Saving Seafood

FLORIDA: ‘No one can fill those shoes:’ Pensacola fishermen mourn loss of ‘Tony the bait man’

July 31, 2019 — It’s been routine for fishermen setting sail on the Gulf of Mexico over the past 15 years to stop beside the unmistakable blue boat — always parked in the same spot about a mile east of Pensacola Pass — for a live bait transaction.

Until his last day on earth, you could buzz Tony Barfield on VHF radio channel 11 or pull right up to the beloved bait salesman’s trademark spot on the pass to pick up your cigar minnows or threadfins for the day.

Barfield died July 19 of natural causes at the age of 61. His sister, Becky Stewart, confirmed his passing and said her brother was plagued by heart issues and diabetes in the later part of his life.

None of that diminished Barfield’s work ethic. His service aboard that blue boat was considered invaluable by many in the Pensacola fishing community.

Read the full story at the Pensacola News Journal

FLORIDA: Panhandle leaders seek ways to end lionfish invasion

May 11, 2016 — Environmental leaders are looking for an economic roar from the troubling invasion of lionfish into the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Because of the high concentration of the fish in the waters off Pensacola, the region has become Florida’s lionfish capital, the leaders said Monday night during a Regional Lionfish Control Workshop sponsored by Escambia County.

“What we are trying to do is to turn that lemon into lemonade,” Anna Clark of the Pensacola-based environmental advocacy organization Coast Watch Alliance told the group.

Clark and others pushed ideas that might provide a boost to the local economy while also combating the lionfish problem, including ecotourism based on “lionfish safaris.”  The plan would encourage divers who spearfish to come to the area to hunt lionfish.

Clark’s organization and the University of Florida’s Sea Grant program also are working to encourage retailers to sell lionfish meat and to promote restaurants that offer lionfish-based menu items.

Read the full story at the Panhandle News Journal