I'm not a Florida residant, but I do realize the threat this poses to the fish, I also know these are very important fish to anglers and the ecosystem. I have nothing against spearfishermen, in fact, I've always wanted to try it, but I think they should drop legalization of spearing permit. As for bonefish, the "prohibited species" law where landing them results in a fine if a FWC officer witnesses it seems a bit overrated.

But thats only my opinion.

Nearly everything you have written in this story is either completely false of misleading.
In fact every sentence in the first paragraph is untrue.
If I may quote "It appears that FWC staff recommendations may create additional threats to permit populations. The draft FWC staff recommendations include: allow spearfishing for permit in federal waters; no spawning season closure; continuation of commercial fishing for permit; no catch and release status" all of these rules are the current rules, therefore the FWC staff is not CREATING additional threats to the population. This is a shameful and false statement. So might even consider it an outright lie.
Spawning season closure- again you are misleading the readers here. The true reason the "spawning season" ban (from the minority opinion group of all catch and release guys in The Keys) was not reccomended is because the stocks are healthy now AND they will be granted the increased protection of a two fish bag limit with the staff recs. It is exceedingly greedy of you and this small user group to try to impose a ban of a good eating fish, from a healthy and sustainable stock, simply because you prefer they be released. I am glad the FWC can see through your self interest here.
The fish will not be overfished with a 2 fish per boat limit. They are not overfished now. Once the staff stepped out of your backyard and surveyed anglers in the rest of the permits Fla range it was obvious that the vast majority of anglers does NOT support your requested bans on all harvest, closed seasons, and whatever else it is you'd like to take away from sportsmen and women with no science to back it up. Now you seem to be misleading people to try to get things swung your way.
I am a 20 year flats guide, angler, and sportsman and I DO NOT SUPPORT banning limited harvest of a healthy stock of tasty fish, nor do I support any seasonal closures you may try to slip in there for no reason whatsoever other than the fact that you personally choose to release permit. Last I checked a group of flyfishermen in the Keys did not get to decide which fish the rest of us Floridians get to keep for the table. There is no reason an angler should be banned from eating a fish from a healthy stock.
I applaud the FWC for seeing thru your bogus and misleading claims about the permit fishery and making the fair and sustainable decisions for all of us.

I have lived in Florida for over 20 years. During those years I have been an active recreational fisherman and diver in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic.

I have been following the current proceedings with respect to the permit fishery and I am aware that the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust (BTT) guys wish to make bonefish, tarpon, and permit a federally regulated species. There is no data to support their claims and the species are not threatened.

Just so you are aware, this entire proposed ban on all recreational harvest of a perfectly healthy stock of good eating fish (permit) is coming from the fly fishing friends at BTT.

The best available science says the stock is stable. West Coast guides all say it is better than that. The Coastal Conservation Association (CCA), the Fishing Rights Alliance (FRA), and the Florida Guides Association (FGA) have spoke out against banning recreational harvest of permit in a recent FWC video conference. The leading researchers were there and stated that there is no evidence of a problem with the permit stocks. Ever since the net ban I personally have seen more and more permit on our offshore wrecks and inside Tampa Bay. The stock is healthy and current regulations are working as they were intended.

So why are we talking about it? Because of Bonefish and Tarpon Trusts efforts, influence, and form letters(that have been posted on this website).

The only legitimate issue is the unexploited loophole that exists in the rules for federal waters and nearly every one agrees that needs to be fixed, which the FWC staff who have worked so hard on this issue have done so in the recommendations they will present to the FWC Commission on Dec. 10th. Make no mistake about it however, BTT is trying to quietly slide a total recreational ban on harvest on their favorite flats fish, onto the ENTIRE fishing population of Florida. That is not acceptable!! There is only one problem within the permit fishery and that's the lack of rules in federal waters and that has been addressed in the recommendations that the FWC Staff will present to the FWC Commission on Dec. 10th. The rest is pure CONJECTURE that exists only to try to make all Floridians follow the Keys guys personal preference that no one eat permit. "STAKEHOLDER REQUEST" is what they call it. Since when do stakeholders request a complete harvest ban on completely healthy stocks? I don't know. With my knowledge from attending other public workshops provided by the NMFS and GMFMC this "STAKEHOLDER REQUEST" is not the proper way of banning any harvest of a fishery, especially with ZERO scientific evidence that the stock is indeed threatened. The entire state of Florida had commercial landings of permit in 2008 of less than 18,000 pounds. Hardly a problem worth closing all fishing over.

