Sad day for Blue Heron Bridge

[kelemvor]

Blue Heron Bridge Preservation Initiative
Just spoke with Tom Reinert of the FWC. Our BHB issue is supposed to be on December 12th, so Sandra and I just booked at World of Golf for the night of Dec 11, to attend the BHB discussion at the FWC meeting on the morning of the 12th. Tom also recommended this hotel, as close to the meeting, and reasonable. Any of you that are also attending this event, we look forward to seeing you either for dinner on the 11th, or lunch after the big meeting on the 12th. We will head home after this, as the next day is supposed to be more land based hunting, and nothing really relevant to our issues. You have to pick your battles If we end up with a large group, the suggestion would be that we don't all try to get 3 minutes to say the same things and give the commissioners strokes from hearing the same thing so many times....we can have the whole group stand for solidarity, and some could give minutes to a few, in order for a longer presentation potential...but really, I think every bit of information the FWC needs about our issues, has already be hit home..and well underlined by the Moody incident. We could not ask for a better illustration of why we asked for the special protection from collection!

We had a vaguely similar group come before my local city council in Largo (for a completely unrelated issue). They allowed a group spokesman to have a significantly longer presentation time in lieu of each individual getting 3 minutes. I think that's a fairly standard thing to do in order to expedite council meetings.

Just pick someone who is well spoken. At least in Little 'ol Largo, there was the capability to present slides/videos along with the speaker. The presentation is also simulcast on local TV. I'd have to guess the larger council over there probably has even better capabilities. Hopefully someone is working on creating a nice PowerPoint or something to go along with the discussion.

 

[John Bantin]

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.

Would you care to write to me at Undercurrent to tell me that? Include your real name, town and state. john@undercurrent.org

 

[John Bantin]

I sent an email.

You are welcome to copy and change to meet your needs..

Hi,

I am a scuba diver with well over 200 dives at Blue Heron Bridge, I read with horror and shock the atrocities that happened last week at the site. As you are probably aware by now, Moody Aquarium and Texas A&M were awarded a permit to collect specimens from 4 diverse locations for their breeding program. Instead the divers, who claimed to be graduate students and collectors, only went to Phil Foster Park and collected hundreds, if not thousands of animals, including sea horses, octopus, batfish, frogfish, angelfish and many invertebrates.

I understand FWC amended the permit immediately effectively stopping the collection. And throughout the week, I have read that FWC has been on board and proactive towards BHB, moving the consideration of a Marine Protected Habitat off the agenda next spring and moving it to this December. I applaud FWC on the swift action.

Divers from around the globe come to BHB, as we affectionately call it, to photograph the concentration of unique animals in a small area. Now, because of the lack of ethics and very poor collection practices by these individuals, animals are gone. It would not be a far stretch to assume many died in the trip back to Texas. Gone forever. BHB will take years, if not more to recover. It hurts my heart to think that so many animals that are unique to BHB are gone.

Thank you for your swift action. I look forward to the results of the meeting in December, and hope you continue to be proactive.. for the divers, snorkelers, and most importantly, for the animals.

Best Regards,

Jenny Wuenschel


Hollywood, FL

Would you care to write to me the above? john@undercurrent.org

 

[hilljo88]

Would you care to write to me the above? john@undercurrent.org

John

I sent a note to your email address.

 

[noj3333]

Would you care to write to me the above? john@undercurrent.org

Is this an open invite?

 

[John Bantin]

Is this an open invite?

If you have any factual information to report. Include your real name and state please.

 

[noj3333]

If you have any factual information to report. Include your real name and state please.

Factual information, no. But an opinion from an out of state diver who will be traveling to West Palm (with an expectation to spend several hundred dollars in 2-3 days), specifically to dive BHB... that is a letter I could write.

 

[uncfnp]

If you have any factual information to report. Include your real name and state please.

Do you have contact info for Jim Abernathy, Jeff Nelson or Dan Volker? They are among the ones to most likely provide you with concrete, first hand information.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Would you care to write to me the above? john@undercurrent.org

Done

 

[Lorenzoid]

Factual information, no. But an opinion from an out of state diver who will be traveling to West Palm (with an expectation to spend several hundred dollars in 2-3 days), specifically to dive BHB... that is a letter I could write.

I suspect there are quite a few of us who used to travel there specifically to dive BHB whose tourist dollars will be missed.