Florida Keys

More Giant Gambian Rats Found on Grassy Key

By RYAN McCARTHY rmccarthy@keynoter.com

After extensive bait trapping and surveillance in 2007 and 2008, state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials thought the fight against Gambian giant pouch rats on Grassy Key was over.

The invasive exotic is an African species that can grow up to nine pounds and reportedly appeared on Grassy Key sometime between 1999 and 2001, when they were released by a resident who had been breeding them.

“We thought we had them whipped as of 2009,” said Scott Hardin, exotic-species coordinator for the FWC. “In the early part of 2011, a resident e-mailed me and said he saw one of the rats. We were skeptical but went back and talked to people and [saw] there were rats that we missed.”

Hardin said trapping efforts began again in May last year and that pregnant females were found. More trapping was done in August and again during a 10-week period in November and December.

“We trapped about 20 since we started. I would not imagine there’s more than another couple of dozen at most. We’ve caught them all within a half-mile of each other,” Hardin said. “We think they have not moved far but they clearly reproduced. We are surveying the area and been taking pictures of rats ever since.”

The rats apparently are mostly confined to the area between Kyle and Pecan avenues along Morton Street. Hardin said they’ve typically been found in homeowners’ yards.

“These are burrowers and there’s just some features around the houses that substitute for that. It’s hard to burrow in all that coral, plus there’s fresh-water sources,” he said.

Grassy Key resident Nancy Auten lives a short distance from where the remaining rats are believed to be and has seen traps around the island.

“I was just concerned because a lot of other animals get in there. As a concerned citizen, I was worried some other critter was going to get in there,” she said.

Auten said she’s never seen a Gambian rat on Grassy Key and — along with several neighbors — doesn’t let the FWC trap in her yard because a fixed feral cat lives underneath her home.

Hardin says the Gambian rat matures and is able to reproduce within five months of birth.

“We’re going to try to trap at least that often until we see signs that we have knocked them back,” he said.

Hardin said another round of trapping is planned for July or August. Some 200 traps are baited primarily with cantaloupe and some peanut butter.

Giant Gambian Pouch Rat Found in Islamorada 11-1-07

More on Florida Keys Gambian Pouch Rats

Sombrero Beach Park, Marathon, Florida Keys

by Barbara Ann Weibel at Hole In The Donut Travels

Sombrero Beach in Marathon, Florida, may be the quintessential example of a multi-use beach. Am I talking swimming, snorkeling, sunbathing, picnicking, volleyball, barbecuing, and climbing on playground playground equipment? Well, all those things can be done at this beach, but that’s not what I was referring to.

Sombrero is a multi-use beach because humans are not the only ones that use it. Between April and October each year, Loggerhead turtles crawl up onto the beach at night to lay their eggs in the sand. During these months, city workers remove tables and park benches from the beach, nesting areas are roped off, and local officials and volunteers patrol the beach at least once a day to ensure nests are not disturbed. The rest of the year belongs entirely to humans and their canine friends, who are welcome as long as they are leashed (the dogs, not the humans).

With soft white sand, gentle waters, and no crowds, Sombrero Beach is a favorite with locals and visitors.

Read more…

Gary Nichols – Florida Keys “Lion (Fish) King”

BY TIMOTHY O’HARA Citizen Staff
tohara@keysnews.com
Gary Nichols’ fellow commercial fishermen thought he was crazy when he first started targeting lionfish for commercial harvest.

Nichols, who fishes out of Conch Key, is now bringing in 100 pounds of lionfish a day in his spiny lobster traps and is selling it for $6 a pound. Many days, he catches more lionfish than lobster, and has earned the nickname “The Lion King.”

Nearly all of the traps that are in water deeper than 140 feet have at least one lionfish inside, he said.

His success and profits are turning skeptics into believers and more and more Upper Keys fishermen are hopping on the bandwagon, he said, adding that at least four of those skeptics have joined in.

“Three years ago, I never saw any,” Nichols said. “Last year, they were overwhelming. They are increasing at an amazing rate.”

