The traps are constructed of vinyl -covered welded wire mesh, 

 usually with openings of l"x2" or larger. The FDNR report and draft Reef 

 Fish Plan indicate that traps typically have overall dimensions of 2'x3'x4' 

 (FDNR, 1980) to 3'x6'x3' with a base of 18 square feet. On the other hand, 

 the Marine Wilderness Society in Florida has reported that wire traps can 

 cover from 25 square feet to as much as 40 square feet of bottom area. 

 Fish traps commercially available in the South Florida area can be purchased 

 with as much as 120 cubic feet in volume. The draft Reef Fish FMP proposes 

 to restrict all fish traps fished within the FCZ to 54 cubic feet or less 

 in volume. 



The draft snapper-grouper FMP also indicates that traps are typically 

 set at depths of less than 30 to 150 feet {9.14m-45.75m). The first quar- 

 terly report of the Florida DNR substantiates this and indicates baited 

 traps are individually buoyed and normally placed 100' -150' apart in water 

 from 25' to 150' deep. Some of the small, shallow water operators can 

 visually select the area to place each trap. Deeper water fishermen rely 

 on fathometers to locate "good bottom" and then deploy their traps in a 

 line adjacent to the relief. Most fishermen in the Lower Keys and Tortugas 

 fish in depths of 80' to 150'. Others report that the normal fishing depth 

 is between five and 45 m (Sylvester and Dammann, 1972; Monro, 1974) in 

 the shallow reef areas of Florida. 



The FDNR report observes that the most desirable bottom for 

 setting traps has various ledges with 2' -4' relief with live gorgonians, 

 sponges, and heads of hard coral and which extend in any one direction for 

 100' or more. A habitat of this type is fished heavily for 2-3 days, and 

 then the traps are moved to some other likely spot. If this ledge area 

 was a good producer, the fishermen will return two weeks later and again 

 fish it for 2-3 days. There are three areas in the Florida Keys that are 

 supporting fish traps continuously, at least for the first quarter of this 

 study. These areas are: the area immediately surrounding Sombrero Light 

 off Boot Key (Middle Keys), the area adjacent to the whistle buoy south of 

 Loggerhead Light (Dry Tortugas), and the area adjacent to the Big Pine 

 shoals off Big Pine Key (Lower Keys). 



Conclusive data on the number of fishermen in the area that 

 use traps and the extent of the increasing use of traps is not available. 

 During the first quarterly report period, FDNR reports that the wire trap 

 fishery in Monroe County involves approximately 43 boats, with the crew 

 consisting normally of a captain/owner and a single mate. Several small 

 boat, nearshore operations were conducted by a captain only. Twenty-two 

 of the 43 captain/owners are part-time trappers who also fish lobster or 

 crab traps or engage in other types of fishing activity. Seven of these 

 trappers engage in wire fish trapping only during the summer when the 

 lobster and stone crab seasons are closed. These 43 fishermen utilized an 

 estimated 998 traps (an average of 23/boat). 



National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) estimates are greater 

 than the figures obtained by FDNR. NMFS estimates that in Monroe County 

 8,000 traps maximum were used by fishermen in 1978 and that 300 to 350 



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