Next Thursday, June 11th will be the final meeting of the Coastal Ocean Task Force (COTF), a group comprised of elected officials from Martin through Miami-Dade Counties and stakeholders tasked with developing a list of recommendations for coastal management from Martin through Miami-Dade counties.
Included in the recommendations to be voted on are several fisheries-related topics. These potential recommendations include applying to NOAA to have all state waters in the area from Martin to Miami-Dade as a National Marine Sanctuary (similar to that of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary), and considering using no-take (no-fishing) areas as a tool for fishery management.
A list of the recommendations can be found here:
http://ourfloridareefs.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/COTF-draft-recommendations-table_5-28-2015.pdf
This is an open meeting, and the public is invited to attend. There will be a public comment period where the COTF will benefit from hearing stakeholder input on these recommendations before they vote. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC)'s south regional director, Ernie Marks, is a voting member of the COTF and has been active in expressing the FWC's standpoint of preserving access to fishers.
The meeting will be held at the following location from 1:30 - 3:30pm on June 11th, 2015:
Boca Raton Fire Rescue Services
6500 Congress Ave. Suite 200,
Boca Raton, FL 33487
