Personal watercraft (JetSkis) seek return to refuges in Florida Keys
Keys Treasures
FLKe...@fwc.gov.
BY TIMOTHY O'HARA
Key West Citizen Staff
LOWER KEYS - Egrets and herons cruise the shallows for lunch, only to
be interrupted by the occasional tarpon breaking the surface looking
for its own meal and creating only the ripple. Fishing guides pole the
flats for bonefish and permit. This scene has played out millions of
times in the backcountry, one of only a few true forms of old Keys
still left.
Some fear that serenity will soon be interrupted by Jet Skis, Wave
Runners and other personal watercraft racing through the flats. The
trade organization and lobbying group for the major personal watercraft
manufacturers are lobbying to overturn the ban on the vessels in two
national wildlife refuges in the Lower Keys - Key West and Great
White Heron National Wildlife refuges.
The Personal Watercraft Industry Association is citing a state law
enacted in 2000 that states "any ordinance or local law which has been
adopted pursuant to this section or to any other state may not
discriminate against personal watercraft." The law requires that state
and local regulatory agencies must treat all vessels the same.
Several personal watercraft associations have also begun to lobby
Biscayne National Park officials about lifting its ban on personal
watercraft.
The federal and state government signed a management agreement in
November 1992 that prohibits the use of personal watercraft in the two
Lower Keys refuges. The state owns the submerged land and the federal
government has jurisdiction over the mangroves and small islands above
water.
At the time, the use of personal watercraft was expanding and
biologists feared the impact of noisy fast moving vessels on birds and
flats fish in the refuges, said Van Fischer, a natural resource planner
for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"Biologists were witnessing personal water crafts in areas
traditionally used by flats boat guides, buzzing close by the islands.
They have the ability to run in shallow water and can bother nesting
and resting birds," Fischer said. "There are differences between flats
boats and other boats and personal watercraft. Fishermen are going to
drop anchor and fish and flats guides are going to pole across the
flats. Personal watercraft are going to repetitively drive around back
there for an extended period of time.... People want to get on them and
go fast."
"This is definitely not a traditional boat," Fischer added. "You don't
sit inside it. It doesn't have an outboard motor or propeller."
The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary management plan went into
effect in 1996 and federal officials incorporated the refuges' rules
into sanctuary plans.
President Theodore Roosevelt created the 208,000-acre Key West National
Wildlife Refuge in 1908 for the purpose of protecting habitat and
breeding grounds for migratory and native birds, Fischer said. The area
starts just east of Mule Key and runs just west of the Marquesas Keys.
The federal government created the Great White Heron National Wildlife
Refuge in 1938 to protect the great white heron and other birds in
192,000 acres that run from Horseshoe Key to Mud Keys, Fischer said.
The refuges are home to thousands of herons, frigate birds, pelicans,
egrets and cormorants.
The issue about personal watercraft in the backcountry dropped off the
radar screen after the creation of the 1992 agreement. There have been
no local personal watercraft groups vocally pushing to lift the ban.
The issue returned when U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials recently began
drafting a new conservation management plan for the refuges.
Personal Watercraft Industry Association lobbyist Peggy Matthews met
with Katherine Andrews, state director of coastal and aquatic managed
areas, earlier this month to discuss the state law and repealing the
backcountry ban on personal watercraft. Matthews has also talked with
members of Lower Keys guides associations. Andrews did not return phone
messages Thursday.
"The state owns the submerged land and the agreement may be in conflict
with state law," Matthews said. "The industry wants to rectify the
personal watercraft issue .... Personal watercraft has every right to
be there."
Technology has also improved to make the personal watercraft "the
cleanest and quietest boats on the water," Matthews said.
New hull designs and insulators made the vessels 70-percent quieter
than those sold prior to 1998, according to Personal Watercraft
Industry Association literature. Another study found that if personal
watercraft are operated properly they don't disturb seagrass in waters
24 inches or greater, Matthews said.
Wildlife officials could regulate the watercraft like they regulate any
other boat, creating no-wake and idle speed zones, Andrews said. U.S.
Fish & Wildlife has only one officer for enforcement in the two
refuges, Fischer said.
The government would also have to spend money on creating no-wake and
idle zones in the area and the drafting and installing signs, which
could have a negative impact on the natural beauty of the landscape.
Local fishing guides are worried about the vessels scaring away
bonefish, permit and other flats fish that easily spook, said flats
guide Richard Grathwohl, who also serves on the Sanctuary Advisory
Council and Marathon Guides Association.
Fish and Wildlife officials are taking public input for the new
management plan. People can pick up a comment form at the National Key
Deer Refuge, 28950 Watson Blvd., Big Pine Key, or e-mail a comment to
FLKe...@fwc.gov.