Florida Keys

Smathers Beach in Key West Renourished

Beaches at Bahia Honda State Park, Florida Keys

by Barbara Ann Weibel at Hole In The Donut Travels

I’d often driven by Bahia Honda State Park on Big Pine Key in the Florida Keys, but had never stopped. During a recent trip to Key West, determined to rectify that oversight, I carved out a couple of days on the end of my trip, specifically for beach time.

Bahia Honda contains three separate beaches, each of which is completely different from the others. Caloosa Beach is tucked into a gentle cove at the foot of the old Overseas Railway trestle at the southern end of the park. A portion of the old bridge has been maintained as an elevated walkway that offers spectacular views of the beach and inlet. Caloosa is popular with families because restrooms, a snack bar, and ample parking are all located adjacent to the crescent.

At Loggerhead Beach, located in the center of the park, a submerged sandbar emerges at low tide. Sunbathers deposit coolers and perch folding chairs on these exposed sand hills and wade far out into the shallow aqua water to search for shells and sea glass. At low tide, the amazingly clear waters of Loggerhead Beach recede to reveal half a mile or more of sandbar flats.

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Key Largo Lobster Mobsters Convicted

By GARY PHILLIPS
KeysNews.com
Saturday, June 12, 201

Nearly nine months to the day after being accused of molesting a commercial lobster trap, two Key Largo men were convicted on third-degree felony charges.

Ruben Barbuscio, 62, and Daniel Peralta, 53, were led in handcuffs from a Plantation Key courtroom after Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Luis Garcia found them guilty on Thursday. The pair waived their right to a jury trial and opted to have their case heard by Garcia.

Their crime occurred on Sept. 11, when commercial fisherman Abilio Gil and his stepson, Yardiel Penton, videotaped Barbuscio and Peralta pulling a lobster trap belonging to commercial fisherman Dana Pettit onto Barbuscio’s boat between Rodriguez Key and Tavernier Creek.

In announcing his ruling, Garcia said the poor-quality video was of little value as evidence, but it did contain Gil’s spoken description of the defendants’ action. Gil was watching through binoculars while Penton operated the camcorder. Garcia said the eyewitness account was credible and weighed heavily in his decision.

Assistant State Attorney Colleen Dunne also provided photos of the trap, buoy and rope, and had the trap brought into the courtroom. She said the photos taken the day of the incident clearly show the rope and trap had been recently handled, as silt and marine growth on the items had been disturbed.

A sentencing hearing is set for June 29.

Key West Captain Cited With Illegal Possession of 60 Stone Crab Claws

The state wildlife agency confiscated 60 out-of-season stone crab claws from a Key West boat coming home at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, says the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

The commercial fisherman and captain of the Maru was cited with illegal possession of the claws and interference with an FWC officer, both misdemeanors. He was issued a notice to appear in court.

The Maru was south of Key West, returning to port, when the captain apparently saw FWC Lt. Roy Payne approaching and made a sharp turn, speeding up, as the crew dumped overboard white trash bags of the claws.

The captain at first denied the crime, but after the officer found similar trash bags aboard, he and his mate allegedly admitted to it and wrote out confessions.

Sombrero Beach Park, Marathon, Florida Keys

by Barbara Ann Weibel at Hole In The Donut Travels

Sombrero Beach in Marathon, Florida, may be the quintessential example of a multi-use beach. Am I talking swimming, snorkeling, sunbathing, picnicking, volleyball, barbecuing, and climbing on playground playground equipment? Well, all those things can be done at this beach, but that’s not what I was referring to.

Sombrero is a multi-use beach because humans are not the only ones that use it. Between April and October each year, Loggerhead turtles crawl up onto the beach at night to lay their eggs in the sand. During these months, city workers remove tables and park benches from the beach, nesting areas are roped off, and local officials and volunteers patrol the beach at least once a day to ensure nests are not disturbed. The rest of the year belongs entirely to humans and their canine friends, who are welcome as long as they are leashed (the dogs, not the humans).

With soft white sand, gentle waters, and no crowds, Sombrero Beach is a favorite with locals and visitors.

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Snapper Ledge Reef, in the Florida Keys, Protection is Fast-Tracked

Divers consider Snapper Ledge among the most beautiful places in the Keys to take a plunge. (Photo by Tim Grollimund)

Snapper Ledge, a shallow reef off Tavernier, could be declared a protected marine zone by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

Many Upper Keys divers, spearheaded by underwater photographer Stephen Frink, describe Snapper Ledge as a vibrant reef with diverse fish life, yet it is not designated as Sanctuary Preservation Area under the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

As of this week, 3,036 people had signed an online petition to change the Snapper Ledge status to a no-take zone. Efforts have been going on since 2008.

