Are You Ready For The Spiny Lobster Sport (Mini) Season?
Diving for lobster in Florida’s upcoming mini-season can be deadly, warns a leading dive-safety organization.
“Divers get excited and rush to dive without preparation, and most of them are out of shape,” said Petar Denoble, a physician who serves as senior research director for the Divers Alert Network. ”They underestimate the level of exercise required for diving, particularly lobster diving,” said Denoble, author of a recent report published in DAN’s Alert Diver magazine. The past four years have seen 14 divers die during Florida’s annual two-day mini-season — 10 of them in Florida Keys waters, the leading destination for lobster hunters.
In contrast, only six divers died while hunting lobster statewide in the regular eight-month lobster season in the same 2005-08 period. This year’s lobster sport-diving season arrives July 29 and 30.
“Why the higher percentage of deaths in the two-day preseason? Our best guess is that mini-season may be the time many divers take their first plunge of the year,” Denoble wrote. “Or they’ve made relatively few dives thus far and haven’t gotten up to speed on their skills and conditioning…. The underwater chase, frequent ascents and many repetitive dives over the two-day season can take a toll, even on the most experienced divers.” He pointed out that most of the mini-season deaths can be traced to heart problems in divers in their late 40s and older.
There was no evidence that air embolisms, typically responsible for about a third of all diving deaths, caused any of the 20 lobster-related deaths that DAN staff studied. Denoble called that finding “interesting,” but cautioned against drawing broad conclusions from the relatively small number of case studies.
After three divers died in Monroe County waters during the 2005 mini-season, authorities called for increased caution. All three were out-of-county residents; the youngest was 49.
But the 2006 season was even deadlier, with four fatalities.
There were two lobster diving deaths in the Keys last year, after one death in 2007.
Many of the deaths could be linked to those with known medical problems, or who had undiagnosed conditions.
A lobster-season safety campaign was launched this spring to warn divers to check their equipment and be aware of physical demands. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Diving Equipment and Marketing Association and DAN prepared the program.
“People who live a sedentary lifestyle must assume they are out of shape,” Denoble said. “Divers may try to chase lobster the same way they did it when they were 25. But at 50, it doesn’t work that way any more.”
Denoble recommended that older divers have regular checkups, and exercise throughout the year.
“Get prepared. You cannot go out and play a game without practice,” he said. “This is your game, and you need to win.”
An estimated 30,000 divers go out for lobster in a typical mini-season, with about 60 percent of them planning to do it in the Keys.
Tags: Diving, Lobster, Lobster 2009
Categories: Diving, Lobster Tags: Diving, Lobster, Lobster 2009
Lobster Season PSA
A few other safety tips from DAN:
- Remember that an underwater hunt strains your body much more than a typical recreational dive.
- If you do not exercise vigorously and frequently on land, do not dive if you are not fit for it. Do not hunt underwater.
- Do not lobster hunt on your first dive. If you did not have a chance to make some dives before the mini-season, remember that full lobster season starts in August and lasts through March. Use the preseason time to refresh your skills and improve your fitness. By doing this, you will be ready for many safe lobster hunts during the regular season.
- Lobster hunting is a serious dive operation, even at a depth of 10 ft (3m). Ensure that the diver in you maintains control over the hunter in you.
- Remember, you caught nothing if you did not bring it to the surface and cook it.
For a more in-depth look at dive safety during the mini-lobster season, visit alertdiver.com.
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Categories: Diving, Lobster Tags: Lobster, Lobster 2009
FWC 2008 Lobster Report is In… Florida Keys Rules!
Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission
Fish & Wildlife Research Institute
Summary Report of the 2008-2009 Recreational Spiny Lobster Fishing Season
Dear recreational lobster fisher,
Thank you for your participation in recreational lobster fisher surveys for the 2008-2009 fishing season. You indicated on your questionnaire that you were interested in receiving a summary of the results of these surveys. We are providing you with the information we collected from more than 2,400 recreational lobster license holders who responded to our surveys about the 2008 Special Two-Day Sport Season and the first month of the regular recreational lobster fishing season. Read more…
Categories: Diving, Florida Keys, Lobster, Tourism Tags: Lobster, Lobster 2009
Women Getaways in the Florida Keys
With scores of recreational activities that cater to women, the Keys are a perfect destination for women-only getaways or solo adventures. Each area in the island chain that stretches from Key Largo to Key West offers its own one-of-a-kind attractions. And while the Keys have a Caribbean appeal, they’re actually all American — no passport is required and English is the native tongue. A selection of girls’ getaway activities is listed here, but in reality the possibilities are as diverse and intriguing as the island chain itself. Underwater Stress Relief Just beneath the tip of mainland Florida lies Key Largo, the northernmost of the Florida Keys. There, women seeking renewal beneath the sea can plunge 25 feet to discover the statue of Christ of the Abyss at Key Largo Dry Rocks. This nine-foot-tall bronze statute rises so close to the surface that it can be seen by snorkelers as well as divers.
Key Largo is known as the scuba diving capital of the world, but it also offers a way to experience North America’s only living coral reef without getting wet. Sail aboard the Key Largo Princess, a 70-foot, glass-bottom, 129-passenger yacht to view the exciting underwater world of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, the only undersea park in the United States. The Key Largo Princess is located at the Holiday Inn Docks off U.S. Highway 1 at mile marker (MM) 100.
Islamorada, just down U.S. 1 from Key Largo, offers a wide variety of fine restaurants and day spas for sybaritic pampering. For women seeking an all-over tan, the tanning bed can be the large forward couch on Two Chicks Charters’ 26-foot Leisure Cat. The smooth-riding boat accommodates up to six people for an eco-tour to experience the natural beauty of the mangrove islands, an underwater treasure hunt, or a sunset on Florida Bay. Catch the boat at Worldwide Sportsman Bayside Marina, MM 81.5 in Islamorada. Read more…
Tags: Diving, Dolphin, Lobster, Resorts, TarponCategories: Boating, Diving, Fishing, Florida Keys, Vacations Tags: Diving, Dolphin, Lobster, Resorts, Tarpon
Key Largo’s Reef Snapper Ledge Would Benefit From No-Take Status
DIVE TIME By Tim Grollimund
Underwater photographer Art Koch frames a shot of a school of grunts on Snapper Ledge.
When I moved to the Keys, I only knew a few people. You could count the number on one hand. These same folks are very close friends now — even after they’ve gotten to know me better! And I have developed some other very close friendships. Not only with people, but with a few places. I’ve told you about them — the deep sections of the reefs, the south end of Molasses and the pillar coral spot. All these are very special places. Why do I keep going back? Because they are places I can count on for unique and continuously good stuff to see.
And there is one more spot — Snapper Ledge. There is a petition to have Snapper Ledge set aside as a no-take zone. I support it. If you have been there, you know it’s unique. It’s a very small area, probably less than the size of a football field. Some people want to set it aside, and some don’t. We all have our reasons. The petition is worded to elevate the merits of the site as a haven for fish and divers, and uses language that fisher persons — spear and hook — probably don’t like. I wouldn’t if I were a fisher person. The Sanctuary Advisory Council meeting is Aug. 16, 9 a.m. at the Marathon Garden Club, 5270 Overseas Highway. The petition is here: www.PetitionOnline.com/snapledg/petition.html. Here is a video that supports the effort: www.vimeo.com/1861001 and a link to PDF file you can download: www.mpa.gov/sciencestewardship/mpascience/
So, wording notwithstanding, and as I am curious by nature, I started looking into this whole concept of marine protected areas (MPAs) and no-take zones (nMPA). And I found Dr. Ben Halpern of the University of California. He is an expert in the field, and has worked with the state of California to implement a network of MPAs along their coast. There are species concerns, spatial concerns, habitat concerns — everybody’s concerned.
We talked about a couple of studies he’s done. The first addresses the basic question — do no-take MPAs work? And does size matter? Well, yes they do in fact increase biomass, density and size of the fish inside the protected area for most species. No argument there. And some of you will be relieved to know that size does not matter. The scale may be different — 100 to 200 fish versus 1000 to 2000; but nMPAs of all sizes work — inside the boundaries.
