$25K sought for flats fishing study

Photo:Will Benson

Bonefish Tarpon Trust is asking Monroe County to chip in $25,000 toward a study that would determine how much revenue flats fishing generates in the Florida Keys.

The study, which will cost $110,000 in total, will identify the number of flats anglers who fished the Keys in the 2011-12 fishing year, a summary states. It will also identify the number of days each angler fished and what species of fish was targeted. It will estimate the annual angler expenditure in the Keys and how much the angler added in wages, jobs and tax revenues.

LINK (via: Keys News)

Report says Bahamian fishing business declined 30-50% over the last two years

A March 2010 study on the economic impact made by Flats Fishing in the Bahamas, conducted by a Florida-based researcher, Tony Fedler, found that while the industry and tourists served by it generated $141 million in "total economic benefits to the Bahamian economy annually", the sector was hard-hit by the economic downturn over the past two years.

LINK (Via: The Tribune)



Fishing the Bahama Flats

Sam Sifton and photographer Chris Ramirez report on the narcotic effect of chasing bonefish in the Bahamas.

THERE are times in this world when you want to get lost, well and truly
out of your head, and find yourself vulnerable and laughing amid real,
untrammeled beauty and hardship and life.

The story LINK  The slideshow LINK  (Via:The NY Times)