FWC to meet in Apalachicola
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
(FWC) will convene its next meeting at the Franklin County
Courthouse in Apalachicola Feb. 17-18. The meeting will come
to order at 8:30 a.m. both days, with numerous high-profile
issues dominating the agenda.
Wednesday's (Feb. 17) agenda includes an update on the
fox or coyote enclosure permit process. The update will
brief the commissioners on the history and results of recent
FWC investigations into the operation of enclosures where
hunters pursue foxes or coyotes with dogs. Staff will
present regulation options for those facilities.
Final action on proposals to revamp deer hunting zones
and dates to align them with the rut – the period when
hunters have the highest success rate – is on the Wednesday
agenda, as well.
Commissioners also will consider proposed rules to
clarify regulation of nuisance wildlife and nonnative
wildlife. In addition, Wednesday's agenda includes final
approval of hunting and fishing regulations on public lands
and creating a special two-day youth turkey hunt for
supervised children, under age 16.
Also on Wednesday, Commissioners will hear a staff
progress report and legislative updates on reptiles of
concern. The Commission will consider a draft rule
furthering efforts with reptiles of concern. The draft rule
extends amnesty for turning over reptiles of concern to
licensed individuals and incorporates changes to the
permanent identification of the animals.
In addition, commissioners will consider a series of
captive wildlife draft rules regarding hobbyists, Critical
Incident/Disaster plans, and required labeling of all
wildlife shipments. Staff also will present a draft rule
updating the process by which counties notify the FWC
regarding local zoning and building codes for proposed
facilities housing Class I or Class II wildlife.
Thursday's agenda will include a staff report regarding
several technical problems in the FWC's licensing system.
Commissioners will consider options to improve customer
service.
Another staff report will focus on an initiative to
establish youth conservation centers around the state to
offer children opportunities to connect with hunting,
fishing and other outdoor recreational activities.
Also on Thursday, the Commission will hold final
public hearings on proposed rules that would prohibit all
harvest of lemon sharks from Florida waters and extend the
expiration date of the moratorium on new spiny lobster
commercial dive permits from July 1, 2010, until July 1,
2015.
In addition, commissioners will consider a proposed draft
rule that would include all species of bonefish found in
Florida in FWC's bonefish management rules, extend Florida
bonefish regulations into adjacent federal waters, and
require that bonefish be landed in a whole condition.
The FWC will also consider a proposed draft rule that
would:
- apply Florida's weakfish management rules only
in state waters of Nassau and Duval counties north of
the Buckman Bridge on the St. Johns River;
- provide that all weakfish-like fish (including
weakfish, sand seatrout, and their hybrids) would be
considered weakfish in this management area;
- reduce the daily recreational bag limit for
weakfish from four fish to one fish; and
- establish a commercial weakfish harvest limit
of 100 pounds per vessel per day or trip, whichever is
longer, in the weakfish management area.
Another proposed draft rule for Commission consideration
would:
- allow all ballyhoo endorsement holders to sell
their endorsement to other commercial fishers from July
1 to March 31 each year,
- limit any one entity from holding more than
two ballyhoo endorsements at any one time,
- prohibit leasing of the endorsement, and
- allow only one endorsement per saltwater
products license and one saltwater products license to
be associated with a single endorsement.
In other marine fisheries action, the Commission will
review and discuss Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean red
snapper and other federal fishery management issues.