Filed at April 18, 2010 under by Keys
Wednesday, April 21, 2010 
Esteemed Guides and Anglers, we need your help! This will be our third consecutive year of conducting a Spring Bonefish Population Census to calibrate with results from the Fall Florida Keys Bonefish Population Census, now in its 8 th year. The 2010 Spring census event is planned for Wednesday, April 21, 2010.
Bonefishing is a multimillion dollar industry in the Florida Keys and virtually all of the fish are released unharmed to fight again. The bonefish census, coordinated by the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT) and the University of Miami RSMAS , helps to determine population trends of one of the Keys most important sport fish. This is the first and only population estimate ever done on bonefish anywhere in the world. The census information is vital to evaluating year-to-year changes in the bonefish population and providing guidance that ensures a sustainable fishery!!!
Fall census results have indicated a population of just over 320,000 bonefish in the Florida Keys fishery. We want to use the Spring census to calibrate our Fall estimates and to determine if there is a seasonal component to the bonefish population size estimates. Of particular note, your participation in this year’s census is critically important because we are trying to get a handle on the extent to which January’s extremely cold weather has impacted the Florida Keys bonefish population.
Our ability to detect population size differences from year to year depends on the number of census participants. The more participants we have the more robust our population size estimate. Please volunteer to help us as we need greater coverage of the fishery running from Key Biscayne to the Marquesas. All the information collected during the census will remain strictly confidential and be used only for scientific research purposes.
If you are able to participate please contact Dr. Jerry Ault at jault@rsmas.miami.edu or 305-421-4884. Once we have heard from you we will mail you a census package with a datasheet. Your responsibilities are minimal, all we ask is that you record: the zone(s) you fished; the distance poled; and, the number of bonefish seen. Simple, but very important! Finally, census datasheets will also be available from Florida Keys Outfitters (305-664-5423) or can be downloaded at www.bonefishresearch.com
We are counting on you to help us determine the current population size of this very important sports fish.
Dr. Jerry Ault
jault@rsmas.miami.edu
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Bonefish
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Filed at February 18, 2010 under by Keys
Contact: Lee Schlesinger, 850-487-0554
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission FWC proposed draft rule amendments Thursday to provide more protection for bonefish, a premier saltwater game fish in Florida.”Bonefish are a tremendous Florida resource,” said FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto. “These proposed rules will strengthen our management approach to protect and preserve bonefish so that anglers can continue to enjoy fishing for this great Florida game fish.”The proposed rules would include all species of bonefish in the FWCs bonefish management rules to help ensure that all bonefish in Florida waters are protected, extend FWC bonefish regulations into adjacent federal waters to aid enforcement and enhance bonefish protection, and require that bonefish be landed in whole condition to help officers in the field identify bonefish and aid in enforcement of bag and size limits.
Since 1988, it has been illegal to commercially harvest and sell bonefish in Florida, and a daily recreational bag limit of one bonefish 18 inches or greater in fork length applies.However, there is a temporary harvest and possession prohibition on bonefish in Florida until April 1 as a precaution, because of possible impacts to fish populations that may have occurred from the recent prolonged cold weather in Florida. Anglers may still catch and release bonefish during the temporary closure, and the FWC encourages everyone to handle and release them carefully to help ensure their survival upon release.A final public hearing on these proposed bonefish rule amendments will take place during the FWCs April meeting in the Tallahassee area.
via FWC News – FWC proposes more protection for bonefish.
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Bonefish
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Filed at January 16, 2010 under by Keys
FWC responds to widespread cold-weather saltwater fish kills
January 15, 2010
Contact: Lee Schlesinger, 850-487-0554
Executive Order 10-02 (Dead Fish)
Executive Order 10-03 (Snook, Tarpon, Bonefish)
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has issued executive orders to protect Florida’s snook, bonefish and tarpon fisheries from further harm caused by the recent prolonged cold weather in the state, which has caused widespread saltwater fish kills. The FWC has received numerous reports from the public and is taking action to address the conservation needs of affected marine fisheries. The orders also will allow people to legally dispose of dead fish in the water and on the shore.
One of the executive orders temporarily extends closed fishing seasons for snook statewide until September. It also establishes temporary statewide closed seasons for bonefish and tarpon until April because of the prolonged natural cold weather event that caused significant, widespread mortality of saltwater fish in Florida. The other order temporarily suspends certain saltwater fishing regulations to allow people to collect and dispose of dead fish killed by the cold weather.
