NOAA Seeks Your Comment on Longline Research in Closed Areas

November 10, 2007
Florida Sportsman Magazine

Feds propose “research” with pelagic longline vessels in protected areas of the Southeast Atlantic Ocean.

Since 2001, specific offshore waters paralleling East Central Florida, around the North Atlantic Bight and up to the Charleston Hump, have been off- limits to longliners who targeted pelagic and Highly Migratory Species. The reasons for closure ranged from bycatch mortality of turtle and shark populations, to an entire swordfishery fished close to collapse. Since then, the federal government says longline vessels put into place new tactics to deter bycatch mortality. Swordfish populations have begun to recover—evident by increasing recreational catches, especially in southern Florida.

Now, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service invites the public to comment on an “Environmental Assessment” to conduct research with a limited number of pelagic longline vessels in two areas of the Southeast Atlantic Ocean (East Central Florida and the Charleston Hump).

“In less than a decade, we have nearly rebuilt swordfish and dramatically reduced bycatch of sea turtles and other species by requiring that pelagic longline fishermen use new fishing techniques,” said William T. Hogarth, director of NOAA Fisheries Service. “Now it is time for us to examine whether these techniques can be used in the closed areas with the same success.”

Click here to read the full article from the Florida Sportsman Magazine.

Hatten & Macik Win FLW Redfish Championship in Orange Beach

Orange Beach, AL- October 20, 2007 – Bennie Hatten, of Deer Park, Texas, and Randy Macik, of Bay City, Texas, caught six redfish weighing 35 pounds, 1 ounce to win the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Championship presented by BP in Orange Beach, Ala. The top prize of $100,000 included a $25,000 Ranger bonus and a $25,000 Yamaha bonus.

“We squeaked into this thing by a whisker,” said Hatten, who qualified for the championship in the next-to-last place in the Western Division. “We were just glad to be here. And then to come in here and win it is just unbelievable.”

Hatten said the team caught six fish Thursday and eight fish on the second day of competition by fishing off of the Mississippi Sound. The team made the 75-mile one-way run to their spot on the second day of competition in hopes of repeating their first day’s performance of two redfish that weighed 12 pounds, 6 ounces.

On the final day of competition, the team returned to the Mississippi Sound, where they caught their limit in 45 minutes Thursday and an hour and a half Friday.

“We got to the pond we had been fishing in, and the wind was blowing on the shoreline we had been fishing,” Hatten said. “We hadn’t been able to catch anything on the shoreline if the wind was blowing on it. We didn’t catch a fish for the first two hours. We got the jitters bad.”

Hatten and Macik were fishing a white Rapala Skitter Walk, and they jerked the bait away from the first two fish that struck. The team took a minute to compose themselves, resumed fishing, and eventually boated six redfish during the day. They caught every fish during the tournament except for one on the Skitter Walk. Their last fish of the tournament came on a silver Heddon Spook.

Rounding out the top five teams are Brett Phillips and Mike Patterson, both of Rockport, Texas (six redfish, 33 pounds, 13 ounces, $15,120); Kris Walter, of Hudson, Fla., and Danny Winters, of Tampa, Fla. (six redfish, 33 pounds, 1 ounce, $5,760); Steve White, of Petal, Miss., and Barnie White, of Brewton, Ala. (six redfish, 30 pounds, 8 ounces, $9,360); Gary McKenzie, of Bartow, Fla., and Sam Bertha Jr., of Bunnell, Fla. (four redfish, 22 pounds, 1 ounce, $7,200).

Teams caught eight redfish Saturday weighing 39 pounds, 3 ounces.

The $300,000 Wal-Mart Redfish Series Championship presented by BP — the final event in the most lucrative redfish tournament trail in the world — is a three-day event. A field of 85 teams competed Thursday and Friday, and the top five teams, based on heaviest combined weight, advanced to Saturday’s final round. The winning team was determined Saturday based on the heaviest three-day accumulated weight.

The FLW Redfish Series consists of two divisions — Eastern and Western. Each division is comprised of four qualifying events with a $200,000 purse for each event. The top 100 teams — 50 from each division after four qualifying events — qualified for the three-day, no-entry-fee $300,000 Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Championship presented by BP.

Coverage of the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series Championship presented by BP will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program airing Dec. 23. “FLW Outdoors” airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to approximately 350 million households in Europe, Africa and Asia, making it the most widely distributed weekly fishing program in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.

844 lb Record Shark Caught in Destin Tournament

PATRICK RICE
Sunday October 14th, 2007

DESTIN – Adlee Bruner’s fishing story is about the big one that didn’t get away. Bruner and five friends headed out Saturday morning on a charter boat, hoping to catch some grouper to enter in the annual Destin Fishing Rodeo. Instead, Bruner landed a gargantuan 844.4-pound mako shark, setting a new record for the decades-old tournament.