So the second question was do they work outside of the protected area — is there spillover, and if so, how much? Yes, there is — and here is a very interesting point, which I believe helps make the case for Snapper Ledge. It seems as though a series — or network — of small to medium-sized nMPAs may work better than one large one. But as is always the case, there are complications. Habitat, structure, depth, and other variables all enter the fray. A strategically placed network of small to medium-sized nMPAs can override the loss of fishing territory and result in a net gain in the yield of fish to the entire area, according to Dr. Halpern — but not for all species. There are places where the give-up of fishing space is less than compensated for by the increase in fish from the spillover from the nMPA. Each place is different — Dr. Halpern said they spent years and tons of bucks taking all that into consideration — and they did it at the state level within their 3-mile zone. But we have federal requirements, not just state, so strap yourself in — this is going to take a while.
Here is an interesting case in point — a study on the Dry Tortugas a few years back. Google “Bulletin of Marine Science 633-654 2006” and you can see this for yourself. I’ll just skip to the ending: “In the long run, a precautionary ecosystem-based approach to management using multiple control methods offers promise for providing fishery sustainability and persistence of the Florida Keys coral-reef ecosystem… combining catch controls with large closed areas may be the most effective system of reducing risk of stock collapse while maintaining short- and long-term economic performance and buffering uncertainty.” That says it all.
To get the big picture of what it will take to make Snapper Ledge a no-take zone, I had the privilege of talking with Sean Morton, superintendent of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. He was very familiar with Dr. Halpern’s work, and he explained the process from the FKNMS viewpoint. Sanctuary regulations, which can be drafted by the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council in conjunction with FKMNS, go through an extensive public process prior to the regulations being published in the Federal Register. The Snapper Ledge request will be part of an all-encompassing package from Biscayne to the Dry Tortugas, including the backcountry. Add to that all the studies and data required to support the requests. Because user groups have a chance to examine the documents and comment on the proposals, waiting periods for comments come into play.
This will most likely be a two- to three-year process. Sean explained the process, but we don’t have the space here for all the details. It is a massive project when all the elements are taken into consideration.
Paradigms shift. Conditions change. We don’t have a crystal ball. We do have a small area that can be preserved, and we will not know if the net reduction in fish caught or speared will be offset by the future increase in life generated by making Snapper Ledge a no-take zone. Only time will tell. I’d like to give it a shot — with a camera, not a spear.
Tim Grollimund is a freelance photographer and PADI divemaster based in Key Largo. He can be reached at tim@timgimages.com.
Three Lobster Mobsters Charged With Poaching Lobster Over July 4th Holiday
By KEVIN WADLOW kwadlow@keynoter.com
A total of 72 out-of-season lobster were seized in two separate poaching cases from this holiday weekend that resulted in the arrests of three men.
A Miami man was charged with poaching on both Saturday and Sunday, while two Key Largo residents were arrested in a separate case Friday, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
FWC Officer Chris Mattson had a role in two of the arrests involving 63 contraband lobster.
Mario Vazquez, 42, of Miami was arrested Sunday off Grassy Key after Mattson saw the defendant snorkeling without a required dive flag. Vazquez “began kicking up the bottom in attempts to conceal his speargun and catch bag under some rocks in the water,” said agency spokesman Officer Bobby Dube.
Mattson dove in and found a bag containing 40 speared lobster tails.
Vazquez was charged with possessing 40 out-of-season, speared and wrung tails, and possessing 26 undersized tails. He also was booked on a count of interfering with an FWC officer and failing to have a required measuring gauge.
A day earlier, two FWC officers alerted Mattson they had cited Vazquez for possession of nine speared, out-of-season lobster in a separate violation.
Vazquez’s spearguns and dive gear were seized as evidence. The defendant remained in the Monroe County jail on Tuesday with no bond allowed.
On Friday, FWC Officer Rene Taboas and Mattson said as they approached a small boat off Key Largo, they saw a man throwing lobsters overboard.
The officers took both men aboard the small boat into custody, then found 23 lobster in a bucket on the vessel. Luis Valdez, 75, and Luis F. Montenegro, 66, both were charged with interfering with an FWC officer, along with possessing 23 lobster out of season and possessing 20 undersized lobster.
The two suspects were jailed under bonds of $110,000 for Montenegro and $75,000 for Valdez.