The proliferation of the invasive lionfish, which has a voracious appetite and the potential to upset the balance of the coral reef ecosystem, has prompted officials at the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary to issue a kill-on-site edict. There is no size limit, bag limit or closed season for lionfish.

Nichols called the lionfish market “unlimited.” He has never been refused a buyer, he said. Lazy Days restaurant in Islamorada and The Conch House in Key Largo will take as much lionfish as he can catch, the owners said.

Nichols called lionfish the “best fish I have eaten, bar none.”

“It’s pure white, flaky meat,” Nichols said.

Both restaurant owners say they will go through 100 pounds in a week, if available. High winds that prevent Nichols from checking his traps are the only problem, they said.

“People come in just for the lionfish,” Lazy Days owner Lupe Ledesma said. “It’s worth the effort to get it.”

“People love it. They request it daily,” Conch House owner Ted Dreaver said.

Nichols is not only selling lionfish, but working with researchers to better understand the fish’s impact on the lobster population. Nichols has partnered with Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) and the University of Miami, which have received funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to study the impacts of lionfish on lobster populations.

University of Miami graduate student Dominique Lazarre goes with Nichols once a month when he and his crew check the traps. She counts, samples and measures the lionfish and also takes note of other by-catch in his traps.

Lazarre has also given logbooks to roughly 15 Upper Keys trap fishermen to record the prevalence of lionfish.

“We hope to find out if lionfish are having an antagonistic effect on lobster catch,” Lazarre said. “We also want to see how effective the trap fishery is in removing lionfish from ecosystems. We don’t think it is going to eradicate lionfish, but traps could reduce the numbers. They are already catching them in the traps, it’s a bonus to do something with them other than getting poked by their spines.”

Once lobster season ends later this month, Lazarre will crunch the data and hopefully have a better understanding of the impact.

Wanted: Fast stone-crab eaters in the Florida Keys

The much-anticipated opening of Florida’s stone crab season takes place Oct. 15 but the 2011-12 season opening is going to be followed by a tasty test of crab-consuming capacity.

The inaugural Stone Crab Eating Contest, a challenge for amateur eaters, is set for Oct. 22 beginning at 1 p.m. at Keys Fisheries Market & Marina, off U.S. 1 at 35th Street bayside, Marathon.

Entrants must register and be present by noon the day of the event, and are tasked with cracking and eating 25 stone crab claws, picking them completely clean, in the fastest time. In the event of a tie, those competitors must face off in a 10-claw competition to determine the winner.

Prizes are to be awarded to the top three finishers. The first-place winner is to receive a two-night lodging package at Key West’s Doubletree Grand Key Resort featuring champagne, dinner for two and a sunset cruise on a tall ship or catamaran.

The second-place crab consumer earns a Swim with the Dolphins package at the Dolphin Research Center on Grassy Key, while the third-place finisher wins a $50 Keys Fisheries gift certificate.

The entry fee is $25 per contestant, and you must be at least 18. The contest is limited to 50 participants. Among the rules:

No professional eaters — amateurs only.
Contestants will be allowed to drink water during the competition.
If a contestant throws up, he or she is automatically disqualified.
Grounds for disqualification include:

Not disclosing risks that could jeopardize the contestant’s health or well-being.
Being under the influence of any substance.
Your appearance and/or clothing is deemed inappropriate (dress is Keys attire).
Starting prior to the start signal.
Any food in a competitor’s mouth at the final whistle counts toward the final tally if the competitor chews and swallows that portion of the competitive food. But competitors may not stuff food into their mouth in the final seconds of the contest to increase their total. Judges have the discretion to impose penalties on those who do.

Stone crabs are considered by many to be the finest Florida seafood for their succulent claw meat. In addition, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, they are the state’s only renewable seafood resource. Legal-size claws are harvested between Oct. 15 and May 15 each year, and the crab’s body is returned to the water to generate new claws.

To register for the contest, go to www.keysfisheries.com.

No Changes Yet in Hogfish Rules

Feds want to take stock assessment before increasing minimum size
BY TIMOTHY O’HARA Citizen Staff

Federal fishery managers have backed off a plan to increase the minimum size for keeping hogfish, for now. The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council wants to see the results of a stock assessment it will conduct next year before implementing any new rules, council spokeswoman Kim Iverson said.

