From Bonefish & Tarpon Trust:

“In Major Conservation Win, Florida FWC Establishes Permit Spawning Season Closure at Western Dry Rocks.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) voted today to establish a four-month no fishing closure at Western Dry Rocks, the most important permit spawning site in the Lower Keys. Conservation organizations celebrated the vote, which capped a year-long effort to protect spawning fish that aggregate at the site.

“We thank FWC for taking this decisive action at Western Dry Rocks,” said Jim McDuffie, President of Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT). “It continues the agency’s long record of science-based fisheries management and, in this case, will help ensure the sustainability of our valuable inshore fishery for permit and offshore fishery for mutton snapper.”

Guided by science and supported by a broad coalition of fishing and conservation organizations, the closure spans the months of April through July, the heart of spawning season for permit and mutton snapper, and addresses the increasing threat of shark predation in this 1.3-square-mile area.

Research by BTT identified Western Dry Rocks as a critically important spawning site for permit in the Lower Florida Keys, attracting approximately 70 percent of tagged permit that live on Lower Keys flats. Subsequent studies also found that more than one-third of hooked permit at the site were lost to shark predation. Though harvest for permit is prohibited in the Keys during the spawning season, the loss of hooked permit at this scale is impacting the larger Keys permit fishery.

“FWC agreed today that this is not a sustainable level of mortality, especially since it is occurring at a critical spawning site,” McDuffie said. “This four-month closure will ultimately provide anglers and guides with more fishing opportunities throughout the Lower Keys.”

BTT acknowledges the coalition of organizations that supported the closure, including Lower Keys Guides Association, IGFA, American Sportfishing Association, Coastal Conservation Association, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, Fly Fishers International, ​and ​Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation​.​”

Cover picture courtesy of Capt. Jordan Carter.

Save the Horny Fish: An Inside Look at BTT’s Permit Initiative

Nonprofit of the Month: Bonefish & Tarpon Trust

 

Will Poston
Will Poston
Will Poston has been with us here at Flylords since 2017 and is now our Conservation Editor. Will focuses on high-profile conservation issues, such as Pebble Mine, the Clean Water Act rollbacks, recovering the Pacific Northwest’s salmon and steelhead, and everything in-between. Will is from Washington, DC, and you can find him fishing on the tidal Potomac River in Washington, DC or chasing striped bass and Albies up and down the East Coast—and you know, anywhere else he can find a good bite!
Instagram

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

5 COMMENTS

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.