The protection plan for the marine “Grand Canyon” in South Florida is finally finished. Florida says not so fast

An ambitious proposal to better protect the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, more than a decade in the making, is facing opposition from Florida wildlife officials as it nears the finish line.

The final version of the plan was unveiled last week, but in a November letter to the refuge’s acting chief, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said the plan attempts to circumvent the state’s authority as the two agencies engage in compromises Rules worked that tightened boating and fishing in a sprawling protected area the size of Connecticut. Parts of the protected area extend over state waters, so management authority is shared.

With only 10 issues left to negotiate, Chairman Rodney Barreto lamented that most of them “are due to the State of Florida changing its position on site-specific proposals in a spirit of cooperation.”

The new plan is the first in nearly three decades, and critics say it is long overdue as fragile reefs, seagrass beds and once-abundant fishing grounds are being destroyed by South Florida’s boom. There were dozens of public meetings and nearly 100 other technical meetings between agencies. More than 80,000 public comments were made.

In its final form, the plan expands the refuge’s boundaries by 20% to just over 4,500 square miles and adds 20 new wildlife management areas, four habitat restoration areas and 11 new coral nurseries. About 95% of the reserve would remain open to fishing, but with different driving and anchoring regulations to protect corals, shallow flats and nesting birds.

“I know this is everyone’s backyard, but it’s a national marine sanctuary,” acting Superintendent Matt Stout said as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration unveiled the plan at a meeting of the sanctuary’s advisory board last Friday. “This is the equivalent of the Grand Canyon to the rest of the country and what we do here matters.”

The plan also represents the “Goldilocks zone just right,” said Matt Brookhart, regional director of NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. “No one has everything, but everyone has something.”

But state officials say to work, the refuge must lift restrictions on some popular fishing spots and involve FWC in emergency closures like those imposed during last year’s brutal heat wave that bleached corals across the Keys. State officials, for example, want drift fishing to continue within expanded boundaries for protected areas near the Alligator and Carysfort Reefs, where sailfish are sometimes caught. But protected area officials and conservationists fear that even surface fishing could still harm sensitive reefs.

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The state also opposes no-car zones in Barnes Sound and near parts of the Tarpon Belly Keys in the Lower Keys, which sanctuary planners say are needed to protect seagrass beds.

The state fears a ban on anchoring at Western Dry Rocks would also effectively end the fishery, while protected area officials say year-round protection from damaged anchors and chains is needed.

As the objections persist until the last minute, it worries the advisory board members who worked on the plan.

“They may have to wait until these administrative arrangements and issues with the state are resolved before making the final rule, otherwise there is a risk of throwing the baby out with the bathwater,” said Gary Jennings, director of American Sportfishing’s Florida lobbying arm Association.

The objections were not resolved, Stout said, because the letter was received after a draft plan required for the final management draft was already in the works. He planned to meet with state officials this week and said the process still leaves time for negotiations. Following Monday’s release, a 30-day “cooling off” period will begin before NOAA issues a final rule establishing the new management plan. After that, Gov. Ron DeSantis has 45 days to adopt the plan or reject all or part of it.

Rejection of increased federal protections would not be unprecedented. In 2016, Florida Senators Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson introduced a bill in Congress block Part of a new management plan for Biscayne National Park that included a marine protected area with stricter fishing rules. Park officials and conservationists said the protected area was urgently needed after heavy boat traffic left the plains scarred by propellers and devastated reefs caused by overfishing. A marine protected area in the Dry Tortugas has significantly increased the population of popular fish and helped replenish stocks.

The National Park Service and the Interior Department delayed implementation of the plan. So in 2020. The National Parks Conservation Association sued. In March, a federal judge sided with the nonprofit and ordered federal authorities to finally implement the plan.

Jenny Staletovich

Jenny Staletovich is an environmental reporter for WLRN. Her work appears as part of a partnership between WLRN and the Key Biscayne Independent.