An earthquake of dissent erupted among participants at a government hearing intended to promote “sector separation.”
Ostensibly sponsored by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (GMFMC), a three-day sector separation workshop in Tampa created more fissures than fusion during the public forum.
The GMFMC agenda stated: “The purpose of this workshop is to facilitate an educational exchange of information to help fishery managers and stakeholders gain a better understanding of potential benefits and challenges of sector separation in recreational fisheries managed by GMFMC.”
As it turned out, participants departed more befuddled and polarized than ever.
Sector separation (SS) would involve splitting off captains of charter and headboats from the regular recreational realm into a hybrid sector, thus creating a third management category.
Read the complete opinion piece from Florida Sportsman.