FL wants to whitelist fish and destroy aquarium trade
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Clearly
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U.S. Gun Policy: Global Comparisons
While U.S. gun deaths have fallen from an all-time high in 2021, the persistent death toll continues to provoke intense domestic and international scrutiny of the United States’ gun laws, which have …
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This seems like good news. The new Executive Director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWS) must be confirmed by the Florida State Senate.
That said, the new Executive Director (who appears to be a career Florida FWS guy) was nominated by the FWC Commission.
The seven commissioners of the FWC are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Florida legislature for five-year terms.
So unless the Governor replaces the Commissioners, then it's hard to believe that one Executive Director would be that different than the prior.
That said, the new Executive Director (who appears to be a career Florida FWS guy) was nominated by the FWC Commission.
The seven commissioners of the FWC are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Florida legislature for five-year terms.
So unless the Governor replaces the Commissioners, then it's hard to believe that one Executive Director would be that different than the prior.
Well here's hoping. So far he has stated that he was willing to work with us to come to an amenable solution. A complete 180 from what the other FWC people were doing.
As for Predatory Fins the rumor is that is exactly why they moved. I have no connection to them so I cannot confirm. It is one thing to say there was plenty of notice to move, but at the same time leaving the area your family has been in for generations is not as easy of a task as it seems. Also, some of these businesses have over 100 employees. Some of the farms exceed 100 acres. That is much more difficult to move.
We should be cautiously optimistic. It was great that people showed up and a sign of maturity that the commissioners admitted this was bigger than they realized. Barreto said he thought we were only talking about 3,000 species when he started this. The new ED is from law enforcement and while there will be a lot of varying opinions on that this is at least someone who knows what it is like to live with laws that are passed. He should understand how hard a whitelist is going to be for FWC LEO's to enforce and how much of a burden it will be to expect them to identify thousands of species. He has also offered to come to the next TAG meeting. That is something no one else has offered to do. This doesn't guarantee a better outcome, but we should regroup and see what going forward looks like. The next TAG is the 21st in Tampa. Please show up, watch the process, and make public comments.
The FWC staff biologists sometimes come at things with a more idealistic view. A great example of this was the discussion of closing catch and release fishing in 3 goliath grouper spawning areas. When the biologist was questioned as to how the results would be measured his response was that it would be too hard to calculate as there were too many variables. Commissioners mentioned that they had asked fishermen to pay for the artificial reefs so that fish would aggregate there and create fishing opportunities. They pointed out that they are now asking fishermen to give up rights to fish in these areas because they behaved exactly as they were designed this is a difficult ask. One commissioner mentioned doing a three-year closure and allowing staff to evaluate the efficacy of the closure after three years. Again, the biologist said it wouldn't be possible to measure. These are the kinds of policies that biologists push. They know they will never have to explain themselves to the public. For all of the complaints about LEO's at least they know they are the ones that have to deal with the angry public.
Again, please stay on topic. MFK is a great place to be IMO because of the lack of politics. Obviously, there is a lot going on in Florida and the world and yes to some extend some of them are connected, but not entirely. On the massive national issues, it hasn't been solved with a lot of smart people working on it. A handful of people yelling at each other on MFK probably won't solve them either. However, we can make a difference on things that directly affect our hobby. Maybe
Oddball
can help us with the guidelines.
Thanks for everyone who showed up or signed a petition. Let's relax for a second and enjoy a decent outcome for the time being and get back to work on sensible regulation that keeps the industry and hobby healthy. Keep coming to commission meetings and keep supporting your organizations like USARK-FL and Pet Advocacy Network.
We should be cautiously optimistic. It was great that people showed up and a sign of maturity that the commissioners admitted this was bigger than they realized. Barreto said he thought we were only talking about 3,000 species when he started this. The new ED is from law enforcement and while there will be a lot of varying opinions on that this is at least someone who knows what it is like to live with laws that are passed. He should understand how hard a whitelist is going to be for FWC LEO's to enforce and how much of a burden it will be to expect them to identify thousands of species. He has also offered to come to the next TAG meeting. That is something no one else has offered to do. This doesn't guarantee a better outcome, but we should regroup and see what going forward looks like. The next TAG is the 21st in Tampa. Please show up, watch the process, and make public comments.
The FWC staff biologists sometimes come at things with a more idealistic view. A great example of this was the discussion of closing catch and release fishing in 3 goliath grouper spawning areas. When the biologist was questioned as to how the results would be measured his response was that it would be too hard to calculate as there were too many variables. Commissioners mentioned that they had asked fishermen to pay for the artificial reefs so that fish would aggregate there and create fishing opportunities. They pointed out that they are now asking fishermen to give up rights to fish in these areas because they behaved exactly as they were designed this is a difficult ask. One commissioner mentioned doing a three-year closure and allowing staff to evaluate the efficacy of the closure after three years. Again, the biologist said it wouldn't be possible to measure. These are the kinds of policies that biologists push. They know they will never have to explain themselves to the public. For all of the complaints about LEO's at least they know they are the ones that have to deal with the angry public.