Amending Keys sanctuary rules to add a new Sanctuary Preservation Area involves reports and hearings that could take until 2015 at the earliest, sanctuary officials say.

“We’ve had requests from constituents to get it done more quickly, so in August we asked the South Atlantic Council to look into it,” said David Makepeace, an Upper Keys marine educator who serves on the Sanctuary Advisory Council.

“Much to my surprise, they said they would look into it,” Makepeace said. “Frankly, I did not expect this much action this soon.”

At a 4 p.m. Monday meeting at the Hilton Key Largo Resort at mile marker 97, the South Atlantic Council will take general comments on several issues, including whether the agency should begin working on a marine-protected zone for Snapper Ledge. A final decision would be months away.

“Personally, I support it,” Makepeace said. “I don’t want to create a precedent for using spot-zoning based on individual needs, but the Snapper Ledge situation and concerns are somewhat unique.”

Also Monday, the council also will review a proposal to establish 56 areas in Keys waters around protected elkhorn and staghorn corals where lobster-trap fishing would be banned.

The zones as proposed came out of talks between the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association, the Keys Sanctuary and local marine-conservation groups.

“We’re on board for almost of the zones, except for three,” FKCFA Executive Director Bill Kelly said. “We’re asking them to them to shrink those or break them into two or more zones to cover a smaller area.”

Those three include a large area off Newfound Harbor in the Lower Keys, one off Davis Reef near Long Key, and one inside Carysfort Reef off Key Largo.

“Fishermen are all in favor of protecting the coral but these three zones include a lot of ground where there is no [branching coral],” he said.

The South Atlantic Council also is considering creating new rules that could limit the use of powerhead fishing — using a spear that uses a shotgun shell to take large fish, or create a special permit for powerhead fishing.

For information on the proposed rules, go to www.safmc.net. No action will be taken at Monday’s meeting, but officials will explain various proposals and take comments.

Florida Keys History of Diving Museum in Islamorada Opening a Public Research Library

The History of Diving Museum in Islamorada dedicates its Bauer Diving History Research Library on Feb. 29 at the museum, mile marker 83 bayside.

The ribbon-cutting celebration is from 6 to 8 p.m. RSVP is required, call 664-9737 or send an e-mail to info@divingmuseum.org.

Named after the museum’s founders, Joe and Sally Bauer, the new facility serves as the repository of the Bauer Library Collection, which consists of about 2,500 volumes. It is one of the most comprehensive collections of rare books relative to the story of undersea exploration and was amassed by the Bauers over four decades.

The collection is focused on titles published prior to the mid-1900s and includes some publications dating back to the 1700s. Included are books, prints, woodcuts, catalogues, and photographs illustrating diving history, treasure hunting, submarine warfare, natural history and other aspects of underwater exploration.

The project was made possible with a grant from the Monroe County Tourist Development Council. The grant allowed the museum to purchase custom archival-quality bookshelves, document storage drawers, a waterless fire-suppression system, light fixtures and an art hanging system. There is also wireless Internet and audio-visual equipment to make it a functional space for business meetings and events, available for rent.

“The staff, board, and volunteers have all worked extremely hard on this project and its completion signifies a very important step forward for our young museum,” said Erin Wolfe, manager of collections and administration.

Tickets for the opening event are $25 ($15 for museum members). Drink tickets and hors d’oeuvres are included. The deadline to RSVP is Feb. 22.

The museum is open to the general public daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The research library and meeting room will be accessible during those hours.

Lobster Mobster Caught Off Grassy Key

By KEVIN WADLOW

http://www.keysnet.com

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Fifteen lobster tails were seized as evidence Monday when state wildlife officers arrested a St. Augustine man spearfishing near Grassy Key. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers charged Bruce L. Beall, 39, with 19 misdemeanor counts of conservation violations.

FWC officers checked Beall when they saw him spearfishing in Gulf of Mexico waters north of Grass Key, FWC spokesman Bobby Dube said. It’s illegal to spear lobster, and to separate tails from the lobster body on the water. All the tails were undersized and taken in a closed season, Dube said.

If the lobster had been egg-bearing, “he’d have had the whole set” of possible crawfish violations, Dube noted. The incident was the most serious conservation violation reported from the Memorial Day weekend in the Keys, the officer said.

Lobster season is closed from April 1 to the sport-diving days the last Wednesday and Thursday in July.

Wanted: Fast stone-crab eaters in the Florida Keys

The much-anticipated opening of Florida’s stone crab season takes place Oct. 15 but the 2011-12 season opening is going to be followed by a tasty test of crab-consuming capacity.

