Looks like some unfortunate votes.
Public comment on the red drum was 295-2 yet despite this public input, it was voted the other way.
text from the saltwater guides association:
Wow…. Have you heard anything from SCDNR as far as their management proposal for April 2026?
The moment any fish is worth money…. You can pretty much guess how things work. Wish it weren’t so. If any conservation movement wants to bring back a great fishery in their area - along with environmental issues - they need to focus on the forage species that fish need to thrive. That means protecting the menhaden, shrimp, sardines, mullet (and every other food source while also concentrating on the other issues involved.. Tru ‘dat. This is something I’ve spoken to reps from the CCA on more than one occasion years ago…
Take Biscayne Bay for instance - we need to prohibit any shrimping in the Bay, period (the Bay is a huge nursery for shrimp…) - while also protecting the water itself (stop any herbicide spraying in freshwaters that will eventually wind up in the Bay…). Protect their food - and the fishing will come roaring back in just a few short years…. This is just one example.
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I have seen some potential options but nothing I can say is finalized currently.
Unfortunately SCDNR has to make it’s recommendation based on what it feels can get passed by the legislature and not necessarily what is best for the fishery.
Ultimately the best conservation tool is education
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I feel utterly out of the loop about this. Ask me about the Everglades and I could bore you for hours bout it but embarrassingly this I’m not sure what is happening. And SC is now my new home state.
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@iMacattack Having spent 25 years in E.NC and the other 1/2 here in FL I think the difference is cultural. Here in FL the water is dominant. 1000s of guides, tourists ect.. so it gets more attention. The amount of coverage lake o and the glades get compared to the low country or nuese/pamlico basin isn’t even remotely close. Like yourself, I can tell ya lot more about the glades or even the LA marsh than I can about NC.
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By making the information not easily accessible, the rule/law makers know they will be able to enact more of what THEY and their cronies want. Not what the majority wants. Note the “uninformed” comments, and the blatant ignoring of the 292/2 public comments. They got ya by the short hairs, as we say in the deep south.
Tyranny of the minority
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You can sign up for emails on news, votes, actions
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This is the top level link to Red Drum with meeting notes and past actions, upcoming votes.
From what I’ve read and heard over many years - the states north of Florida - are pretty much where our state was - fifty years ago or more, with commercial interests in charge of our fisheries. That’s the way it was all those years ago here in Florida when the “porkchop gang” controlled our state’s legislature (I came here in 1971, fresh out of the service, and back from my “senior trip” on the other side of the world..). We lost every conservation battle we fought back then - and watched fishery after fishery go into decline and collapse before twenty years later winning with the net ban amendment, and all the mostly good things that happened after that…
Coastal states to the north, all the way up to Canada, still have battles to fight - and unlike here - there’s no longer strong newspapers and magazines to rally the troops and provide not only direction but also clout as politicians realized that not being on the side of conservation put them behind the eight ball….
I’ll get down off of my soapbox now… the big battles here in Florida for the future will revolve around development - and when money is involved, it will be all uphill for our side… Notice that our current governor, who can no longer run come the next election seems not to care much about conservation isssues any more…. sad.
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The biggest issue I run into speaking with people about this is awareness. When I speak of fishery issues the 2 responses I almost always get are:
You must just not know how to catch them
There’s no issue, I can still catch plenty
One of the best conservation tools is politely speaking with others to let them know what is going on and ways to help, not only politically, but in how they interact with the resource.
@lemaymiami thankfully in SC we do not have wild commercial interests but do have a culture battle to fight. I’m very open to any suggestions you may have.
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The only way we ever began winning battles - is after things just went to hell - and we had the strong support of the print media (newspapers, magazines… and these days the print media - don’t have any clout at all)… Otherwise we’d still be behind the eight ball… Wish I had some encouragement to send your way.