I understand that here may have little personal experience with spearfishing, so please allow me to provide some background on this method of harvest. Spearfishing allows the participant to visit and gain an appreciation for the environment in which he is harvesting. It allows for the selective harvest of game with virtually no bycatch of unwanted or undersized fish. Although I find spearfishing more enjoyable than hook and line fishing, I find it to be a less productive means of harvesting fish. Many hook and line fishermen think that spearfishermen can simply swim over to any desirable fish and assassinate it. That is simply not true; game fish (and particularly larger specimens) are very wary of divers - particularly SCUBA divers with the noisy bubbles that they emit. If this were not the case, a greater percentage of the commercial harvest would be taken by commercial spearfishermen as compared to commercial rod and reel fishermen. Please bear in mind that although the majority of spearfishermen have significant hook and line experience, relatively few hook and line fishermen have any spearfishing experience.

The spearfisherman is also limited by his body and physics on how long the can stay at depth to harvest fish. The diver faces decompression limits that require him to spend more than half the day on the surface allowing his body to off gas the excess nitrogen in his blood. On a very full day of diving, I may dive no more than 3 tanks with effective hunting times of 45 minutes per dive (depending upon depth of course). Accordingly, from sunrise to sunset I will have spent less than two and a half hours harvesting fish. The rod and reel fisherman, in contrast, can spend the entire day engaged in his pursuit. Speared fish make up only in tiny portion of all fish harvested recreationally and commercially.

Spearfishermen provide effective and timely environmental feedback that rod and reel fishermen cannot. I can't count the number of times that divers bring man made or other environmental damage to reefs to the attention of the authorities before greater damage can be done.

Because of its less efficient nature, on an economic level, spearfishermen contribute more to the economy per pound of harvested fish than rod and reel fishermen. SCUBA diving is not an inexpensive sport. It is a highly technical one than requires dive computers, regulators, mixed breathing gases, high volume tanks and other sophisticated and expensive equipment.

Spearfishing charters can accommodate a limited number of divers due to the space limitations that are caused by the volume of gear that each diver is required to bring with them. Unlike a hook and line party boat, a spearfishing charter boat can carry a very limited number of divers due to both space limitations and the captain's ability to safely monitor a limited number of divers in the water. Nevertheless, the boat's expenses in fuel, maintenance and crew are the same as a boat of the same size that accommodates a greater number of hook and line fishermen. Accordingly, each spearfisherman must pay more to participate in his sport than he would if he were rod and reel fishing. This also increases Florida tax revenues.

I am not at all suggesting that we should limit rod and reel fishing. However, I fail to find the logic in limiting spearfishing while not also limiting a means of harvest that is less discriminate, more productive, kills unwanted and undersize fish (bycatch), provides less environmental feedback and provides less of a stimulation to the economy per pound of harvested resource. I would think, rather, that any proposed regulations would seek to encourage more fishermen to harvest their fish with a spear instead of a rod and reel. It is my understanding that, as a matter of law, regulations must have a rational relationship to a stated governmental purpose. I cannot discern that relationship here.

The fact that all the science indicates that the population is fine and that the offshore stocks will now be protected by a 2 fish per boat limit is seen by a majority of anglers, guides, and researchers statewide as adequate to provide sustainability and healthy stocks while still allowing Florida's anglers (including spearfishermen) to take a few for dinner year-round. Again, I applaud the FWC and the staff involved in recommendations for seeing thru the selfish motivations and false information of some of the Keys fly-fishing purists and supporting the majority of Florida's anglers with reasonable and sustainable recommendations.

The FWC Staff working on this topic have worked very hard compiling all the data, working/listening with the stakeholders, and developing balanced solutions. Given all the above information, I encourage everyone to support the FWC Commission's acceptance of all the proposed recommendations provided by the FWC staff on December 10 in Clewiston, Fl. regarding the permit fishery.

Another note, spearfishing for permit has been occuring for MANY years in federal waters. It has only recently become under the spotlight thanks to the numerous spearfishing internet forums with people posting pictures with their catch (much like you guys do here). All this time we have been harvesting our fish under the state regulations while in federal waters and the fishery is still thriving and growing. So the only thing "new" about the recommendation for allowing the use of spearing gear to harvest permit is that if accepted, there will be language in the rules stating that it's legal.

..."may create additional threats"?

Sounds like you are trying to start controversy rather than inform your readers of the truth.

It seems your intent is to arouse those (and you know many that read this rag do not fish in Florida much less spearfish here) who read your pitiful little fear mongering article to send in their emails to save the "endangered" permit.

I won't really get into you to bad because I hate to see people like you get more press (or search engine rankings) than they deserve with their guerrilla tactics, but man, you have offered up a ow threshold for intelligence with this masterpiece.

Do you think the hunters and fisherman of this country can't see through the bull you are trying to off load.

Maybe some won't but I doubt you will sway the FWC so easily.

You are after protectionism, plain and simple.

"additional threats" The fact that you even tried that phrase is laughable.

Roger