The inaugural Stone Crab Eating Contest, a challenge for amateur eaters, is set for Oct. 22 beginning at 1 p.m. at Keys Fisheries Market & Marina, off U.S. 1 at 35th Street bayside, Marathon.

Entrants must register and be present by noon the day of the event, and are tasked with cracking and eating 25 stone crab claws, picking them completely clean, in the fastest time. In the event of a tie, those competitors must face off in a 10-claw competition to determine the winner.

Prizes are to be awarded to the top three finishers. The first-place winner is to receive a two-night lodging package at Key West’s Doubletree Grand Key Resort featuring champagne, dinner for two and a sunset cruise on a tall ship or catamaran.

The second-place crab consumer earns a Swim with the Dolphins package at the Dolphin Research Center on Grassy Key, while the third-place finisher wins a $50 Keys Fisheries gift certificate.

The entry fee is $25 per contestant, and you must be at least 18. The contest is limited to 50 participants. Among the rules:

No professional eaters — amateurs only.
Contestants will be allowed to drink water during the competition.
If a contestant throws up, he or she is automatically disqualified.
Grounds for disqualification include:

Not disclosing risks that could jeopardize the contestant’s health or well-being.
Being under the influence of any substance.
Your appearance and/or clothing is deemed inappropriate (dress is Keys attire).
Starting prior to the start signal.
Any food in a competitor’s mouth at the final whistle counts toward the final tally if the competitor chews and swallows that portion of the competitive food. But competitors may not stuff food into their mouth in the final seconds of the contest to increase their total. Judges have the discretion to impose penalties on those who do.

Stone crabs are considered by many to be the finest Florida seafood for their succulent claw meat. In addition, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, they are the state’s only renewable seafood resource. Legal-size claws are harvested between Oct. 15 and May 15 each year, and the crab’s body is returned to the water to generate new claws.

To register for the contest, go to www.keysfisheries.com.

More Lobster Mobsters Sentenced to Prison

By ADAM LINHARDT Citizen Staff

Two Bay Point men were sentenced to a year in prison on charges that they conspired to poach lobster, a judge ruled Monday, closing the last chapter on two illegal lobster harvesting cases that snared eight people.

John Buckheim, 23, and Nick Demauro, 24, both apologized to federal Judge James Lawrence King, their friends, family and wildlife officers.

“I acknowledge and take full responsibility for what I did,” Buckheim said. “I was young and stupid and I’m not implying that I’m old or wise now, only that I’m heading in the right direction. … I’m sorry for this major mistake and you won’t find me in this position again.”

Demauro told the judge he had “taken everything for granted.”

Both men pleaded guilty in October to harvesting lobsters by diving on illegal artificial habitats, called casitas, primarily in the Content Keys area north of Big Pine Key, from July 2008 through October 2008, according to court documents.

The judge granted U.S. Attorney Thomas Watts-Fitzgerald’s request to delay their prison sentence 100 days so both men can continue their work removing as many as 600 casitas from Florida Keys waters. The judge ordered both to surrender to corrections officials on May 12.

The judge also allowed both men to resume legal commercial fishing immediately upon their release from prison, despite the prosecutor’s recommendation that both be prohibited during the two years of supervision that is to follow their release.

Miami defense attorneys Bruce Alter and Steven Potolsky urged the judge to consider the defendants’ ages, their clean criminal histories and their desire to make amends as mitigating factors at sentencing, but the prosecutor was unmoved, painting the men as astute fishermen who knew the risks involved.

“These were not youths who stumbled into this,” the prosecutor told the judge, describing taped conversations between the two men, and the hundreds of casitas they fished.

Buckheim and Demauro worked for David and Denise Dreifort of Cudjoe Key at one time. The latter were sentenced in July for spearheading a large lobster poaching ring that involved four other people, in a separate but related case. David Dreifort was sentenced to 2¬½ years in prison in July. His wife was sentenced to seven months in prison. Prosecutors found thousands of lobsters at one of their homes on Lookdown Lane last year.

Buckheim and Demauro began their own illegal operation after their stint with the Dreiforts, and they sold lobster to a Stock Island seafood company in 32 separate incidents for a total of $45,974, records say. The company has not been charged in the case, the prosecutor said.

Both men were warned by David Dreifort to cease their operation after he was indicted, but they continued, the prosecutor said. Federal agents began visual and electronic surveillance of Buckheim and Demauro during the larger investigation that involved the Dreiforts, reports say.

Both pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement in which prosecutors dropped two charges that could have added at least 10 years to their sentences.

alinhardt@keysnews.com