.

So it is possible that the permit holder 'subcontracted' the work. And this is my point. Without any oversight or any means to pull (nonexistent) certifications, there is an open door to abuse. I agree with your calling this 'commercial' rather than 'professional'.

Most likely this will produce legislation without input from 'honest' collectors.

The "honest collectors" are outraged at what happened and will be involved in fixing these problems. Like the FWC, the collectors were caught off guard by this abuse by amateurs and are moving to fix it. This never should have happened and it won't again. The FWC has been a great partner over almost three decades now of properly managing the fishery. Florida has the best and most comprehensive ornamental marine life rule package in the world, some of which other management regimes have mirrored, but there's always room for improvement and this will come.

 

[Biminibill]

No doubt a cast net. Pretty easy to tie someone up with one.

Frank, I have to admit that would be a weird and unnerving feeling in the seconds it took to figure out "what the f.....?" I'm running the scenario through my head and somehow can see it all.

 

[dmaziuk]

THEY WEREN'T PROFESSIONALS, just stupid, untrained college grad students from Texas A&M. Had they been professionals they never would have been at BHB or stripped anyplace bare. Bad practices and bad for the fishery.

Thank you for restating my point.

I work in a big ten uni and I would not call most grad students here "professionals" nor "scientists". They are students. And this is a military academy we're talking about, I'm sure they're great educators and their students are at the level above and beyond the ones who make it into academic academies...

On the flip side, as I recall I passed some professional ethics unit in year 3 or something, I haven't been an ieee member since I was in school, and I let my acm membership lapse years ago. There's no professional organization to provide ethical guidelines or oversight over me, and I call myself a professional, -- so I'm entirely unsurprised there wouldn't be one for any other professionals.

 

[Wookie]

Thank you for restating my point.

I work in a big ten uni and I would not call most grad students here "professionals" nor "scientists". They are students. And this is a military academy we're talking about, I'm sure they're great educators and their students are at the level above and beyond the ones who make into academic academies...

On the flip side, as I recall I passed some professional ethics unit in year 3 or something, I haven't been an ieee member since I was in school, and I let my acm membership lapse years ago. There's no professional organization to provide ethical guidelines or oversight in my job -- so I'm entirely unsurprised there wouldn't be one for any other professionals.

I wouldn't call the Aggie "Corps" a military unit. More like a wannabe. They do get credit as a ROTC unit. Like Doug Neidermeyer.

 

[Biminibill]

Not to let the facts get in the way of a good buildup of ire, but...

Statement on Recent Specimen Collection Activities in Florida - Texas A&M Galveston, TX

I just sent them this email:


Gen. McClain,

Someone is lying to you and it isn’t us in Florida. FWC officers saw many more fish than you state. An eyewitness who was videotaped on site, the video now posted to the internet, saw at least a couple hundred specimens in one cooler alone on just one night. We have video of your three grad students stating that Texas A&M, Moody AND Smithsonian Ft. Pierce were involved. As you no doubt already know, the FWC immediately amended the permit to keep your collectors out of the Blue Heron Bridge area. Moody can keep doubling down if they want, or you can come clean, apologize for your lack of discretion and offer to make amends OR you can deal with the Moody Foundation, AZA and the FWC the next time you even think of coming to Florida to collect. This isn’t Hooterville; this is Palm beach County and we are not going to let this slide.

I calmly explained to your grad students the mistake they made going to a popular dive site, asked them to show good faith by at least releasing the three angelfish they admitted to me they had in their possession at the time (they ignored the request) and told them that I was busy but otherwise would’ve been happy to take them to other locations by boat. Boats are readily available and so are productive collecting areas away from popular dive sites.

I’m telling you like it is. Wish it wasn’t.

Bill Parks

 

[Biminibill]

From the article:
"Moody Gardens said it had gathered fish from three sites, Blue Heron Bridge, the Blue Heron Bridge Snorkel Trail and the Fort Pierce Marina Dock— a dock found some 60 miles north of the Blue Heron Bridge."
I wasn't aware that the snorkel trail was separate from Blue Heron Bridge. Heck, they could of said the playground area and called it a different site, as also the east span and the west span.
And collecting from a dock? Geesh.. another easy access place.
Glad FWC revoked the permit.
And maybe, just maybe some good will come of this. Maybe BHB and the surrounding area will become a protected area (you can still legally collect from a boat there)... hmmm thinkiing as I am typing. Maybe it was the commercial collecting from land that was the illegal part that caused FWC to take the permit?
Whatever the outcome, and I am really hoping for protected status that NO collecting, from boat, shore, commercial, or recreational is allowed.

That is in the works and was well before those idiots floated in from Texas. As a former commercial collector and part-time advocate for the industry, I was already on record strongly supporting this area closure because it's the highest and best use there to leave it untouched and because it's just plain the right thing to do. The sanctuary (for lack of a better word right now) will become a reality, perhaps a little faster now because of what happened, but it will come. Make sure you all support it with letters to the FWC or going to the December meeting in St. Augustine or both.

 

[Biminibill]

A grad student from A&M? A "scientist and professional"? And that's the one with enough brain power to get into the grad school, who knows what the others are like.

They'd have done better just to go to "The Chicken Ranch" instead of coming here. ("Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" - Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton)

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Link to FWC's webpage on proposed rule changes. BHB isn't there (yet), however there is an area at the bottom where you can submit commentary.
Saltwater Public Comments

FWC email Marine@MyFWC.com

Phone 850-487-0554