Item O1 0.1
County �� � .�� �y,4 ' �, "tr, BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Mayor Michelle Coldiron,District 2
�1 nff `ll Mayor Pro Tem David Rice,District 4
-Ile Florida.Keys Craig Cates,District 1
Eddie Martinez,District 3
w Mike Forster,District 5
County Commission Meeting
April 21, 2021
Agenda Item Number: 0.1
Agenda Item Summary #8058
BULK ITEM: No DEPARTMENT: BOCC District 2
TIME APPROXIMATE: STAFF CONTACT: Katherine Atkins (305)292-4512
n/a
AGENDA ITEM WORDING: Discussion and direction regarding March 8, 2021, Lobster Mini
Season Task Force meeting. Discussion item regards rules and regulations and how to make them
uniform countywide.
ITEM BACKGROUND: On March 8, 2021, a meeting of the Lobster Mini Season Task Force was
held via Zoom with 31 representatives in attendance including representatives from local
municipalities and stakeholder groups. A discussion was held about the possibility of making rules
and regulations for the event uniform countywide.
PREVIOUS RELEVANT BOCC ACTION: Mayor Coldiron last gave an update on the Lobster
Mini Season Task force at the January 20, 2021, meeting.
CONTRACT/AGREEMENT CHANGES:
n/a
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
DOCUMENTATION:
March 8 2021 Lobster Mini Season Task Force Minutes final
m onro e-c ounty_l ob ster-rule s
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Effective Date:
Expiration Date:
Total Dollar Value of Contract:
Total Cost to County:
Current Year Portion:
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Budgeted:
Source of Funds:
CPI:
Indirect Costs:
Estimated Ongoing Costs Not Included in above dollar amounts:
Revenue Producing: If yes, amount:
Grant:
County Match:
Insurance Required:
Additional Details:
n/a
REVIEWED BY:
Michelle Coldiron Completed 04/06/2021 2:27 PM
Bob Shillinger Completed 04/06/2021 4:56 PM
Liz Yongue Completed 04/06/2021 5:24 PM
Board of County Commissioners Pending 04/21/2021 9:00 AM
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March 8, 2 p.m. Lobster Mini Season Task Force Meeting Minutes
A. Brief educational introduction given by John Hunt, FWC Program
Administrator for Florida Keys
B. Introduction of participants (brief)
In attendance: 31
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John Bartus, Marathon City Council 0
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Michelle Coldiron, Monroe County Mayor, Commissioner 0
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Major Chad Scibilia, MCSO
Greg Louis, Vice Mayor of Layton
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Ron Sutton, Mayor of Key Colony Beach
Daniel Samess, Executive Director of Marathon Chamber of Commerce
Peter Frezza, Environmental Resources Manager, Village of Islamorada Z,
Roman Gastesi, Monroe County Administrator
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John Hunt, FWC Program Administrator
Ann Olsen, Last Stand 2
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CJ Sweetman, FWC Division of Marine Fisheries Management
Teri Johnston, Key West Mayor 0
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Danise Henriquez, Last Stand
William Lay, Key West Chamber of Commerce
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Sean Brandenburg, Key West Police Chief
Andy Newman, TDC Public Relations N
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Clayton Lopez, Key West City Commissioner
Michael Goldberg, Owner of Key Dives
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Stacey Mitchell, TDC Director
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Elizabeth Moscynski, Director of Key Largo Chamber of Commerce
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Mary Lou Hoover, Key West City Commissioner
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Lt. Kathleen McKinney, Florida Highway Patrol sub-district commander in the Q
Keys
Mark Gregg, Village of Islamorada Councilman
Dorian Patton, Executive Administrator to Key West City Manager 2
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George Garrett, Marathon City Manager 2
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Bill Lay, Board of Directors, Key West Chamber of Commerce
Joe Weatherby, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council, Lower 0
Keys seat )
Alexandria Hughes, Coast Guard Sector Key West, Enforcement Division
Bill Kelly, Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen's Association
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Dave Turner, Director of Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce
Robert Smith
Agenda item C. FDOT Assistance: barricades, barrels, signage to keep visitors 2
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from destroying fills
1) Work with county & municipalities on litter/waste/port-o-let concerns
2) Limit or eliminate access to fills?
