Official says swordfish landings must be reported

[Sam]

Some random fish-related ramblings that have accumulated from events during the past week:
• Last Saturday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries official who will decide whether swordfish long-liners may return to the closed area in the Florida Straits spoke to recreational anglers who convened at the International Game Fish Association in Dania Beach. Most of the question-answer-comment session was a rehash of topics that have been covered numerous times before at public meetings and on the Internet.
However, one thing NOAA's Bill Hogarth said stood out amid the rhetoric. Shaking his finger at the audience of 50 or so, Hogarth told them that recreational anglers are not reporting their swordfish landings. You know it's true; and you have to do better.
As most knowledgeable anglers engaged in this fishery already know, long-liners are using the argument that the United States is in peril of losing its international swordfish quota -- not fulfilled since the mid-1990s -- to under-developed countries that are far less conservation-minded in their fishing methods than the members of the U.S. fleet. Therefore, the argument goes, U.S. long-liners need to catch more fish to hang onto their quota. According to available statistics, the recreational fishery is hardly even a bit player.

Miami Beach charter captain Bouncer Smith made an excellent point at the meeting: that recreationals should not only be required to report their landings -- but their releases as well -- since the catch-and-release fishery for swordfish off South Florida is a considerable economic engine that needs to be counted. When you figure what recreational and charter fishermen and charter customers spend on boats, gear and fuel, it's not hard to see that every released swordfish is worth a lot more money alive than one that is simply killed for food.

The past month or so of blustery easterly winds has pushed clear Gulf Stream waters close to shore, bringing abundant dolphin and other species within easy reach of local anglers if they care to brave the rough waves. Among the fisheries benefiting from strong currents and clear water is the permit-wreck fishery. Capt. Wayne Conn -- operator of the Reward Fleet at Miami Beach Marina -- and Ryan Eidelstein and A.J. Sepe -- both of Miami -- have been catching and releasing numerous permit to 40 pounds off a 140-foot deep wreck off Key Largo.

But when my cohosts on radio's The Weekly Fisherman (560 WQAM) -- Eric Brandon and Steve Waters -- and I went fishing last Wednesday with Conn and Eidelstein, we only got two permit bites (both mine) on the wreck. I lost both fish -- which pulled like sea monsters -- when they cut me off in the structure.
Conn pointed out that the current was trickling at barely one knot -- much slower than during the double-digit permit days he and his friends had enjoyed previously.
His statement about the weak current brought to mind a scuba diving trip I took several years ago to Alligator Reef off Key Largo -- a lovely spot filled with colorful coral, rocky caverns, and swaying sea fans -- where I have observed everything from Goliath grouper to large snook.
On the day of my dive, the current was strong enough that I had to tuck in close to the caverns to avoid being swept away. I noticed the snook, grouper, snapper, Goliaths, and others were doing the same thing.

But not the permit. Three of them hovered about 25 feet from me in open water -- their underslung snouts pointed directly into the current, their garbage-can-lid bodies undulating comfortably, demonstrating they could do this all day long.
The point is: current is your friend when you are fishing for permit -- either on the wrecks or the flats.

Official says swordfish landings must be reported - 04/29/2007 - MiamiHerald.com