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Tag: FWC

  • Florida’s first black bear hunt in nearly a decade ends amid ongoing controversy

    Florida’s first black bear hunt since 2015 ended Saturday, closing a three-week season that drew sharp criticism from animal advocacy groups despite assurances from state wildlife officials that the population can sustain limited hunting.The hunt began Dec. 6 and concluded Dec. 28. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials say the hunt was carefully regulated and based on years of conservation and population data.A total of 172 permits were issued through a lottery system. Each permit allowed the harvest of one black bear, setting the maximum number of bears that could be taken during the season, according to FWC.“The Florida black bear population can sustain a hunt,” said Paul Scharnine of the FWC.But opponents argue the hunt could have long-term consequences for the state’s bear population.“This could have long-term detrimental effects on Florida black bears,” said Katrina Shadix, executive director of Bear Warriors United.Shadix said her organization worked throughout the season to stop or limit the hunt. She said dozens of bear advocates applied for permits through the lottery, with more than 40 receiving tags.Bear Warriors United also offered hunters $2,000 in exchange for their permits, an effort aimed at preventing bears from being killed. Shadix said at least 37 people inquired about the proposal.“I had to ask all of the hunters why they weren’t going to kill a bear,” Shadix said. “One simply wanted Christmas presents for his family.”As the season ends, advocacy groups say the fight is not over. Shadix said her organization plans to push for more data on bear populations and prevent another hunt from taking place next year.A lawsuit filed by Bear Warriors United against the FWC is scheduled to go to trial in August in Tallahassee. Shadix said the case will include depositions of FWC officials as the group seeks to block future hunts.FWC officials say they are still compiling data on how many bears were harvested during the season. The agency has not yet released final numbers.

    Florida’s first black bear hunt since 2015 ended Saturday, closing a three-week season that drew sharp criticism from animal advocacy groups despite assurances from state wildlife officials that the population can sustain limited hunting.

    The hunt began Dec. 6 and concluded Dec. 28. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials say the hunt was carefully regulated and based on years of conservation and population data.

    A total of 172 permits were issued through a lottery system. Each permit allowed the harvest of one black bear, setting the maximum number of bears that could be taken during the season, according to FWC.

    “The Florida black bear population can sustain a hunt,” said Paul Scharnine of the FWC.

    But opponents argue the hunt could have long-term consequences for the state’s bear population.

    “This could have long-term detrimental effects on Florida black bears,” said Katrina Shadix, executive director of Bear Warriors United.

    Shadix said her organization worked throughout the season to stop or limit the hunt. She said dozens of bear advocates applied for permits through the lottery, with more than 40 receiving tags.

    Bear Warriors United also offered hunters $2,000 in exchange for their permits, an effort aimed at preventing bears from being killed. Shadix said at least 37 people inquired about the proposal.

    “I had to ask all of the hunters why they weren’t going to kill a bear,” Shadix said. “One simply wanted Christmas presents for his family.”

    As the season ends, advocacy groups say the fight is not over. Shadix said her organization plans to push for more data on bear populations and prevent another hunt from taking place next year.

    A lawsuit filed by Bear Warriors United against the FWC is scheduled to go to trial in August in Tallahassee. Shadix said the case will include depositions of FWC officials as the group seeks to block future hunts.

    FWC officials say they are still compiling data on how many bears were harvested during the season. The agency has not yet released final numbers.

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  • Conservation group launches lawsuit against Florida bear hunt – Orlando Weekly



    Credit: Shutterstock

    A conservation group has filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission from holding the state’s first bear hunt in a decade

    Bear Warriors United filed the 15-page lawsuit Wednesday in Leon County circuit court, contending the commission violated several legal requirements, including approving a hunt using “obsolete” bear population numbers. The 23-day hunt, approved by the commission last month, is scheduled to start Dec. 6.

    Bear Warriors United cited what is known as a state “bear management plan” and the commission’s approval for hunters to kill up to 187 bears during the period.

    “The FWC’s (Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s) action permitting the black bear hunt directly contradicts the 2019 bear management plan and results in the FWC flying blind as to the black bear population in making decisions,” the lawsuit said.

    Bear Warriors United also argued killing “187 bears will cause imminent and irreparable harm to the Florida black bear species because the FWC’s decision is not grounded on scientific wildlife management or current Florida black bear populations.”

    Commission spokeswoman Shannon Knowles said in an email that the agency doesn’t comment on active litigation.

    Bear hunting has long been controversial in Florida, with the last hunt held in 2015.

    When the commission approved this year’s hunt on Aug. 13 before an overflow crowd in Gadsden County, Commissioner Gary Lester said the agency’s staff members brought forward “good, solid science for us to follow.”

    Before the hunt was approved, George Warthen, the commission’s chief conservation officer, described the plan as an additional method to manage bears as they coexist with humans.

    Bear Warriors United initially filed a challenge to this year’s hunt at the state Division of Administrative Hearings. However, it withdrew the request after the commission argued that such rule challenges may only be filed in circuit court. While challenges to agency rules generally go through the Division of Administrative Hearings, the commission said it is different from many state agencies because it is created in the Florida Constitution.

    The commission last week started accepting applications for permits for the hunt. Opponents of the hunt have urged supporters to apply for permits in the hope of reducing the number of bears killed.

    Up to 187 permits are expected to be issued, with each permit-holder able to kill one bear. Applications, which cost $5 per entry, will be accepted through Monday.

