MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — Conservation groups from the Tampa Bay Area headed to Jacksonville for a quarterly Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission meeting that could have a big impact on birds that live near the Sunshine Skyway Bridge – as well as the people who fish there.
After years of pushing for more protection for pelicans and other birds near the Skyway Bridge, it looks like the FWC is ready to propose some changes.
“Something absolutely has to be done,” Kim Begay, vice-chair of Friends of the Pelicans, said.
The organization has been fighting to save local waterfowl from painful injuries and death. Pelicans and other birds get caught up in hooks and fishing lines around the popular pier. So, Begay and others have been fighting for changes.
“The birds can’t speak for themselves, and it’s the FWC‘s job to protect them,” she said.
FWC is expected to propose changes at the far end of the Skyway south fishing pier that include a seasonal ban on multi-hook Sabiki rigs – which are often used to catch baitfish – and treble or three-pronged hooks. Both are popular with local anglers.
“It’s tough enough to catch fish as it is,” John Leo, who uses the sidiki multi-hook lure when he fishes at the pier, said. “I need whatever advantage I can have to catch fish, and this is an advantage.”
But there’s a huge cost. Begay says about 2,000 birds are killed each year.
“When they use these very dangerous rigs like sabiki and treble hooks, they cause some very severe injuries to the pelicans and if it tears certain ligaments like a patagium, it can cause them to have to be euthanized,” Begay said.
FWC is also likely to propose reducing the number of rods or fishing rigs per person at both the north and south piers. Currently, it’s three per person. The new rule would reduce that to two. Environmental groups would have preferred just one, but anglers say they have rights, too.
“Well, there are just so many pelicans around. And I have caught a few myself. Getting in my line, and it’s just sort of aggravating,” local angler Sara Barnard said.
But federal laws protect the birds, including the brown pelican, and the FWC is in charge of enforcing those rules.
“They can’t lose sight of the fact that they are required by law to protect the birds under the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act,” Begay said. “All of the compromising is great, but the bottom line is it’s their responsibility and they need to keep sight of that.”
One thing both sides do agree with is an additional FWC proposal requiring education for anyone who wants to fish at the pier on how to properly rescue pelicans.
Following Tuesday’s regional meeting, there will be a period of public input with a final vote expected sometime in early May.
If FWC passes the new rules, the current proposal says there would be a two-year review process. However, conservationists say that’s too long. They would prefer six months or a year because if the new measures have not been effective, hundreds, if not, thousands of birds will continue to die.