January 07, 2005

1/7 - Are Fishermen Crazy: The controversial Florida MPA study

I've been spending a lot of time this week trading e-mails and forum posts with fishermen. Some of them are sick of me, but that's okay, it's been very insightful. A lot of interesting communication has come out of it. And like 'em or not, fishermen do have an ability to communicate directly (and at times forcefully) about issues.

One thing that came up in multiple discussions is the Florida study published in Fishery Bulletin last July on movement of sportfish in and out of a no-take zone. Fishermen are citing this study as an indictment of the effectiveness of MPAs.

You should take a few minutes to check it out. Decide for yourself. And post a comment here if you have any thoughts on it.

Posted by Randy Olson at January 7, 2005 04:48 AM