Discussion:
John Bartus: We've seen visitors camping out and leaving lots of waste and
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garbage and I would like for us to maybe, as part of the conclusions, reach out to
FDOT on signage, barrels, to keep visitors from damaging the fills. This will also
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take municipalities to provide port-o-lets, figuring out a way to limit access to the CO
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fills during mini season.
Michelle Coldiron: We need better signage, plus where we launch boats, we need
to have additional employees to help with regulating the ramps and maybe even E
making port-o-potties available for people to use.
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Marg Gregg: I have a little experience from the commercial side but relevant to our
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situation we have leased the fills from the DOT and so we have complete control
of it. A recent incident damaged the light duty launch area. Before we had full 0
control, we had staff there, receptacles for waste. We had the Sheriff help us and it 2
deterred a lot of the issues. Controlling the fills is a big issue. I think having staff
present and signage is important.
Teri Johnston: As you know, we don't have too many of those issues fortunately. o
We don't have much of that situation but I will say one of the things I would love
to see is very clear cut expectations from our visitors during Mini Lobster Season 2
and I think that will go a long way with some of the unwanted behavior we have
had in the past. I think it will go a long way to make us more effective.
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Chad Scibilia: I think the best thing you could do, such as some of the
recommendations, signage, port-o-potties, is try to work in partnership with FDOT
to take care of their property as well as work with municipalities to take care of
their properties as well.
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D. County & Municipalities
1) Lobster harvesting prohibitions in canals and local waters
2) Litter solutions and enforcement
3) Boat ramp issues and potential closures 0
4) Education efforts
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Discussion: What are each municipality's regulations? What is the licensing fee?
John Hunt: You have to have the boat or fishing license - if you're a state of 2
Florida resident it's $17. Depending on where you acquire it from there is an
endorsement. It's been that way for a long time. If you folks are interested in 0
recommending a change in the cost structure of a recreational lobster license that is
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a legislative proposal. And so it's not just an FWC change. If that's a direction you co
want to go please work with local representatives.
Teri Johnston: Most of the things I've heard so far are around increased
enforcement for our visitors.
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John Bartus: Maybe an increase in the lobster endorsement may help the additional
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enforcement.
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E. Law Enforcement
1) Sheriff's Office &FWC personnel concerns o
2) Assistance needed from county & municipalities
3) Legal and court concerns 2
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Discussion:
Chad Scibilia: I think if we start talking about the rules and how we put them out to
our visitors, if we could get the rules and regulations in line, to make them the
same countywide, it would be easier on our officers as far as regulations.
John Bartus: Maybe that's something we could consider adopting, the Islamorada
version or the Key Colony version to make it easier on our enforcement. It's
worthy of considering. `W
Michelle Coldiron: I think the fact that our law enforcement are recommending
this, it's an idea to pursue right now.
Law Enforcement Wish List:
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Chad Scibilia: We already talked about if we could get on the same page with the
rules, doesn't matter if you're in Key Largo or Key West, I think more specifically
to everyone on the same pages, that just makes things easier all the way across as
far as enforcement is concerned. The second thing is your double trippers or triple U)
trippers. We have tried to do some things via law enforcement, but there is no real
enforcement teeth to it. As far as tagging I think that is something we can put on a
long term goal to get accomplished. I agree, as far as enforcement is involved. 0
How many people do you want here? From my personal observations I would N
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agree opening weekend is becoming more popular. Education is Key. What we see co
most of is "I didn't know that." We used to give a lot of notice to appears and
people didn't realize they were being charged with a crime. It's not a very good
tourist message but as far as education is concerned, I don't' know that people who
are spending all this money don't know what the rules are.