Tags: Lobster MobsterCategories: Diving, Lobster Tags: Lobster Mobster
NEW Nearshore Lobster Diving Rules in the Florida Keys
By KEVIN WADLOW kwadlow@keynoter.com
A new Monroe County law on nearshore diving closes more Florida Keys waters this month — one of the most significant changes to recreational lobster harvesting in years. The law bans most diving and snorkeling within 300 feet of many shorelines effective July 24 — three days before the start of the two-day lobster mini-season on July 27 and 28.
Passed on a 3-2 vote of the County Commission in December, the law says there will be no diving or snorkeling “within 300 feet of improved residential or commercial shorelines” in unincorporated Monroe for a total of 10 days.
The law, which also covers canals and marinas, runs from July 24 to the end of mini-season on July 28, and then for the first five days of the regular lobster season that begins Aug. 6. The same unincorporated nearshore waters have been closed during the two-day mini-season since 2003.
Marathon, Key Colony Beach and Islamorada all have their own nearshore-diving bans, and are not affected by the unincorporated-county change. Key West keeps its waters open.
Distribution of a newly revised brochure on Florida Keys lobster laws started recently. “This appears to be a little-known change in the law,” said Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Deputy Superintendent Mary Tagliareni, who updated the brochure.
The County Commission declared in its ordinance that the new rules are needed “to abate the destruction of property, deleterious environmental effects and criminal trespass that results from the close proximity of divers to public and private property … in search of spiny lobster….”
The Sheriff’s Office and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are charged with enforcing the new law. “We can enforce it if our officers are nearby,” said FWC Officer Bobby Dube spokesman. “But we have a lot of other core missions that take priority in lobster season.
“We’re spread pretty thin and we’ve got a lot of water to cover,” Dube said. “It’s a very large area of responsibility.”
During the busy lobster sport-diving days, the Sheriff’s Office will put all available marine-certified deputies on the water, said Lou Caputo, chief of the agency’s Bureau of Law Enforcement. The Sheriff’s Office has four patrol boats of its own available, plus four personal watercraft on “law-enforcement loan.”
“So for those days, we can put eight boats on the water,” Caputo said. “That’s everything we have.”
Since the 2011 season marks the first year of the county’s expanded nearshore law, Caputo said, “The emphasis will be more on education. I expect that we’ll mostly warn people and ask them to move farther from shore.”
In communities that have a pre-existing nearshore diving ban, he added, “our deputies will be a little more strict.”
County Commissioner Sylvia Murphy spearheaded the ordinance expansion, saying her office constantly hears complaints from waterfront residents and business owners about mini-season problems.
“There are some people on the waterfront who want [the nearshore diving ban] for 12 months a year,” Murphy said. “I have some sympathy for their situation but not that much.”
The nearshore diving bans cover all types of diving — not just lobster harvests — because local governments cannot regulate wildlife harvesting. Exempted from the bans are diving for boat or dock maintenance.
Key Colony Beach has the lobster nearshore diving ban from four days before the start of the sport season until 10 days into the regular season. The regular lobster season lasts for eight months.
The rules do not affect offshore diving beyond 300 feet from shore. Existing closed areas at the reef and in protected areas remain closed.
Tags: LobsterDiving With Goliath Groupers
Goliath groupers gather annually in spawning aggregations at offshore reefs and wreck sites throughout the Caribbean and parts of Florida. During filming for Americas Underwater Treasures, a two-hour PBS special documenting all the U.S. National Marine Sanctuaries as part of the Ocean Adventures series, Jean-Michel, Fabien and Celine Cousteau witness a congregation of these enormous fish. Dive under the waves with them in this short film and discover the goliath grouper.
Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society
Tags: Diving, GrouperDry Tortugas Video
This 13-minute video — which can take a while to load, so be patient — is the work of the South Florida National Parks Trust, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. It explains the background that led to creation of the natural area, which is hoped to allow fish populations to rebound and to provide a sanctuary if you will for coral reefs, which face threats from anchor damage, degraded water quality, and warming oceans.
Tags: Dry TortugasCategories: Diving, Environment, Fishing, Florida Keys, Tortugas Tags: Dry Tortugas
Job Listing – Undersea Research Diver in Key Largo
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Tags: Diving, Jobs