This is a very serious issue to all of the bonefish anglers that come to the Florida Keys. Please voice you opinions to the FWC. I believe the best chance of getting FWC’s attention is for all concerned citizens, anglers and business to send emails to the FWC. The address & contact info is at the end of this email. Please forward this to other bonefish anglers.

Date: October 9, 2009

To: Charlotte Ambrogio

From: Mike Neal

I attended the FWC Bonefish Public Workshop to discuss the possible rule changes to eliminate the harvest and possession of bonefish making the species solely a “catch and release” species. This meeting was held at the IFGA in Dania Florida Thursday night. The only familiar face at this meeting was Tim Mahaffey.  Similar to the low attendance at the Key Colony meeting, the Dania meeting had approximately 8 individuals plus 3 FWC representatives. This speaks volumes about how important this issue is to the general public.

If you think that there are truly enough people in our community that are going to be potentially impacted by these proposed rule changes, I would recommend that we try to distribute this information to individuals and business so that they can forward their concerns and comments to the FWC prior to the December 10th commission meeting which will be discussing this matter formally.


My take away from the meeting is as follows:

1.      The FWC is going to decide on this matter following 2 public workshops (which will have exposed this issue to arguably less than 20 people).  A draft rule prepared by FWC staff will be prepared for a December 10 Commission Meeting in Clewiston.

2.      The only possible alternative options to making the species “catch and release” thereby eliminating possession and harvesting was the idea of implementing a tag program similar to what is currently in place for Tarpon. The FWC has made it clear that they do not support this option. (I did not understand some the FWC comments, however I believe that they stated that the tag option would require significant rule changes that would not likely be considered in order to implement the tag option). I personally do not believe that a tagging option would be a bad alternative to what is in place now, and would represent only minor inconveniences and potentially some minor costs to anglers. One individual at the meeting representing the Tarpon and Bonefish Trust suggested that the tagging program now in place for other species could be modified to require follow up by anglers that could produce some reasonably good research data.

3.      Tags for game fish such as Tarpon do not appear to be beneficial to the FWC as they do not produce significant revenues that would in turn benefit habitat restoration or scientific research. This would be even more true with regard to Bonefish because there are generally less anglers involved in the pursuit of this species.

4.      I believe that the FWC understands that the pressure on Bonefish comes primarily from sport anglers who only catch and release the species, and that killing the fish is generally a rare event. I think that it is also clear to them that individuals involved in sport fishing for this species are generally catch and release advocates who are interested in protection and conservation of both the species and the habitat. The only reason that sport anglers would meet the current definition of “possessing” a fish would be for a photo opportunity or transporting a fish to a tournament scale or for a possible IFGA record.


The bottom line is that the proposed rule change will have the greatest impact not on protection of the species, but on the very limited number of people who make their living from and take great enjoyment in sport angling for Bonefish. This will impact the geographic areas of Florida that happen to be the home of Bonefish (i.e. the Florida Keys), our fishing guides, our tournaments and local keys businesses that make their living from the sport fishing industry.

The only way to effectively influence the FWC’s decision is to let your voice be heard. Those who are truly concerned about the proposed rule changes should send emails voicing your concerns to the below individual:


Jessica McCawley

Biological Administrator III

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

620 South Meridian Street

Tallahassee, Fl 32399-1600

Email:  CLOAKING




Hi Fellow Bonefish Anglers,

Attached are notes from the recent bonefish regulations workshop and the presentation handout. The only option as I see it is to keep bonefish regulations as they are. If the door is open for the state to regulate this fish, it will turn bonefish into a species of critical concern. This means they will be on the same status as jewfish…not allowed out of the water or even caught. The state biologist told me that if bonefish go catch and release, the IGFA will not accept any further sportfishing records. We, as guides and anglers, take better care of the bonefish then any others.

We are not the cause of this alleged “bonefish decline.” The economic impact of the Florida Keys would be significant. Please voice your concerns and opinions to the state biologist. The e-mail address is below and in the attachment. The letter is from clients of mine who attended the Ft. Lauderdale meeting.

Thanks, Capt. Duane Baker

State of Florida Biologist to contact:

Jessica McCawley

Biological Administrator III

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

620 South Meridian Street

Tallahassee, Fl 32399-1600

Email:  CLOAKING

Thanks to all for their care and concern!