FWC votes 4-3 to pursue jig ban Friday, 14 June 2013 14:00 BY MARCY SHORTUSE - In a decision that will change the face of tarpon fishing in Boca Grande Pass, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted 4-3 to pass a proposal to create new definitions for the term “snagging,” and decided to proceed with a draft ruling that would prohibit the use of bottom-weighted jigs as well. Read the Full Story

Beacon buys Gasparilla Gazette Friday, 14 June 2013 13:59 The Boca Beacon, Boca Grande’s locally-owned newspaper for 33 years, has purchased the Gasparilla Gazette. The purchase agreement with Breeze Newspapers of Cape Coral was made final this week. Read the Full Story

Be free, manatee: Two native 'tees released back to their home on Thursday Friday, 14 June 2013 13:53 Representatives from Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo made a very special trip to the island on Thursday, June 13, with some very unique cargo. Read the Full Story

Boca Grande still a 'best little beach town' Friday, 14 June 2013 13:50 Once again, Boca Grande finds itself on a list of top 10 places, this time as one of America’s best little beach towns as listed by CNN. Read the Full Story

Island sea turtle patrol experiencing funding snag, but still hitting the beaches Friday, 14 June 2013 13:45 BY MARCY SHORTUSE - The Gasparilla Island Turtle Patrol has had a bit of bad luck lately, between Tropical Storm Andrea and a new development that has stopped their funding cold for the moment.
According to Grace Harvey, the permit holder for Gasparilla Island, the Coastal Wildlife Club has taken away the money they need to operate ... and all because of a matter of security. Read the Full Story

Local surfers goin’ to Cali Friday, 14 June 2013 13:44 BY LIZA STROUT - When Mila Wyman and the rest of the Florida Atlantic University’s Surf Team finished one point off first place in the 2013 National Scholastic Surfing Association’s East Coast Regional Championship in April, they knew that they were going to be heading to California for the national competition. Read the Full Story

Profile: Lynne Warberg Friday, 14 June 2013 10:31 BY MARCY SHORTUSE - Lynne Warberg has played many roles in her lifetime. She’s been the relish girl, the Playboy bunny, the receptionist, the photographer, the author and the mom. Her long and winding path to Boca Grande is more than just interesting ... it’s a testament to just what a woman can do all on her own. And just what she did was become a very well-known photographer, and she will be helping out shooting pictures from the Boca Beacon from time to time as well. Read the Full Story

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FWC votes 4-3 to pursue jig ban
BY MARCY SHORTUSE - In a decision that will change the face of tarpon fishing in Boca Grande Pass, the...
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‘The PTTS will never understand how we feel’

20 July 2012 Last Updated on 20 July 2012 Marcy Shortuse

To the Editor:

The PTTS will never understand how we feel. The people who plunder for gain will never understand those who grew up loving it and striving to protect it. They will never understand what it feels like to be a little girl catching her first tarpon with her daddy, nor the joy that it brought to her daddy’s face. They will never understand the men who come from generations of fishermen who have captained these waters and provided for their families giving thousands of people the thrill of their lives, fighting the great silver king. They will never understand the quiet pride these men have for the Pass and for each other. They will never understand how considerate, protective or passionate these captains are, because they have done nothing but come into the area with a complete disregard for it’s history. They cannot understand the look in their father’s eyes when he realizes the truth of it’s deterioration. They will never understand being from a place where once you have left it, it lives in your heart forever. They will never understand the sense of community or family, nor our fierce desire to protect it. And so we keep fighting until we conserve and protect our heritage. Period.

Susanne Darna Dudley

Tallahassee (formerly of Boca Grande)

( 6 Votes )

Comments (2)

The News - Editorial

Response to PTTS mom from island resident

20 July 2012 Last Updated on 20 July 2012 Marcy Shortuse

Dear Brenda Barton of “The Villages?”

I too am a wife and mother of fishing guides, third and fourth generation Boca Grande guides to be precise. I have supported this island’s businesses and it’s community for 40 years. Unfortunately, you can say all you want, my dear, but it doesn’t make what you say true.

Uncalled for attack? Excuse me, but we have let your offspring take over a 100-year-old fishery and decimate it of its large breeding female tarpon.

Revenue dollars??? That is a stretch.

There are extreme measures taken in the handling of the tarpon while gaffing, dragging, weighing and lifting them out of the water for a photo op. I agree, that is extreme.

Respectfully handling the (bumper) boats? What Pass are you in? The pounding of the tarpon by these boats as soon as they rise to take air into their rudimentary lung is nothing short of an assault.

I cannot go any further. Your letter is an insult to my intelligence.

Very sincerely,

Kathy Y. Futch

Boca Grande

( 6 Votes )

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The News - Editorial

Face of PTTS weighs in on tarpon controversy

20 July 2012 Last Updated on 20 July 2012 Marcy Shortuse

To the Editor:

From its inception, the Professional Tarpon Tournament Series (PTTS) has been conducted in a sporting manner with an emphasis on promoting conservation and the sport of tarpon fishing in Boca Grande. I would like to tell you about our history of conservation efforts and share some facts about ongoing and future efforts to protect the fishery that we all respect and depend upon.

Firstly, the PTTS has worked closely with biologists from the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commissions, Fish & Wildlife Research Institute to make sure we all benefit from the best science available and help to manage the fishery. In 2005, the PTTS served as the pilot study for the FWC’s current tarpon DNA tagging program. Since then, our organization and our anglers have provided nearly 1,000 tarpon DNA samples to the FWC to further their research.

More recently, at the request of FWC biologists, we allowed FWC tarpon researchers to take possession of tarpon that had been weighed during our 2010 PTTS & WPTTS events, so they could take blood samples and perform other tests that they were not normally able to perform as easily, and cost effectively, as they could at our events. The purpose of the tarpon physiology study was to evaluate the effects of fight time, handling and the environment on the stress responses of tarpon measured using changes in blood chemistry. This study is ongoing.

( 9 Votes )

Guides, Save the Tarpon back off round-table discussion

13 July 2012 Marcy Shortuse

BY MARCY SHORTUSE AND LIZA STROUT - When the Boca Beacon and representatives from the Sun-Herald got together last week, it was to discuss a delicate issue: Tarpon fishing in Boca Grande Pass, and if there is a way to come to a compromise.

This year has been a more controversial year than most. It has stirred up a 20-plus-year argument between catch-and-release, live-bait anglers who use traditional fishing methods, and those who believe that aggressive tournament fishing tactics are not altering the number and behavior of tarpon in the Pass.

( 5 Votes )

Joiner takes first in 2012 BoMo

13 July 2012 Last Updated on 13 July 2012 Marcy Shortuse

BY LIZA STROUT - It was a bittersweet moment for Effie Joiner when the 2012 BoMo Tournament came to a close at noon on Sunday, July 8. She’d been fishing the tournament for many years, and because she is 15 this year would be her last.