A ambitious plan To better protect the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary — in the works for more than a decade — faces opposition from Florida wildlife officials as it nears the finish line.
The final version of the plan was unveiled last week, but in a November letter to the sanctuary’s acting superintendent, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said the plan sought to circumvent state authority as the two agencies worked to compromise rules that increased boating. and fishing across an extended haven the size of Connecticut. Parts of the sanctuary cover state waters, so management powers are shared.
With only 10 cases left to negotiate, Chairman Rodney Barreto complained that most were due to the state of Florida changing its position on site-specific proposals in the spirit of cooperation.
The new plan is the first in nearly three decades, and critics say it’s long overdue as fragile reefs, seagrass beds and once-abundant fishing grounds are hammered by booming South Florida. Dozens of public meetings and nearly 100 more interagency technical meetings were held. More than 80,000 public comments were submitted.
“ I know this is everybody’s backyard, but this is a national marine sanctuary. This is the equivalent of the Grand Canyon for the rest of the country and what we do here matters.”
Acting Superintendent Matt Stout
In its final version, the plan expands the boundaries of the sanctuary by 20% to just over 4,500 square kilometers, adding 20 new wildlife management areas, four habitat restoration areas and 11 new coral nurseries. About 95% of the sanctuary would remain open to fishing, but with different rules for driving and anchoring to protect coral, shallow flats and nesting birds.
“I know this is everybody’s backyard, but this is a national marine sanctuary,” Acting Superintendent Matt Stout said when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration presented the plan at a sanctuary advisory council meeting Friday. “This is the equivalent of the Grand Canyon for the rest of the country and what we do here matters.”
The plan also represents the “Goldilocks zone of just right,” said Matt Brookhart, a regional director for NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. “No one got everything, but everyone got something.”
But state officials say in order to work, the sanctuary must roll back restrictions on some popular fishing spots and include the FWC in emergency closures like the type issued during last year’s brutal heat wave the bleached coral in the entire Keys. For example, state officials want drift fishing to continue in expanded limits for protected areas near Alligator and Carysfort Reef where sailfish are sometimes caught. But sanctuary officials and conservationists worry that even surface fishing can still damage fragile reefs.
The state also opposes no-motor zones in Barnes Sound and near parts of the Tarpon Belly Keys in the Lower Keys, which Sanctuary planners say are needed to protect seagrass beds.
Banning anchoring at Western Dry Rocks would also effectively stop fishing, the state worries, while sanctuary officials say year-round protection is needed from damaging anchors and chains.
READ MORE: New rules and new boundaries for the Florida Keys sanctuary heading into the final stretch
Having the objections remain at the 11th hour worried advisory panelists who have been working on the plan.
“Maybe they have to hold off on the final rule until these management agreements and issues with the state are settled because otherwise you risk throwing the baby out with the bathwater,” said Gary Jennings, director of the Florida American Sportfishing Association’s lobbying arm.
The objections were not resolved, Stout said, because the letter was received after a draft plan needed for the final management plan was already in motion. He planned to meet with state officials this week and said the process still leaves time for negotiations. Once published Monday, a 30-day “cooling off” period begins before NOAA issues a final rule establishing the new management plan. After that, Gov. Ron DeSantis has 45 days to accept the plan or reject all or part of it.
Rejecting increased federal protections would not be unprecedented. In 2016, Florida Senators Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson introduced a bill in Congress to block part of a new management plan for Biscayne National Park which included a marine reserve with stricter fishing regulations. Park officials and conservationists said the reserve was desperately needed after heavy boat traffic left flats criss-crossed with prop scars and overfished crippled reefs. A marine reserve in the Dry Tortugas has greatly increased the population of popular fish and helped replenish stocks.
The National Park Service and the Department of the Interior halted implementation of the plan. So in 2020, the National Parks Conservation Association sued. In March, a federal judge sided with the nonprofit and ordered federal authorities to finally implement the plan.
