For many, fishing is a sanctified act. So what happens when you eliminate the practice from the actual areas we go to worship tarpon, permit, and bonefish? In the Keys, where The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary has been protecting 2,900 square nautical miles since it went into effect in 1990, anglers are itching for answers.
The Sanctuary Advisory Council is hosting a series of meetings this week to discuss expanded zones and changes such as “No Catch” areas that could put the squeeze on catch-and-release fishing. If the council approves changes those alterations would then be subject to an environmental and economic impact study by the feds.
The Lower Keys Guides Association is urging all area guides and anglers to be present at meetings held tomorrow at the Doubletree Resort in Key West to focus on the Lower Keys; and Thursday, September 26, at the Doubletree Resort in Key West to focus on the Marquesas and Tortugas. Meetings run from 5-8 p.m., with two identical sessions (5-6:30 p.m. and 6:30-8 p.m.).
Tom Bie is the founder, editor, and publisher of The Drake. He started the magazine in 1998 as an annual newsprint publication based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He then moved it to Steamboat, Colorado (1999), Boulder, Colorado (2001), and San Clemente, California (2004), as he took jobs as managing editor at Paddler, Senior Editor at Skiing, and Editor-in-Chief at Powder, respectively. Tom and The Drake are now both based in Denver, Colorado, where The Drake is finally all grows up(Swingers, 1996) to a quarterly magazine.