Byline: Kevin Wadlow
Oct. 10--A plan to revise Florida's lobster laws didn't find smooth sailing at its first workshop Monday in Marathon.
Trap fishermen contended proposals in the draft report to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission do not go far enough to protect them against rampant thievery and increased harvest by recreational divers.
Commercial divers and others said the plan lacks measures to ensure survival of the lobster population, such as requiring escape gaps in commercial traps to let small lobster go free.
"Not having an escape gap, to me, is a prehistoric way to catch lobster," said Barry Patterson, an Upper Keys recreational ...