When the council met last week, it was considering increasing the minimum size from 12 inches to 18 inches. An overwhelming majority of fishermen opposed the change when council representatives came to Key Largo to take public comment last month. Hogfish typically are not that large in the Florida Keys as they are in other areas within the council’s jurisdiction, which stretches north to North Carolina.

The change would “virtually eliminate all hogfish fishing in the Florida Keys,” Bill Kelly, executive director of the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association warned the council.

Key West charter boat Capt. Rob Harris, who serves on the council’s Snapper Grouper Advisory Panel, said the proposed jump would be too drastic, and suggested that 14 inches to 16 inches would be more reasonable. The latter would be sufficient to allow a meatier fish to be caught and give the fish more time to reproduce, he said.

Hogfish is mainly targeted by spear fishermen, as they are easy to spear but nearly impossible to catch with hook and line. Novices typically target hogfish because they are not shy and are easiest to shoot, Harris said. The down side is novices are not good at gauging size, which can lead to undersized fish being shot, he said.

“The problem is that they shoot them first, then measure them,” Harris said. Longtime Lower Keys spear fisherman Don DeMaria argued that the minimum size should be increased “incrementally,” initially to 14 inches and then to 16 inches. “Twelve to 18 inches is too big of a jump,” DeMaria agreed with Harris. “Any reasonable fishermen would agree that 12 inches is a small hogfish.”

Snapper Grouper Advisory Panel member Jim Atack, who is from North Carolina, initially proposed the minimum size be increased to 20 inches, but his fellow committee members objected and compromised at 18.

University of Miami marine biology professor and researcher Jerry Ault called 18 inches “precautionary, but wise” and “a step in the right direction,” but agreed with Atack that 20 inches to 22 inches would be more ideal to protect the species in the long run. The benefits of an increase will not be seen right away, as “it takes time before you see the results,” Ault said, adding such steps are necessary to maintain sustainability of the fishery. Ault has conducted fish surveys in the Keys and Dry Tortugas that show hogfish are being heavily exploited.

Everglades Park’s Pole/Troll Concept Seems to be Catching On

BY STEVE GIBBS Free Press Staff

KEY LARGO — An Everglades National Park’s pilot pole/troll zone established off Flamingo 15 months ago seems to be paying dividends, according to local fishing guides and officials.

The temporary ban on the use of internal combustion engines along the 9,400 acres of Florida Bay around Snake Bight to the east of Flamingo has produced larger redfish and fish that seem less spooked by the presence of anglers, as well as a thriving roseate spoonbill rookery, all observed by frequent users of the area.

The park established the so-called PTZ pilot program as a test case to determine whether such zones should be included in its next General Management Plan as part of an effort to prevent prop scarring in seagrass shallows, which serve as spawning grounds for a substantial amount of marine life. Boaters may only use poles or trolling motors to access the Snake Bight zone.

Backcountry guides and recreational fishermen gathered at the Murray E. Nelson Government and Cultural Center last Thursday to provide feedback to park officials.

Most of the 35 anglers sounded unified in their praise for the results of the pole/troll zone, some urging even greater restrictions on the use of outboard motors.

“Fishing has improved there and the birds seem much more comfortable,” said Capt. Rich Mitchell who is a backcountry guide out of Worldwide Sportsman in Islamorada.

Capt. John Kipp, who said the fish are not as spooky and can be seen better in the clear water, has been a guide out of Islamorada for the past 37 years.

“I’d like to see more pole-and-troll zones,” he said.

Although there was some resistance to the pilot program at its inception, Everglades National Park law enforcement officer Dave Fowler said anglers are embracing the concept.

“A year ago, after the program had been in effect for just three months, we began getting feedback that guides and recreational anglers were seeing improvements in the Snake Bight area. Over the past 15 months I am surprised that the PTZ has improved so rapidly,” he said. “If the birds are happy, the fish are happy. The fish are calmer, not as stressed. It wasn’t this way 15 months ago. It was going the other way.”

