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Old 02-12-2013, 10:15 PM   #1
SC00BAD1V3R
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Collier ban lifted!

Thanks to everyone who has helped this cause along the way. Lots of news stories will come of this over the next few days!

Collier leaders vote to lift spearfishing ban - NBC-2.com WBBH News for Fort Myers, Cape Coral & Naples, Florida

check out NAPLES SPEARFISHING LEAGUE | GET ON THE WATER.

and like us on facebook to follow! http://www.facebook.com/NaplesSpearfishingLeague

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Old 02-12-2013, 11:16 PM   #2
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Re: Collier ban lifted!

Congratulations!
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Old 02-13-2013, 01:43 AM   #3
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Re: Collier ban lifted!

Next step, FWC tomorrow. Cross your fingers!

http://naplesspearfishingleague.wordpress.com

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Old 02-13-2013, 08:36 AM   #4
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Re: Collier ban lifted!

this would great!! Thanks for fighting the ban. I will be subscribing.
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Old 02-13-2013, 11:15 PM   #5
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Re: Collier ban lifted!

UPDATE: via Ft. Myers News Press

Bill D’Antuono wants to bring spearfishing to Collier County.

He’s not a commercial angler who wants to target only the largest grouper and snapper specimens, or some crazed waterman desperate to shoot anything that swims for his own reality TV show. He’s a fisherman, a conservationist bent on ridding local waters of one of the most venomous fish on the planet.

“I’ve seen first-hand the effects of lionfish and how fast they grow off the East Coast,” D’Antuono said after convincing Collier County commissioners to begin the process of lifting a long-time spearfishing ban in local and state waters. “In places where they are a problem, people pull up 50 lionfish in a day.”

Commissioners sided with D’Antuono, voting to lift the spearfishing ban.

“I think eating this invasive fish is something we should do,” Commissioner Tim Nance said. “I support your resolution that Collier County should be regulated like the rest of the state.”

Now the vote will go before the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The FWC could make a decision this spring, said Amanda Nalley with the FWC’s saltwater fisheries division.

“We’ll probably bring it up at the April meeting,” Nalley said. “We typically work with folks on these types of things.”

Collier is the only county in Florida with a complete ban on spearfishing. Some aquatic preserves, in areas like the Florida Keys, are off-limits to spearing and other types of commercial and recreational fishing. If the ban is removed, spearfishing would be legal in Collier coastal waters 9 nautical miles offshore, which is where federal regulations take over.

“People don’t really do a lot of diving close in to shore here, but that could change,” said D’Antuono, who works at SCUBAdventures in Naples and operates a blog called Naples Spearfishing League. “People will actually begin to hunt lionfish, and then we’ll know more about them.”

One of the most damaging invasive saltwater fish in the world, lionfish were likely introduced through accidental and/or intentional releases along the East Coast. First documented off North Carolina more than a decade ago, lionfish now range up and down the East Coast and can be found throughout the Gulf of Mexico.

Lionfish dangers:

• They compete with native aquatic species for food and habitat

• Eat young gamefish and commercially harvested species

• Are venomous to humans, and stings cause conditions from a mild rash to death

• Females can release up to 30,000 eggs per spawn and can spawn three times a month

If there is a silver lining to this invasive cloud it’s the fact that lionfish are very tasty, at least according to anglers like D’Antuono.

“The fillet is as white as a piece of paper,” D’Antuono said. “I’d put it up against grouper any day.”

It is illegal to spear species like redfish, snook, tarpon, sharks, eagle rays, lobsters and other regulated species throughout Florida. Regardless of any future changes in Collier, state laws will remain in place and require, among other things, anyone spearfishing must be at least 300 feet from a swimming beach or fishing pier.
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs....=2013302130017

Thanks again everyone who has supported this cause.
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