“It was tense,” Bruner, 47, said about the fight to land the 11-foot shark with a mouthful of huge teeth. “I’ve fished for 40 years. I’ve never see one that big.”

Click here to read the full story and see more pictures from the Northwest Florida Daily News.

Mobile Native Marcus Kennedy takes 1st Place in FLW Tournament

Tournament Wrap-up

Orange Beach, AL — October 6, 2007 — Team “Kwazar” captained by Marcus Kennedy of Mobile, Ala., won the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series Championship and $50,000 Saturday in Orange Beach, Ala., with a total catch of two kingfish weighing 77 pounds, 1 ounce. The top prize included a $20,000 Yamaha bonus.


Kennedy and his teammates Max Williams of Milton, Fla. and Mike Ward and Todd Kercher, both of Mobile, ran approximately 65 miles southwest of Orange Beach and caught a 25-pound, 6-ounce kingfish over an area of rocky bottom in 180 feet of water. “This was a place that we usually bottom fish and we’ll occasionally catch a big king off the bottom, so this is a good time of year to go get them.”

The team’s final-round kingfish ate a live blue runner set about 60 feet deep on a downrigger. Kennedy fought the fish and Williams gaffed it after a 25-minute fight. Team “Kwazar” caught 11 kingfish and a white marlin Saturday.

Inclement weather caused the cancellation of Thursday’s scheduled start, so teams competed Friday to qualify for Saturday’s top-five finale. While some teams struggled with the shortened schedule, Kennedy said he relied on his local knowledge to overcome the loss of a qualifying day.

“It didn’t affect me any, I just went out and did the same thing I was doing,” he said. “It just saved me $600 in gas and another day of butt-whipping.”

Team “Kwazar” advanced to the final round of five boats in first place Friday on the strength of a king mackerel weighing 51 pounds, 11 ounces. They caught this fish by slow trolling a live blue runner on a downrigger. For Saturday’s competition, the winners returned to the same area they fished on day one and caught their winning king about a mile from where they caught their Friday fish.

“We had an idea of where the fish were and we stuck with our plan,” Kennedy said. “Fortunately, we got a big one yesterday and went out today and got a big enough one.”

Rounding out the top five teams were team “Old School” captained by Scott Jennings of Port Royal, S.C. (two kingfish, 69-7, $7,800 plus $5,200 Evinrude bonus and $5,200 Wellcraft bonus); team “Sake” captained by Neil Nix of Okeechobee, Fla. (two kingfish, 67-3, $6,500 plus $4,160 Yamaha bonus and $4,160 Wellcraft bonus); team “Square & Level/Reel Wild” captained by Frank Eldridge of Waycross, Ga. (two kingfish, 66-13, $5,200 plus $3,640 Yamaha bonus); and team “Catch 22” captained by Kevin Arnold of Houston, Texas (two kingfish, 51-6, $4,420 plus $3,120 Yamaha bonus and $3,120 Hydra-Sports bonus).

One hundred and twenty five teams – the top three from each of 15 qualifying tournaments and the top 16 in the points standings from each of five divisions – qualified to fish the tournament. After Friday’s weigh-in, the field was cut to the top five teams based on the heaviest kingfish. The final standings were determined by the total weight of the heaviest kingfish from Friday plus Saturday’s catch.

The Kingfish Series Championship will be featured in a one-hour episode of “FLW Outdoors” broadcast to 80 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) households in the United States and more than 429 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom on Dec. 9. This reach makes “FLW Outdoors” the most widely distributed fishing program in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.

The Alabama Gulf Coast Sports Commission hosted the FLW Kingfish Series Championship along with The Wharf, Brett-Robinson, Live Bait at the Wharf and the cities of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores.

Local pro Marcus Kennedy leads FLW Anglers into Final Day

(Photo- Marcus Kennedy & Max Williams taken by David A. Brown)

By David A. Brown - 06.Oct.2007

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – As the rising sun peeked through Ferris wheel framework at The Wharf in Orange Beach, Alabama, a quintet of kingfish teams headed into a bumpy Gulf of Mexico for their own brand of thrill ride in the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series Championship’s final round.

Local pro Marcus Kennedy, a perennial favorite heading the Mobile, Alabama-based Team Kwazar leads the field with a 51-pound, 11 ounce kingfish. The leaders caught Friday’s top king over natural bottom structure about 65 miles southwest of Orange Beach, and they’ll stick with the same plan today.

“We’ll probably do about the same thing that we did yesterday,” Kennedy said. “We might change the area a little bit, but not much.”

Live baitfish like blue runners (locally called “hardtails”) will be the dominant offering, but Kennedy said he’ll also run dead ribbonfish in his spread. He’ll dress a couple of his live baits with pink or chartreuse skirts to enhance their attraction.