But some guides do want to tweak the plan.

Capt. Bill Went, who operates out of the Postcard Inn at Holiday Isle Resort marina, said he no longer has the endurance to pole long distances into the zone to cast for bait. He suggested some leeway on the zone rule, such as allowing guides to use already scarred main routes known as “wheel ditches.”

“There are certain wheel ditches that have been there for 50 years,” he noted.

Fowler, however, feared that might open the door to careless boaters, noting that bay usage has increased 2.5 times over the past three decades.

“The captains may know the waters and use due care, but there are thousands of recreational boaters whose lack of local knowledge needs to be considered,” he said.

But Capt. Mike Ehlers, who has fished out of Islamorada for the past 35 years, pointed out that everything is a trade-off.

“This is a pilot project — a start. Think about protecting vast areas of Everglades National Park,” he suggested.

Audubon biologist Peter Frezza, who is also an avid angler, said collateral damage is often the result of such pilot projects.

“But here we have seen collateral positives,” he said, referring to spoonbills establishing a rookery in the bight.

Islamorada homeowner and angler Charlie Causey was pleased to hear about the great bird life in the area.

“This is something for the future,” he said. “Limited access makes this a special place and a win-win for the fishery.”

Park Superintendent Dan Kimball likened the seagrass meadows of the bay to a “wilderness.”

“This is a positive step in managing the bay,” he said. “We are in a balancing act. We want access but we also want to protect the wilderness of the bay bottom.”

The park will take input from the public through March.

Today in Florida Keys History – John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park

March 15th, 1960

The first underwater park in the United States, The Key Largo Coral Reef Preserve, was established today.

John Pennekamp, an editor with the Miami Herald, rallied citizens to support a way to preserve the reefs off the southern coast of Florida. The park is named in his honor.

These efforts led the Florida Board of Parks and Historic Memorials to designate the state-controlled reefs off Key Largo a permanent preserve. In the spring of 1960, President Eisenhower proclaimed the adjacent, federally-controlled area of the reefs as the Key Largo Coral Reef Preserve. Florida Governor Leroy Collins later changed the name of the park to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, in recognition of John Pennekamp’s efforts to save marine life. A land base and access to U.S. 1 (the Overseas Highway) were acquired by purchase and donation. The park opened in 1963.

One of the most famous residents of Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is the “Christ of the Abyss.” The 8+1?2-foot-tall (2.6 m) statue of Jesus Christ weighs 4,000 pounds and sits in nearly 25 feet of water. It is a popular site for scuba divers and snorkelers.

LOCAL Lobster Mobsters Charged

The end of Memorial Day weekend did not end on-the-water enforcement, two Upper Keys residents learned.

Gabriel L. Cultuli, 33, of Key Largo and Brian S. Gwilliam, 34, of Tavernier were each charged Tuesday with two misdemeanor counts for possessing illegally taken lobster.

Monroe County Sheriff’s Office marine Deputy Nelson Sanchez saw the two suspects snorkeling in the bayside off mile marker 88 around 10 a.m. after responding to a report of possible lobster diving. When Sanchez confronted the two men in the water, they reportedly had a mesh bag containing five live lobsters, which Sanchez described as visibly undersized.

“I then told them that I was very disappointed to find local people taking lobster out of season,” Sanchez said in his report, “to which [Cultuli] stated that he was just trying to get some dinner.”

The lobster were released. Each man was charged with possessing an undersized lobster and an out-of-season lobster.

By KEVIN WADLOW kwadlow@keynoter.com

Two Local Lobster Mobsters Plead Guilty in Casita Case

Two Lower Keys commercial lobster divers pleaded guilty Monday to using illegal artificial habitats called casitas to harvest lobster.

Michael Kimbler, 44, and Michael Bland, 31, entered the pleas in federal court in Key West. Both admitted to sinking illegal casitas in the waters off the Lower Keys to attract lobster, which they subsequently harvested. As part of their plea deals, they also admitted to using another commercial fisherman’s license to exceed the 250-lobster daily bag limit. Kimbler sold lobster using a license belonging to his brother, Carl, who lives in South Dakota, according to court documents.

