IMPORTANT:
Ann Paul's Call for Tampa Audubon Members to attend a meeting of the Board of Florida FWC - Fishing Line Entanglement at Skyway Fishing Pier
Please attend this important meeting:
July 19, 8:30 am
Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront
333 1st St. SE
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Board will decide on some rules designed to reduce the numbers of birds, especially pelicans, that are injured or killed by entanglement in fishing gear at the Sunshine Skyway Fishing Pier State Park.
Attendance by Tampa Audubon members and friends will help the Commissioners realize that this issue is important to bird conservationists. We expect that a number of fishermen will be present to oppose any regulations or rules.
Tampa Audubon members Sandy Reed, Sherry Keller, and Ann Paul and others have been working with the Commission and State Park staff, the skyway pier concession, fishermen and volunteers rescuing hooked birds for several years.
We are very concerned about the large numbers, likely well over several thousand each year, of birds, mostly Brown Pelicans, killed and injured as they are accidentally caught by the Pier’s fishermen. Education of the fishermen on how to avoid catching birds and what to do if they accidentally snare them has helped, but still, too many birds are dying and injured.
The Wildlife Commissioners will hopefully pass some measures to reduce this.
Final Rule – Skyway Fishing Pier State Park. Staff will present final rules for fishing regulations that would reduce severe entanglement of seabirds at Skyway Fishing Pier State Park. Public comment on this agenda item will be limited to no more than 1 hour.
For more information about this, please contact Ann Paul, President,annpaul26@gmail.com or call 813/624-3149.
For more information on the FWC meeting, click here.
To make submit comments about the rules, click here. Advance comments should be submitted no later than 5 pm, Friday, July 14.
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