KeepAmericaFishing

Background

BNP officials are currently updating the park's General Management Plan (GMP), which was last updated in 1983. As a part of this, managers are also updating the park’s Fisheries Management Plan (FMP). According to the park's website, the goal of the FMP is to "manage fish and shellfish within the parks to help ensure that the tradition of fishing can continue for generations to come."

Following a public input period from 2002-2003, the park developed a Working Group, consisting of recreational and commercial fishermen, divers, scientists, and members of the conservation community, which was formed to issue recommendations on the FMP. The Working Group held their sixth and final meeting in October 2004, at which time they finalized their recommendations for the FMP. Even though recommendations from the FMP working group did not include marine reserve areas, park officials proposed implementing marine reserves in BNP as part of the new FMP.

In August 2011, park managers released Biscayne’s draft GMP for public comment, which incorporates proposals from the draft FMP. The draft GMP presents five alternative management plans, which range widely from extending the current management plan to emphasizing and promoting outdoor recreation to closing 34 square miles of park waters to fishing and other consumptive activities. The current preferred alternative, endorsed by park managers, will establish a 16 square mile marine reserve, or no fishing zone. The GMP also considers the use of no-motor zones and an exclusive access-by-permit only area in shallow waters north of Black Point. The full draft GMP can be viewed here.

Park Managers accepted public comment on the draft plan through October 31, 2011 and are currently considering all comments in the creation of the final GMP. The draft GMP calls for changes affecting everyone who fishes, boats, paddles, dives, or spearfishes in Biscayne Bay National Park. KeepAmericaFishing™ encourages all anglers concerned about recreational access to voice their opinion on the Biscayne National Park GMP. Be sure to check back often for more information on the development of the final GMP.

KeepAmericaFishing's™ Position

While intensive fishing pressure in BNP is clearly an issue that must be addressed in the new GMP, marine reserves are just one tool among the suite of resources available for effective fisheries management, and should be considered only after more conventional and less restrictive management strategies (e.g., size limits, bag limits, quotas, gear restrictions) have failed. The new GMP should address overfishing in BNP while still allowing for public access to public resources via recreational fishing. Given the widespread distribution of recreational fishing that occurs throughout BNP, any marine reserve of significant size would inevitably shut anglers out of favorite fishing areas, keeping anglers off the water, out of the park and diminishing the economic benefit of sportfishing to the local economy.

This concept is also supported by a Memorandum of Understanding between BNP and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), which also manages fisheries resources in the park. The memorandum says:

"The FWC and the park agree to seek the least restrictive management actions necessary to fully achieve mutual management goals for the fishery resources of the park and adjoining areas. Furthermore, both parties recognize the FWC's belief that marine reserves (no-take areas) are overly restrictive and that less-restrictive management measures should be implemented during the duration of this MOU [Memorandum of Understanding]."

The draft FMP was open for public comment through October 6, 2009. Members of the sportfishing industry sent a joint letter to BNP expressing their concerns with the marine reserve proposal and urging the National Park Service to follow the recommendations of its own working group, which did not include no-fishing zones in its FMP recommendations. The sportfishing community is in the process of analyzing the draft GMP, which incorporates the comments managers received on the FMP.