Kimbler and Bland forfeited their commercial fishing boats and agreed to remove the casitas. They also agreed to cooperate with the Internal Revenue Service, which will determine whether they paid the correct amount of income tax for the lobster they harvested.

Kimbler and Bland were arraigned Monday morning on charges of violating the federal animal conservation law, called the Lacey Act, and pleaded guilty that afternoon. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 19. Both men face up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines, Judge James Lawrence King said.

Both men are firefighters. Kimbler, who owns Kimbler Diving Enterprises of Key West, has been a firefighter at Naval Air Station Key West on Boca Chica Key for 14 years.

Navy officials will conduct a review of Kimbler’s arrest and conviction, and will take action after he is sentenced, said Navy spokeswoman Trice Denny.

Bland, who lives on Big Coppitt Key, has been a firefighter with Monroe County for nine years, records state. He “can’t work for us,” county Fire Chief Jim Callahan said Monday, though Callahan was unsure if the conviction will affect Bland’s state pension.

The investigation of Kimbler and Bland, part of a larger, ongoing investigation, dates back to 2007. Investigators determined the divers first placed artificial habitat on June 1, 2007, and two months later the two harvested 1,116 pounds of lobster worth $7,714, court documents state. Federal prosecutor Thomas Watts-Fitzgerald estimated that Kimbler’s involvement in the scheme added up to more than $200,000 in retail value of lobster, while Bland’s exceeded $70,000.

Investigators and prosecutors documented multiple cases between 2007 and 2011 in which the two men dived on casitas, harvested lobster and violated spiny lobster bag limits, court records state.

Kimbler and Bland are the latest in a series of commercial divers and fishermen who have been arrested and convicted on federal charges in the past two years. The convictions come as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and other fishery managers are debating the possibility of legalizing casitas. FWC officials are reviewing recent studies and researching whether they can legally lease state bay bottom for the use of casitas.

Casita advocates argue they are more environmentally friendly than traps. Opponents contend the fishermen are sinking car hoods, old oil drums, hurricane shutters and other environmentally damaging trash to attract lobsters.

tohara@keysnews.com

Legendary photographer Clyde Butcher returns to Keys

Photo by Woody Walters
Clyde Butcher has captured startling images in the Everglades and other remote locales in North America.

Most art patrons recognize Clyde Butcher’s work – the crisp, black and white photography, the startling attention to nature’s detail, and vast canvases ‘painted’ with silver on light-sensitive photographic paper.

On Thursday, March 15, art lovers will get a chance to see his work and meet Butcher, who will be the featured artist at this month’s Art Walkabout in the Morada Way Art District.

This is Butcher’s second visit to the Islamorada art district, which has grown over the past year, hosting monthly Third Thursday Walkabouts as well as Islamorada’s first Fine Arts Expo in January.

Using custom-made cameras, Butcher is best known for his legendary work in the heart of the Everglades, where he maintains a studio surrounded by the wilderness he has so lovingly captured on film.

He’s known for wading through swamps, crossing rivers, bays and wetlands to set up his bulky equipment for what can be a single photo, capturing just the right light and timed to the seasons and time of day.

He shoots in large format similar to the cameras that recorded the early images of the west. And he’s been compared as the East Coast heir to the Ansel Adams photographic history.

Some of his photos are up to five feet by nine feet in size. “The epic scale of his work lets the viewer experience these untouched areas in a way which is almost like being there,” said Daniela Woody, Morada Way Arts & Cultural District’s director of events.

Butcher’s works will be exhibited at the Morada Way Warehouse Studio, located in the heart of the art district, mile marker 81.5, oceanside, Islamorada.

The legendary landscape photographer will talk about his life and his work during the reception, which is scheduled 6-9 p.m.

Proceeds from the sale of his artwork and books sold during District events, benefit the Art District programs, Woody said.

In addition to Butcher’s work, all the galleries and restaurants in the Morada Way Art District will be open for Third Thursday, with musicians providing entertainment during the evening. For more information, call 890-6477 or visit: moradawayarts.org.