“A proactive, precautionary approach is warranted to preserve our valuable snook, bonefish and tarpon resources, which are among Florida’s premier game fish species,” said FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto. “Extending the snook closed season and temporarily closing bonefish and tarpon fishing will protect surviving snook that spawn in the spring and will give our research scientists time to evaluate the extent of damage that was done to snook, bonefish and tarpon stocks during the unusual cold-weather period we recently experienced in Florida.”
Snook season currently is closed in Florida under regular FWC rules, and there are also regular closed snook seasons that occur in the summer. However, the FWC executive order extends the statewide snook closed seasons continuously through Aug. 31 and provides that no person may harvest or possess snook in state and federal waters off Florida during this period unless the fishery is opened sooner or the closure is extended by subsequent order.
The order also establishes a temporary prohibition on the harvest and possession of bonefish and tarpon from state and federal waters off Florida through March 31, unless these fisheries are opened sooner or the closures are extended by subsequent order. The FWC executive order for the snook, bonefish and tarpon closed seasons takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 16.
The other FWC executive order temporarily removes specific harvest regulations for all dead saltwater fish of any species that have died as a result of prolonged exposure to cold weather in Florida waters. It also modifies general methods of taking dead saltwater fish from Florida’s shoreline and from the water to allow the collection of saltwater fish by hand, cast net, dip net or seine.
All people taking dead saltwater fish under the provisions of this order may not sell, trade or consume such fish, and the dead fish must immediately be disposed of in compliance with local safety, health and sanitation requirements for such disposal.
In addition, all people taking dead fish under the provisions of this order are not required to possess a saltwater fishing license, and all fish taken under the provisions of this executive order shall be those that have died as a result of prolonged exposure to cold weather.
This FWC executive order takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 16 and will expire at 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 1, unless it is repealed sooner or extended by subsequent order.
Tags:
Bonefish,
Snook,
Tarpon
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Filed at June 19, 2009 under by Keys
Bonefish are just too valuable to waste, say fishing advocates. “Bonefish are a resource we need to protect, and we have not been minding the store,” said Jerry Ault, a University of Miami expert in fish populations.
Staff biologists with the state Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will make a presentation on bonefish to the FWC board at its Thursday meeting in Crystal River. On the table: Making it a no-take species, with possible exceptions. “We have been asking for the state to essentially make bonefish a catch-and-release species,” said Aaron Adams, a researcher and director of operations for the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust.
Bonefish are stealthy, fast-swimming fish that are challenging to catch.
A study by Ault’s UM research team calculates that a single bonefish may generate $3,600 to the Florida economy in a year from recreational interests, and up to $75,000 over the fish’s natural lifespan of 20 or more years. Florida has an estimated bonefish population of 300,000 to 321,000, mostly limited to the Florida Keys and Biscayne Bay shallows, according to reports.
For the rest of this story click here Read more »
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Bonefish
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Filed at June 16, 2009 under by Keys
By Chico Fernandez
Big bonefish? Think of these fish as a different animals than any small bonefish you’ve taken? There is a sharper sense of awareness in these fish and for you to have a good chance it’s going to require casting skills in the wind, good accuracy and yet, a delicacy of presentation. “And there are no margin for error, no freebies, you earn every fish,” says Sandy Moret of Florida Keys Outfitters, the top fly-shop in the Florida Keys.
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The fact is that you often get one shot, maybe two, and after that, you are false-casting and the fish is leaving. Think of it as a larger version of technical trout fishing. It’s great fun. And when you hook up, the emotions can be overwhelming.
Most flies for these big fish are a size or two larger than the rest of the bonefish world, with most flies falling between a size 2 and 1 and even size 1/0s. As a matter of fact, most of these flies double for a good redfish fly. In the Islamorada, Florida, area, most flies are extra large. Capt. Dave Denkert uses mostly flies imitating toads in size 2s and 1s. And Capt. Tim Klein, who has won more bonefishing tournaments than any other guide (and that’s saying a lot), mostly uses big shrimp and toad patterns in 2s, 1s and even 1/0! “These fish want a big mouthful” Tim often tells me, and who is going to argue with his record? As a matter of fact, the largest bonefish I’ve ever taken, caught in Islamorada, was an estimated 14 pounds tailing in a foot of water and was taken with one of Tim’s big size 1 shrimp patterns. It was a windy overcast day 6 years ago, and I still get chills when I think of it.
For the rest of the story click here Read more »
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Bonefish
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