Cortez fisherman cast out ideas to solve mullet problem

CORTEZ -- Thirty local fisherman met Sunday with three Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission members to claim out-of-town anglers are discarding white roe mullet, which eventually wash up dead on Manatee County beaches.

The disgruntled fishermen did not come away with a solution or game plan. They did air their gripes during a two-hour session at the Fisherman's Hall in Cortez and got feedback from state officials.

"I feel we got some things open," Mark Coarsey, president of the Manatee Chapter of Fishing for Freedom. "They heard our side."

Junior Guthrie of Cortez told the state representatives and Manatee County Commissioner John Chappie commercial fishermen and roughly 300 fishermen from outside the area caught so many mullet this season the local processing houses could not handle it all.

Unlike local fisherman, Gutherie and others said the out-of-towners didn't throw

back the lesser-valued white roe mullet until they were dead or close to death.

It reached a point where white male roe mullet was selling for 15 cents or less a pound while red roe mullet, used to make caviar, was holding much higher at about a $1 a pound.

"We tried to keep the price around 15 cents a pound for white roe mullet but there were just too many," said John Banyas of Cortez Bait & Seafood.

"If your boat can hold 3,000 pounds of mullet you aren't going to bother with white roe mullet that will bring you about a dime a pound," said the Cortez fisherman known simply as Picket. "It's profitable to keep the red roe and discard the white roe."

Tom Graef, regional director of of the Southwest Region of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said it is unlikely Cortez could somehow legislate "part-timers" from using Cortez waters, or reduce the number of commercial fishermen allowed.

He said fishermen should start a gear adjustment movement.

"If you are of one voice and get organized, things can happen," Graef said.

The fishermen said they want a ban on braille or English nets that make it easier for part-timers to catch mullet.

"If we banned braille nets it would eliminate all the people who come here," said Guthrie, who has been fishing from his boat in Cortez for 65 years. "They are all dependent on a braille net."

Mark Taylor, a Manatee County employee, came up with a plan that included a minimum mesh size of "41/4-inch stretch mesh or greater" for nets, an increase over the current roughly 21/4-inch size, which would allow white roe mullet to swim through.

Taylor also advocates a defined mullet season of Nov. 15-Jan. 15 and fees, including $50 for a county license, $500 for out of county and $1,000 for out-of-state anglers fishing in roe mullet season in Manatee County.

Taylor's proposal also calls for promoting fishing industry tourism and a dedicated boat ramp for commercial fisherman.

Charlie Hunsicker of the Manatee County Parks and Natural Resources told the fishermen the county had no control over braille nets but is coonsidering cracking down on boat ramps, where out-of-town fishermen sometime park their boats in lots and sleep.

"They're not hotels," Hunsicker said of the boat ramps at Kingish, 59th Street and other sites. "Their purpose is to launch the boat and take it out. I've seen boats loaded and just sitting there."

Guthrie said if fishermen could have sold mullet to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office for a decent price for inmates to eat it would have solved the problem.

"We would just need someone to process the mullet and put them in boxes," Guthrie said.

Annia Maria fisherman Anthony Manali Jr. said Florida could sell its excess mullet to Haiti or Cuba and make a public relations coup.

"There are hungry people in the world who need this protein," Manali said,

Coarsey said the fishermen will work with the Manatee County legislative delegation to see what laws might be changed.

"We need help," Coarsey said. "We need our local government behind us."

Manali also said there been a westerly wind this season or thousands more white roe mullet would have washed up.

"People with $1 million houses on the island are not going to put up with dead, stinking mullet in their mangroves," Manali said. "We have to do something or, I promise you, our industry will be in trouble."

Richard Dymond, Herald reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7072 or contact him @RichardDymond.

This story was originally published January 11, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Cortez fisherman cast out ideas to solve mullet problem ."