Item L01BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY
Meeting Date: January 28, 3009 Division: BOCC
Bulk Item: Yes _ No x Department: George Neugent
Staff Contact Person/Phone #: Terri Marble 4512
AGENDA ITEM WORDING:
Discussion of Florida Keys Commercial Fishman request of support from the Board of County
Commissioners on their request of waiving of Spiny Lobster Tag Fee for 2009 from Florida Fish &
Wildlife Commission
ITEM BACKGROUND:
PREVIOUS RELEVANT BOCC ACTION:
CONTRACT/AGREEMENT CHANGES:
STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS:
TOTAL COST: INDIRECT COST: BUDGETED: Yes No
COST TO COUNTY: SOURCE OF FUNDS:
REVENUE PRODUCING: Yes No AMOUNT PER MONTH Year
APPROVED BY: County Atty OMB/Purchasing Risk Management
DOCUMENTATION: Included x Not Required
DISPOSITION:
Revised 1/09
AGENDA ITEM #
Page 1 of 2
Marble -Terri
From: Neugent-George
Sent: Saturday, December 27, 2008 11:56 AM
To: Neugent-George; Marble -Terri
Subject: FW. FKCFAIMC-OFF request for FWC to waive next years tag fee for spiny lobster
Agenda item
From: Scott Zimmerman [mailto:fkcfal@hotmail.com]
Sent: Monday, December 22, 2008 9:18 AM
To: ken.haddad@myfwc.com; commissioners@fwc.state.fl.us; commissioners@myfwc.com; Mark Robson; Scott Zimmerman;
kathleen hampton; wiIlia m,teehan@myfwc.com; Neugent-George
Cc: betsy daniels; mitch gale; karl Lessard; jell kramer; nicklausd@bellsouth.net; george niles; simi01@bellsouth.net; jty yar;
ernie_piton@bellsouth.net; Butch Hewlett; peteworthington@msn.com; brute irwin
Subject: FKCFA/MC-OFF request for FWC to waive next years tag fee for spiny lobster
FWC Commissioners and Staff,
The Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen's Association and the Marathon Chapter of Organized Fishermen of
Florida both passed motions requesting that the spiny lobster tag fee for next year be waived.
I am contacting you to see if there still an opportunity for this issue to be addressed in January (before your next
meeting in February)?
As you may already know, our commercial fisheries in Monroe County need all the help they can get. The price
for lobster has tanked and fishermen are seeing $4 a lb. as opposed to the $7 a lb they saw last year- a lot of
product has not moved from the freezers and there are 8,000 tags for sale in the local papers. In addition, many
traps were lost in the three big storms we saw this year.
I have attached a letter (below) regarding a 5 million dollar bailout we requested months ago. The letter explains
the difficult economic times our Commercial fisheries are facing right now.
FKCFA/MC-OFF believe that waiving next years trap tag fee would be in the best interest of Florida's spiny lobster
fishery.
Please feel free to contact me anytime and happy holidays to all of you.
Sincerely,
Scott
Scott E. Zimmerman M.Sc.,
Executive Director
Florida Keys Commercial Fisherman's Association
P.O Box 501404
Marathon, Fl 33050
Phone: (305) 619-0039
Fax: (305) 634-4794
Email: fkcfal@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.Fkcfa,org
Aplease consider the environment before printing this email
12/29/2008
Page 2 of 2
Likes other -counties in Florida, Monroe County is facing difficult economic times. We are contacting you because
Monroe County's commercial fishing industry is seriously concerned about the fleet's ability to bounce back from its
most recent hurricane battles.
With landings and catch limits in decline, the overall cumulative losses to industry are worse than originally expected:
1. Since the storms, many fishermen did not have the resources to replace lost/damaged gear. The trap losses in the
middle and lower Florida Keys could leave approximately $7,000,000 of lobster in the water. Even more worrisome is
the falling catch rates for both stone crab and lobster.
2. A softening stone crab market, where Florida's fish -houses are storing +200,000 of pounds of claws from last year,
will force fish houses to sell old product at or below cost. Many fishermen have already been told they will not be able
to fish for stone crabs this year- The bulk of Florida's stone crab fishery is in Monroe County.
3. The 4 month grouper closure, during a time when our local multi -species fishermen will need to replace money lost
this year in trap fisheries, will be closed. Tourists who normally come to Florida in the winter to bottom fish for
grouper will not be here this year. Recreational fisheries may be able to sneak a couple fish by, but commercials cannot
sell these products during the closed season.
These 3 factors, coupled with increasing operating costs (fuel, bait, gear), decreasing landings and draconian
regulations are cumulatively brewing the perfect storm for Monroe County's seafood industry- no new money.
It is in the best interest for the federal government to step in now before the situation gets worse.
On May 16, 2008, at the request of New England senators, the US Senate Appropriations Committee gave $75 million
for fisheries relief. $13 million dollars of that money went to bail out the New England commercial fleet. Restrictions
were also relaxed on their local stocks. With their lobster selling less than hamburger meat, many Northeast boats in the
will stay on the dock. Monroe County's commercial fleet has not received similar Federal aid to compensate for losses;
which has put our local seafood industry in a very difficult situation.
The Federal government declared Monroe County a disaster twice (TS Faye and Hurricane Ike). For this reason, the
FKCFA board requested that the Federal government offset industry losses by evenly distributing $5,000,000 dollars
throughout Monroe County's commercial permit holders, concentrating on those with active landings and professional
operations.
In these tough economic times, asking for the federal governments help was not an easy decision, but at our last board
meeting, the decision to ask for federal aid passed unanimously. Monroe County's commercial fishermen are the first
line of South Florida's valuable marine resources, and many local businesses depend on their success.
Please feel free to call me if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Scott E. Zimmerman M.Sc.,
Executive Director
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12/29/2008