Tracking systems on hold, for now

Subhed: Commercial fishermen get 90-day grace period

BY TIMOTHY O'HARA

Citizen Staff

The federal government and fishery managers have postponed enacting a rule that requires commercial Gulf of Mexico reef fishermen to install satellite tracking devices on their vessels.

The National Marine Fisheries Service and Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council has agreed to give fishermen three more months to install tracking equipment on their boats, Fisheries Service spokeswoman Kim Amendola said.

The rule, which was to go into effect on Dec. 7, affects about 1,100 gulf reef permit-holders. About 220 of them already have purchased the equipment, said Beverly Lambert, the Fisheries Service's Vessel Monitoring System program manager.

Fishermen have complained, saying the program constitutes an unwarranted breach of privacy, maintenance costs are expensive and the equipment is prone to failure under conditions found on smaller boats. The rule prohibits fishermen from leaving the dock if the equipment is malfunctioning.

Florida Keys commercial angler Mary Gladding fitted her boat with the tracking equipment, which includes a keyboard and screen that's smaller than a laptop computer. Gladding initially was sent a tracking device set up for fishing off the upper East Coast rather than the Gulf of Mexico. She since has received a new device, Lambert said.

The Fisheries Service has reported problems with one model of the device manufactured by Boatracs. That model is not sending data to the Fisheries Services as it should, Lambert said. Fishery managers are working on the software and hope to have it fixed soon, Lambert said.

The Gulf Fishermen's Association filed a lawsuit in federal court last month to stop the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council from implementing the program. The fishermen question how small-boat owners are going to fit the equipment on their vessels. Satellite monitoring programs work better on larger commercial fishing boats off the Eastern Seaboard than for anglers fishing in smaller center-console vessels off the Florida Keys, the fishermen argue.

The council's decision to allow fishermen a grace period "was done independent of the lawsuit," Amendola said. The government and the council will begin requiring the equipment by the end of March, she said. The extension allows fishermen more time to purchase the equipment, which costs about $30,000. The government also is working on a grant project to subsidize the purchase costs.

Fishery managers say the program is a law enforcement tool that allows them to determine whether commercial anglers are fishing in no-take zones. Longtime commercial fisherman and Stock Island fish house owner Peter Bacle says it as an invasion of privacy.

"They are tracking us like we are all criminals," Bacle said.

Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen's Association Board President George Niles hopes that Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, and other federal lawmakers will step in and stop implementation of the law.

"Once this goes through, they are going to put this on every boat in the country," Niles said.

tohara@keysnews.com