Wildlife officials assess new rules at Skyway Fishing Pier to limit bird entanglements

ST. PETERSBURG — Florida wildlife officials are weighing new rules for anglers at Skyway Fishing Pier State Park after thousands of birds became entangled in fishing gear over the past two years.

Since January 2021, at least 3,300 seabirds have had to be rescued from the pier after being snagged or wrapped in fishing gear at the popular fishing spot nestled next to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, according to Florida Fish data. and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Of these, at least 1,000 birds required veterinary care and 500 died.

In response to increasing tangles, wildlife officials are now suggesting banning gear with more than one hook, such as treble hooks and sabiki rigs, and limiting anglers to a maximum of three sets. hooks in the park. It’s a proposal that has sparked heated debate: environmentalists say it’s an important step in protecting seabird species, while many fishermen say it’s a premature overrun at one of the state’s major fishing grounds.

“Bird entanglements in fishing lines have occurred at Skyway Pier for many years, and interactions between seabirds and anglers at this site occur more frequently than at other fishing piers in state,” said Erika Burgess, section chief at the Florida Wildlife Commission.

Since 2016, state wildlife experts have tried to reduce entanglements with more outreach and education — to no avail. “Despite these efforts, serious entanglements are still occurring in large numbers at Skyway Pier. For this reason, we are researching fishing rule options to address this issue,” Burgess said.

Nearly 150 people tuned in to a lively two-hour virtual discussion Monday night hosted by the Florida Wildlife Commission, which allowed the public to weigh in on the proposed rules before comments were finally passed on to the board. of the commission in February.

Bird advocates have widely applauded the proposed rules as a necessary action to reduce the number of rescues. But anglers said the new rules could be a slippery slope for more fishing restrictions, and that more should be done to prevent birds from approaching the jetty in the first place, including by “hazing » the birds to keep them away. Hazing is a technique for scaring birds away from a designated area using tactics like long-range acoustics or visual scaring techniques like lasers.

“We really care about this issue as I see it as a great precursor to moving more regulations to other fishing piers. I would encourage hazing or discouraging pelicans from coming to the Skyway,” the captain said. Dylan Hubbard, President of the Florida Guides Association “Many of these regulations have long standing impacts on recreational fishing.”

But environmentalists say the time is over and the problem has reached near crisis levels. In 2018, for example, the nonprofit organization Friends of the Pelicans was started to reduce the number of bird entanglements on the pier and throughout the state. A full-time lifeguard was even hired two years later to patrol the pier five days a week and help birds that snag or snag the fishing line. The lifeguard’s presence, coupled with an increase in pier visitation since 2020, has recently led to increased reports of bird entanglements, according to wildlife officials and bird rescue groups.

At least 113,000 people visited the pier between July 2021 and June 30 of this year, according to Florida Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Alexandra Kuchta. That compares to around 80,000 visitors a year ago, though that number is also lower due to pandemic-related closures.

“I think it’s a good first step, and I wish it had happened a long time ago,” said Kim Begay, wild bird rescuer and vice president of Friends of Pelicans, referring to the change. rule proposed by the state. “We need to reach an amicable compromise that is good for these federally protected birds and something that is achievable for anglers. But they must be willing to compromise. It is not an option to protect these species, it is legally required.

“We think whatever the state is asking for is reasonable,” Begay said in an interview with the Tampa Bay Times. ” It’s a good compromise.

There are likely several reasons for the thousands of tangles, wildlife experts say. For one thing, the pier is close to pelican breeding colonies, where hundreds of birds congregate on nearby mangrove islands. Another reason is the popularity of the pier among anglers. The Skyway Fishing Pier is one of the most visited docks in the state because it doesn’t require an individual saltwater fishing license, according to Florida wildlife biologist Rebecca Schneider. It is also open 24 hours a day, all year round.

Another reason is the design of the pier: according to a study by Eckerd College published in September in Animals, an international peer-reviewed journal. Wildlife biologists consider the pier an entanglement “hot spot” for brown pelicans — about 75% of rescued birds are pelicans, according to the Florida Wildlife Commission.

Several members of the fishing community known as the Skyway Misfits, which has more than 83,000 followers on Instagram, also went online to oppose the regulations. Tensions ran high at times on Monday (at one point a fisherman interrupted a member of the Friends of the Pelicans by shouting “f—er bird!”). But for the most part, the state, fishermen and conservationists agreed that the entanglement problem had reached new heights in recent years. And as some have pointed out, this isn’t the first time fishing regulations have been proposed to limit pelican entanglements in Florida, either.

In December 2021, Naples City Council restricted fishing from Naples Pier on Sundays after hundreds of pelicans were brought to wildlife rehabilitation facilities after being caught in a fishing line. The changes there have gone well so far, said Lauren Barkley of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, who led the regulations in Naples. But Barkley left wildlife officials with a tip on Monday:

“Make sure you keep a balance with the anglers and work with them,” she told Florida wildlife experts during the virtual meeting. “The clearer the rules, the more useful you will be to anglers – and you guys – in the long run.”