FFF Sheds Sunshine on the Trap Retrieval Program

At the urging of many crabbers, I have been gathering all the available data from the crab trap retrieval programs in an attempt to create transparency for the Crabbers. Currently there is only data on the stone crab & spiny lobster retrieval program as no blue crab traps have been retrieved as of yet.

According to FWC records, The Organized Fishermen of Florida (OFF) have been paid $199,295.52 between the years 2002 and 2007. All of which was paid to OFF under control of Jerry Sansom. Jerry Sansom lobbied for the stone crab & spiny lobster trap retrieval programs and more recently for the blue crab trap retrieval program. Sansom lobbied the Senate on the pretense that he and OFF represented over 90% of the "industry" (Blue Crabbers), that "industry" wanted the extra restrictions, heavy fees, heavy fines, and a new Blue Crab Trap Retrieval Program contained within the latest Blue Crab Bill. Many in the Blue Crab industry feel betrayed by the state and by OFF. They also feel this is a conflict of interest for Sansom and OFF. Hence crabber's request for more Sunshine on the activities associated with the retrieval programs. The vast majority of crabbers I know and have spoken to locally and state wide are not members of OFF, are not represented by OFF, and are very disturbed at OFF's misrepresenting themselves as "industry."

Below are the invoices received by FWC from OFF. The information provided from the invoices are the Total Traps Retrieved, Total Trips and Payment Due. This is the only information currently available. I also inquired about documentation of who’s traps were retrieved but there is no database for this information as of this time.

Below is the breakdown of traps retrieved by region and the Captains who participated by region as provided to me by the FWC. FWC began documenting this information starting in 2006 and should be the norm from now on.

FWC records state that all traps that have been retrieved are destroyed and disposed of.
I feel it’s worth mentioning that according to the trap retrieval programs, crabbers will be fined $10.00 per trap recovered and traps recovered shall become the property of the commission or its contract agent, as determined by the commission, and shall be either destroyed or resold to the original owner. As I (and many others) have pointed out to the Commissioners and the Legislature, this will create a fertile ground for theft and/or conflict.

I recently addressed the Commission about the lack of transparency of the retrieval programs, the lack of communication between the FWC staff and industry and the potential for crabbers to be victimized by the program if not closely monitored. Commissioners assured me that staff would work harder to keep the industry up to date on all the trap retrieval programs.