“The water’s clear, but it’s rough out there and I think (a skirt) helps the kings find the bait better,” he said. “I’ll run skirts on two of my baits and the rest of them will be naked.”

Team Kwazar holds a 10-pound lead over second-place Team Sake led by Neil Nix of Okeechobee, Fla., and a 15-pound margin separates the first and fifth spots. However, with the Northern Gulf of Mexico’s reputation for hordes of monster kings, one lucky break can quickly redirect fortune’s favor.

“If we had any sense we’d go catch a 30-pounder somewhere, but we have to go back and try to catch another big fish,” he said. “If we catch a 40-pounder, it’ll be tough to beat (91 pounds). But there are a lot of good fishermen fishing this tournament so you can’t take anything for granted.”

Tournament officials cancelled Thursday’s scheduled start when inclement weather and extremely rough seas created unsafe boating conditions. Losing one qualifying day in what was originally to be a three-day event put most teams in a swing-for-the fence mode on Friday. FLW Kingfish Series Tournament Director Chris Hoover said the adjusted schedule amplifies the feeling of accomplishment for Saturday’s top-five teams.

“Yesterday was a big day for these teams to go out and get as much weight as they could, but today’s going to take a little bit of pressure off of them because they’ve already made the top five,” Hoover said. “Everyone would love to win, but they all want to make it to that TV day and have the opportunity to (win the Championship).”

Hoover also pointed out that while local knowledge and experience clearly factor into the competitive equation, the first-place prize remains within reach of all top-five teams until the last fish hits the scale Saturday afternoon.

“It’s anyone’s game,” Hoover said. “These teams network so much that they all have (GPS) numbers and locations (to fish). So really all of the teams will have the same opportunity because they’ve networked and they’ve done their homework before they even got here.

“Anything can happen out there today, so it’s going to be really exciting.”

Tournament rules
The Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series Championship, which concludes today, gathers the top finishers from five divisions – North Carolina, South Carolina/Georgia, East Florida, Gulf, and Upper Gulf. The top five teams compete in today’s final round for a top award of as much as $70,000.

Action continues at today’s weigh-in, scheduled to take place at 4 p.m. (Central Time) at The Wharf, located at 23101 Canal Road in Orange Beach. The National Guard Family Fun Zone opens at noon with free games and giveaways.

Friday’s conditions:
Sunrise: 6:47 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 79 degrees
Expected high temperature: 92 degrees
Water temperature: 79 degrees
Wind: from the east-northeast at 10-15 mph
Humidity: 79 percent
Day’s outlook: Cloudy with isolated thunderstorms

NOAA Swordfish/Billfish Online Reporting

September 28, 2007-- NOAA Fisheries announces the availability of internet reporting for recreational non-tournament landings of swordfish and billfish.

To simplify mandatory reporting, NOAA Fisheries is implementing a web-based portal where anglers can report landings of non-tournament Atlantic swordfish and billfish (Atlantic blue and white marlin and sailfish). The reporting of recreational landings plays an important role in effectively monitoring catch and effort directed toward Atlantic highly migratory species (HMS) and complying with international obligations.

Effective October 17, 2007, owners of HMS permitted vessels, or their designee, should report recreational non-tournament swordfish and billfish landings using a newly designed web-based reporting system at http:/www.hmspermits.gov to log-in and report a swordfish or billfish landing, vessel owners will need to provide: HMS Angling or Charter/Headboat category permit number; trip information (e.g. trip dates); and, catch and fishing gear/technique specifics.

After a landings report has been successfully completed, vessel owners will be provided with a confirmation number for each individual fish reported landed. There is an option to print the confirmation numbers or have them sent electronically to a personal email account. A swordfish or billfish landing report is not considered complete unless the vessel owner, or the owner's designee, has received a confirmation number.

The new web-based reporting system will be the primary reporting portal for recreational non-tournament swordfish and billfish landings; however, NOAA Fisheries will maintain and monitor the current toll-free reporting line to assist those vessel owners who do not have access to the internet.

As a reminder, owners of private vessels used to fish recreationally for Atlantic HMS, or on which Atlantic HMS are retained or possessed, are required to have an Atlantic HMS Angling category permit. Owners of for-hire vessels used to take anglers fishing for a fee are required to have the HMS Charter/Headboat category permit. For more information on the HMS Angling or Charter/Headboat category permit, log on to http://www.hmspermits.gov call the HMS Management Division's St. Petersburg office at (727) 824-5399. NOAA Fisheries also encourages all who fish for HMS to use circle hooks to help minimize injuries to, and mortality of, released fish.

NOAA Fisheries' HMS Management Division appreciates the cooperation of vessel owners in complying with these non-tournament recreational reporting requirements.

More Trophy Swordfish to come from the Gulf of Mexico is an article written and published by The Orange Beach Community Website that explains why it is important to report your swordfish and billfish catch.