Save Our Bonefish

Bonefish are just too valuable to waste, say fishing advocates. “Bonefish are a resource we need to protect, and we have not been minding the store,” said Jerry Ault, a University of Miami expert in fish populations.

Staff biologists with the state Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will make a presentation on bonefish to the FWC board at its Thursday meeting in Crystal River. On the table: Making it a no-take species, with possible exceptions. “We have been asking for the state to essentially make bonefish a catch-and-release species,” said Aaron Adams, a researcher and director of operations for the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust.

Bonefish are stealthy, fast-swimming fish that are challenging to catch.

A study by Ault’s UM research team calculates that a single bonefish may generate $3,600 to the Florida economy in a year from recreational interests, and up to $75,000 over the fish’s natural lifespan of 20 or more years. Florida has an estimated bonefish population of 300,000 to 321,000, mostly limited to the Florida Keys and Biscayne Bay shallows, according to reports.

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While an annual census taken by the Trust indicates the bonefish population has not significantly changed in recent years, Ault and Adams said that may be misleading. “The old-timers say [the bonefish population] is nothing like it used to be,” Ault said. “It may only be 5 percent of what it was.” Declines in habitat and prey species are significant concerns, along with accidental or intentional harvest of bonefish, Ault said.

“There’s a pervasive attitude that everything is OK because most bonefish are released,” he said. “That’s kind of a false belief.” Florida law now prohibits commercial sale of bonefish, and limits anglers to keeping one fish over 18 inches long per day.

The Bonefish and Tarpon Trust — members include many flats-fishing legends, along with noted Keys anglers and guides — will ask for the daily limit of one fish to be stricken. In coming months, if the FWC board approves, a series of statewide workshops would be held to consider revising bonefish regulations. Possible variations might allow a bonefish to be kept for record consideration, or requiring a bonefish tag similar to the $50 per-fish tag now required for harvesting a tarpon, Adams said.

“About 70 percent of the world records on bonefish were made in the Florida Keys,” Ault said. “People come from all over to world to go bonefishing in South Florida. This is a heritage that needs to be preserved.” Since there are no federal regulations on bonefish, the FWC also may consider extending state law into adjacent federal waters (allowable under the Magnuson-Stevens Act).