Recently, more than 170 charter captains gathered on Florida’s east coast at Jensen Beach to attend a two-day educational, informative and competitive event in support of their livelihoods and continued longevity of the profession. The event, hosted by Costa Del Mar at River Palm Cottages & Fish Camp, offered fun competitions between captains, bonfires, films, and a pig roast, but the encompassing message was conservation.
Those in attendance were Costa charter captains from as far away as Michigan, New York, and North Carolina. Most, however, were Floridian guides who make their living in these waters and are with the movement Captains For Clean Water. Check out the website www.captainsforcleanwater.org and sign up with your support. Otherwise, it will soon be the Neverglades instead of the Everglades.
The Captains For Clean Water movement is the result of years of mismanagement by the Corps of Engineers. Our nationally recognized estuaries in Florida are in long-term collapse due to damming, ditching and draining of the River of Grass. Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Rivers are artificially connected to Lake Okeechobee by way of man-made canals that allow billions of gallons of nutrient- and sediment-laden freshwater into them. Lake Okeechobee discharges are killing sea grass, oysters and other aquatic life. Nitrogen, phosphorous, insecticides (from spraying) and other pollutants linger for years in the estuaries. These chemicals fuel toxin-producing algal blooms and increased red tide outbreaks.
Moreover, the Herbert Hoover Dike surrounds Lake Okeechobee and prevents water from flowing south into the Everglades, as it has historically done. Florida Bay and the Everglades now receive about 1/6th of the freshwater flow it once did, killing thousands of acres of seagrass because of high levels of salinity.
The solution, in short, is: Lake Okeechobee must be cleaned in man-made wetlands before releasing water south through the Everglades. More storage and stormwater treatment areas south of Lake Okeechobee are required. The legislation is already passed with the money available to acquire land for additional storage. Everyone needs to get on board and sign the petition (referendum). Again, go to www.captainsforcleanwater.org for more information and how to support the movement.
Many attendees brought their fishing gear and took advantage of the annual mullet run from the beach, the dock and on boats. Those of us who took our boats had the opportunity to welcome visiting guides aboard to experience Florida fishing at its finest. Snook, tarpon and jack crevalle were inshore and off the beaches. Offshore pelagics such as dolphin and sailfish were capitalizing on the mullet as well. My first mate, Vicki, and I welcome aboard Capt. Jason Coslow and his wife Kathy of KC-1 Sport Fishing of Lake Michigan. Kathy hooked up her first tarpon along the St. Lucie inlet. Jason assisted Vicki in landing and boating a sailfish over 5 feet long.
Contact Captain Terry Fisher of Fish Face Charters in Cape Coral, Florida. at 239-357-6829 or fishfacecharters@yahoo.com. See his website at www.fishfacecharters.com. He is also available as a captain for hire on your vessel.