    People selected will then have to pay for the permits — $100 for Florida residents and $300 for non-residents.

    In the lawsuit, Bear Warriors United contended the agency limited public participation before approving the hunt. The group also contested the “scientific methodology” that was used in such things as determining the state’s bear population and documenting mortality of adult female bears.

    “Consequently, the FWC’s rule sanctions and creates an annual decision by the executive director concerning bear hunts that is arbitrary or capricious because it is not supported by facts, logic or reason,” the lawsuit said.

    The state had an estimated 4,050 bears in 2015, considered the most recent figures by the commission.

    For this year’s hunt, the commission established a quota that would allow 68 bears to be killed in the Apalachicola region west of Tallahassee; 46 in areas west of Jacksonville; 18 in an area north of Orlando; and 55 in the Big Cypress region southwest of Lake Okeechobee.

    The lawsuit argued that the “next statistically valid population abundance assessment is not expected to be available (until) 2030, following a second round of statewide genetic mark-recapture surveys.”

    Instead of hunting, the non-profit Bear Warriors United advocates for measures such as bear-proofing garbage cans to reduce conflict between people and bears foraging for food.

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    Jim Turner
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  • Man arrested over sea turtle eggs, drugs in Flagler County

    A man in the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility is facing charges related to drugs and sea turtle eggs.

    Flagler County deputies say Wesley Winters, 53, was found parked in front of a home in Beverly Beach that he was not supposed to be at due to a temporary no-contact order.

    The deputy at Sunday’s arrest said several white and tan orbs covered in sand were in a tray on the floorboard. They were quickly identified as sea turtle eggs, so the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was called in.

    The sheriff’s office said methamphetamine, fentanyl, marijuana, an alprazolam pill, marijuana bowls and a THC vape pen were also found.

    The sheriff’s office said before FWC arrived, Winters told the deputy the eggs were from two nests that had eroded away, and he had picked them up after seeing them washing down the beach. He reportedly said he knew the eggs were unhatched but believed they were nonviable.

    Winters was arrested by the deputy on charges of possession of fentanyl, possession of methamphetamine, possession of alprazolam, possession of marijuana (20 grams or less), possession of drug paraphernalia and violation of a no-contact order.

    The FWC arrested Winters on five misdemeanor counts of knowingly possessing 11 or fewer marine turtle eggs and five felony counts of taking, disturbing, mutilating or destroying marine turtle eggs.

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  • Legal capture of endangered manta ray sparks bipartisan outrage in Florida

    Florida authorities have agreed to review the issuing of special permits allowing companies to capture endangered creatures to sell, after an outcry over the netting of a huge manta ray for an aquarium in the Middle East.

    Related: Manta man: film profiles unlikely bond between diver and giant sea creature

    The review comes after a viral video released on 12 July showed a boat crew capturing a giant manta ray off a Panama City beach in Florida and on to their boat, sparking outrage among the community. A dolphin tour operator who witnessed and filmed the scene confronted the crew and asked whether they would release the manta ray, but they explained they had a legal permit.

    “The manta ray was hooked under the wing, and it was obviously exhausted,” Denis Richard, the founder of the Water Planet US dolphin tour company, who filmed the video, said in a telephone interview on Saturday. “I started telling them that they should be ashamed of themselves,” he added of the men capturing the ray.

    It was later confirmed that the crew were contractors working for SeaWorld Abu Dhabi to supply an aquarium there, and the company holding the permit was Dynasty Marine Associates, based in Marathon, Florida. The permit was issued by the Florida fish and wildlife conservation commission (FWC).

    The plankton-feeding giant manta ray, the world’s largest ray with a wingspan up to 26ft, is federally listed as an endangered species, with commercial fishing as its greatest US threat. The species is both directly targeted and caught as bycatch. Manta rays are especially valued in specialized commercial circles for their gill plates, which are traded internationally.

    After the video went viral, a bipartisan group of Florida lawmakers signed a letter urging Florida’s wildlife agency to revoke the permit that allowed the manta ray to be caught. The letter also called for the suspension of any future “marine special activity licenses” that allow for the limited capture of endangered species, as reported earlier by various Florida media outlets.

    “This practice raises fundamental concerns about the FWC’s role in upholding its mission of conservation and wildlife preservation,” reads the letter signed by Republican congressman Brian Mast, independent state senator Jason Pizzo and state house representatives Lindsay Cross, a Democrat, and Peggy Gossett-Seidman and Meg Weinberger, both of whom are Republican.

    Related: Just a pole and line, like they fished as boys: how a Maldives tradition is ensuring tuna stocks thrive

    Dynasty Marine Associates did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Guardian.

    Rodney Barreto, chair of the FWC, replied to the lawmakers’ letter on Friday, confirming that the agency would “revisit” the policies that allows companies to capture federally protected marine species for aquariums. He said the rule hearings will occur in 2026. He also said the agency, since 19 August, stopped issuing the permits that allow the capture of sharks and manta rays listed under the Endangered Species Act.

    “We understand both your concerns and those raised by the public following the recent harvest of a giant manta ray,” Barreto wrote. “We are revisiting our policies related to issuing [marine special activity licenses] involving prohibited marine species.”

    The move represents progress for marine wildlife advocates such as Richard.

    “The manta ray is on the list of protected species, and there is a reason,” he said. “The species is on its way out, like a lot of other species, so they need to be protected. If they’re not, then their number will dwindle, and we’ll see what’s happened with many species that aren’t on this planet any more.”

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