Dear Mr. Wiley, Please listen to the public voice and close the snook season for Sept.1. I have been a fishing guide in Manatee County for 8 years and fished the waters of Pinellas and Manatee counties since I was a child, so I am a true witness to the snook population before and after the 2009 freeze. I understand the goals have been exceeded on the stock assessment but this can not be a true reflection of the areas hardest hit. There are a number of businesses and professionals in the saltwater industry that rely on snook to make a living. By closing the season for at least a minimum of 3 more years, it would allow the larger snook who are sitting in the slot, which most likely are females, grow out of the slot and become the new breeding population. I did spend time during a the spawn in summer a few years back with the MOTE marine scientists as they did multiple sampling of snook of the point of Rattlesnake in Terra Ceia Bay. Even at that time in 2007 the male to female ration was 1 female to 100 males. I am NOT seeing the over slot females anywhere where they used to be. There used to be a dozen at the Tropic Isles marina in Palmetto, they are all gone, not 1 remains. One of my busiest times of year is in the winter, years past you could view hundreds of snook laying in the canals around Snead Island feeding on the small fry all winter long. Currently I have viewed 2 at any given time, during this last winter, and I was booked 4-5 days a week for 3 months, so I know first hand. I have created a page on FB to get votes from the community to close the season. I created the page this past Saturday morning, within 3 days we have gotten nearly a 1000 votes to close the season. Please review the page and read the comments. https://facebook/SaveOurSnook That you very much for your service and consideration of this matter, Captain Rachel Cato captainrachel (941) 524-9664 https://facebook/captainrachel.nobbecato
Posted on: Tue, 02 Jul 2013 11:27:38 +0000
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