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Andy Newman — There were the various agencies got together and this was
focused more on the safety aspect. There was a whole dive alive program and
various agencies. It is something you could throw on your list there to consider. 0
F. Chambers, Lodging, Tourism
1) Bilingual education: brochures, signs, advertising for visitors in hotels & 2
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VRs
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2) Educational outreach in Miami-Dade/Broward Counties in advance of _
mini-season
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Discussion:
George Garrett: There is a brochure put out every year to make sure the regulations
are known. It would be better if we all had the same regs but that's a one-stop kind
of shop document. Trifold, available most places, hotels etc. That's been a great
effort in the past. Z
John Bartus: Education is key. I know our dive industry very much educates
visitors but those who visit vacation rentals may not know and the question is, how
do we get that message out to everybody?
Greg Louis: When you go to the Everglades you have to take a course. Would that 0
be something we could add on to the lobster license somehow? A course on how to
anchor properly and boating in the Keys.
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John Bartus: That sounds like something that would be through the Legislature
again but it's something we can speak about with our representatives for next
season.
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Andy Newman: I can tell you the Sanctuary is working on that. Also, the TDC the 0
last few years, we did a five-minute social media video that talks about
environmental respect during Lobster Mini Season as well as diver safety and we CO
feature FWC's Bobby Dube, and I would like to show that because it's a tool.
John Bartus: Could we include the link to it in our brochure s/web sites
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Stacey Mitchell: There is something that we can do. If it's possible, we condense
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the rules, regulations and safety messaging to a one-page sheet, we could have it
available digitally, in print, each lodging partner could put their logo on it and
distribute it. It's not the licensed and legal vacation rentals. It's how many are
staying in AirBnBs that come here specifically for lobster season. If we could
distribute it widely, we could blanket a lot of our visitors.
Brochure needs to be bilingual.
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Chambers:
Dave Turner: What we did last year when I started, we worked with local tackle
shops, restaurants and Winn-Dixie and handed out brochures and they threw them
in the bags. We went through 300 and printed more. The more education we can
get out there, that's where the Chambers can help out.
John Bartus: Distributing them to people that stop at our local grocery stores is a
really good idea. Even if they don't go to the Chambers, they do go to the grocery 0
stores. `"
Bill Lay: To take step back, one of the things I think everybody in this, a very
simplistic way, we all need to get on the same page, a unified message for maybe
the entire Keys. It would help a lot.
Stacey Mitchell: Repeat visitors who are not reliant on the school summer vacation _
calendar are bypassing mini season and waiting for the opening day weekend. We
have seen an increase in boater traffic during opening day weekend which may
coincide with the comment from Mr. Goldberg — an increase in opening day
weekend.
Michael Goldberg: My numbers show in general everything is lower revenue wise N
when it comes to specifically dedicated folks lobstering. I just think if we do things 0
a little more uniquely we would have more educated participants.
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Daniel Samess: I think just reiterating the obvious play. We will help disseminate
information. 100 percent consistency of information is paramount. Luckily we
have many talented people. Annual economic impact, it's important how we
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disseminate the information. Pictures do help. We have rack space at our Publix.
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We are on board of course.
Elizabeth Moscynski: Reach out to your Miami Dade Tourist Development C
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Andy Newman: We do use our social media. TDC does try to promote our safety
and resource protection video and we do that hard in the weeks before Lobster
Mini Season. There's a permanent spot on the dive section of the Keys website that
does that. There are seven or eight dynamic messaging signs all the way to Key 2
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West and they have tremendous visibility. I've always thought that was a great 0)
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opportunity for when there is not an accident or a silver or amber alert. _
Teri Johnston: We are welcoming 40-50,000 people into our communities. We are
communities first and destination second. We are an environmentally sensitive area
and we'd love to invite those who are responsible into our communities. I don't )
think we can put it out there enough: please respect our islands.