Again, please stay on topic. MFK is a great place to be IMO because of the lack of politics. Obviously, there is a lot going on in Florida and the world and yes to some extend some of them are connected, but not entirely. On the massive national issues, it hasn't been solved with a lot of smart people working on it. A handful of people yelling at each other on MFK probably won't solve them either. However, we can make a difference on things that directly affect our hobby. Maybe
Oddball
can help us with the guidelines.Thanks for everyone who showed up or signed a petition. Let's relax for a second and enjoy a decent outcome for the time being and get back to work on sensible regulation that keeps the industry and hobby healthy. Keep coming to commission meetings and keep supporting your organizations like USARK-FL and Pet Advocacy Network.
Who knows. Too much heat from the pet industry? The governor looked at the potential economic impact and told them to back off? We may never know and quite frankly I don't care as long as they don't destroy the pet industry. Never look a gift horse in the mouth.
if you take those numbers with a grain of salt. you have double the ratio of gun deaths in the US vs canada. but the US homicide rate overall for any form of killing is 3x greater in the US. these charts are nothing more then a waste of time and all it does is cause confusion, the resources should be going into, why is there so much "violence" in the states. not blame guns.Clearly
View attachment 1518648
U.S. Gun Policy: Global Comparisons
While U.S. gun deaths have fallen from an all-time high in 2021, the persistent death toll continues to provoke intense domestic and international scrutiny of the United States’ gun laws, which have …
you can use Toronto Canada as a super clear picture to why legal guns have very little impact on homicide rates.Clearly
View attachment 1518648
U.S. Gun Policy: Global Comparisons
While U.S. gun deaths have fallen from an all-time high in 2021, the persistent death toll continues to provoke intense domestic and international scrutiny of the United States’ gun laws, which have …
legal gun owners are practically non existent here. but it has the highest homicide rate in canada. fact not feelings. sorry
Fish like Hoplias and piranhas are already illegal in Florida so a business that wants to sell those probably shouldn't be in Florida.
Trying to put a white list in place represents a massive burden on an agency like FWS. The Governor's budget proposal to the legislature would need to reflect the additional resources needed for a white list rule implementation, enforcement, etc. And likely an impact statement on projected businesses and jobs lost. A career FWS guy would have a visceral understanding of this: "Who's gonna enforce this?... Does this mean we need to hire more people and/or pay lots of overtime?"
What I still don't grasp is why this is a priority for FWS. Has anyone asked the Governor's office to comment on this?
Trying to put a white list in place represents a massive burden on an agency like FWS. The Governor's budget proposal to the legislature would need to reflect the additional resources needed for a white list rule implementation, enforcement, etc. And likely an impact statement on projected businesses and jobs lost. A career FWS guy would have a visceral understanding of this: "Who's gonna enforce this?... Does this mean we need to hire more people and/or pay lots of overtime?"
What I still don't grasp is why this is a priority for FWS. Has anyone asked the Governor's office to comment on this?
As for Predatory Fins the rumor is that is exactly why they moved. I have no connection to them so I cannot confirm. It is one thing to say there was plenty of notice to move, but at the same time leaving the area your family has been in for generations is not as easy of a task as it seems. Also, some of these businesses have over 100 employees. Some of the farms exceed 100 acres. That is much more difficult to move.
We should be cautiously optimistic. It was great that people showed up and a sign of maturity that the commissioners admitted this was bigger than they realized. Barreto said he thought we were only talking about 3,000 species when he started this. The new ED is from law enforcement and while there will be a lot of varying opinions on that this is at least someone who knows what it is like to live with laws that are passed. He should understand how hard a whitelist is going to be for FWC LEO's to enforce and how much of a burden it will be to expect them to identify thousands of species. He has also offered to come to the next TAG meeting. That is something no one else has offered to do. This doesn't guarantee a better outcome, but we should regroup and see what going forward looks like. The next TAG is the 21st in Tampa. Please show up, watch the process, and make public comments.
The FWC staff biologists sometimes come at things with a more idealistic view. A great example of this was the discussion of closing catch and release fishing in 3 goliath grouper spawning areas. When the biologist was questioned as to how the results would be measured his response was that it would be too hard to calculate as there were too many variables. Commissioners mentioned that they had asked fishermen to pay for the artificial reefs so that fish would aggregate there and create fishing opportunities. They pointed out that they are now asking fishermen to give up rights to fish in these areas because they behaved exactly as they were designed this is a difficult ask. One commissioner mentioned doing a three-year closure and allowing staff to evaluate the efficacy of the closure after three years. Again, the biologist said it wouldn't be possible to measure. These are the kinds of policies that biologists push. They know they will never have to explain themselves to the public. For all of the complaints about LEO's at least they know they are the ones that have to deal with the angry public.
Again, please stay on topic. MFK is a great place to be IMO because of the lack of politics. Obviously, there is a lot going on in Florida and the world and yes to some extend some of them are connected, but not entirely. On the massive national issues, it hasn't been solved with a lot of smart people working on it. A handful of people yelling at each other on MFK probably won't solve them either. However, we can make a difference on things that directly affect our hobby. Maybe
Thanks for everyone who showed up or signed a petition. Let's relax for a second and enjoy a decent outcome for the time being and get back to work on sensible regulation that keeps the industry and hobby healthy. Keep coming to commission meetings and keep supporting your organizations like USARK-FL and Pet Advocacy Network.
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