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G. Dive/Snorkeling/Tackle/Marinas
Discussion:
Michael Goldberg: We have collected 6 tons of debris and a lot of that has been 0
from anchors. We've been asking for years for more discussion about preservation y
of our reefs. We should have a long-term goal that addresses the over arching
problems with our reef, destruction and how we treat it. I follow the trends of how
many come down for lobster season. I've owned the dive shop here now for 18 U)
years and the number of people coming down is at least 50 percent less than it was
five years ago. We are already seeing a reduction. N
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John Bartus: There is also a lot of the increase on the side of the road.
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Michael Goldberg: There are many reasons we've seen a reduction in the number Co
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of people coming for mini season. Our reef isn't as healthy as it used to be. There
are many reasons.
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Michelle Coldiron: A comment was made about the stress this is putting on the
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lobster industry and I know early on when we had our first meeting we were
educated on the lobsters and I know John Hunt and CJ are still on the call. Is mini 0
season stressing the lobsters?
John Hunt: People could debate the fair share but the two-day sport dive season
itself is measured in a few hundred thousand lobsters in that time frame. Mini
season is not a spiny lobster population issue 0o
Joe Weatherby: I've brought this up several times we have a very good spread of
the concerns and I would think a lot of what we're talking about, to include classes, _
anchoring, seasons, a lot of it is contained under the subheading of outreach, W
education. As far as I know there is one sign on the side of US 1 that says you are C
in a National Marine Sanctuary. I've waited in a lot of traffic — a lot of good time
to hear about the sanctuary. I don't know that sanctuary X wouldn't be a good idea
- how to anchor a boat, what to do with your trash. Given the outreach capability. I
would be willing to work on this if I wasn't pulling the plow by myself.
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H. Environmental Issues
Discussion:
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Ann Olsen: I think education is one thing and then the people who have money to _
come down - they might have boats going 40-50 miles an hour and never even see
a turtle before they run over them. Just to affirm what Mayor Johnston was saying: 0
it's on the water, it's in neighborhoods with illegal vacation rentals.
John Hunt: The recreational traps tend to be less well-managed.
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CJ Sweetman: In the trap cleanup that we do toward the end of the stone crab and 0
lobster seasons we are seeing an increased amount of stone crab traps out there
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Ann Olsen: We have since put a letter together will eleven other groups saying is
there any way we can minimize the environmental impact as well as improve it for
residences. Is there something that could be adapted, some way to improve the
ability of law enforcement? E
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I. Future Solutions 0
1) Tag System Q
Bill Kelly: Our FWC representatives are very considerate of a lobster tagging
program. Over the past couple of years, we have 3,100 square miles of marine
sanctuary, they cut the budget from over $8 million to about $3.5 million here. We
are understaffed with law enforcement. Most of the resource damage to the 2
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populations as well as the environmental damage is having the week prior to it by 0)
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those who are poaching lobsters. There are a couple things we could do. Monroe
County rallied behind the tagging program, and we would need some support from
Jim Mooney since it would require some legislative action to get that
accomplished. We've got to recognize the stress that's taking place on our corals.
It's critical that we continue dialogue with Sanctuary to see if we can't get more U'
protections for those 60 coral areas that we initiated in 2011.
Show of hands: Most in favor of tagging system
SHORT TERM GOALS:
• Increasing distribution of educational, bilingual brochures 2
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• Educational videos for websites — there are two videos, one specifically on
the Lobster Mini Season and one for general boating fishing and diving,
rules of engagement, which addresses a lot of the conversation here about
what we expect, protecting our marine environment.
• Increase education on laws and punishments
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• Help mitigate impacts on roadside via garbage receptacles, port-o-potties
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• Provide County staff and staff from municipalities to help regulate boat N
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ramps
• Contact new District 6 Secretary Stacy Miller about use of signs
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• Coordinate in another 60 days. For all elected, look at rules and regulations
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and exchange those rules to get consensus across the County for a unified
rule. 0
LONG TERM GOALS:
• Tag system
• Possible increase in fees for lobster endorsement to help with additional o
enforcement
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