BHB on Undercurrent

[wetb4igetinthewater]

There is quite a bit of “artificial reef.” Part of this is a snorkel trail of boulders placed by the Boy Scouts of America. They also placed 3 hammerhead statues and apparently shopping carts were included in the “improvement.” Overall a bit too much improvement IMHO.

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I'm surprised divers haven't placed small link chain parallel to shore in those locations.

 

[Pipehorse]

Finance. I assume you were looking for tourism or fishing. Tourism is our 7th largest sector and fishing isn't on the list. It was a surprise to me, I'd always been told it was farming (citrus, trees, etc) and trade (port of Tampa, port of Miami).

Here's the breakdown:

Florida: real GDP by industry 2019 | Statista
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Edit: I looked further. Farming is the #1 employer and transportation (trade) is #2. They want you to register to see that info, I guess they're trying to sell subscriptions to the site. So if you judge by people employed instead of dollars then Farming is #1. Just by dollars, then it's finance. Neither of those are what people visit Florida to do, so it's not what we're known for.

If you look closer on the bar graph, fishing is mixed in with agriculture, hunting, and mining. Have no idea if they mean recreational or commercial fishing.

 

[Pipehorse]

Granted this is total sales generated, suffice it to say fishing is big business in Florida, six times more than Alaska and more than California. I wonder how much sales scuba diving accounts for?

 

[MaxE]

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Granted this is total sales generated, suffice it to say fishing is big business in Florida, six times more than Alaska and more than California. I wonder how much sales scuba diving accounts for?

Interesting, I wonder how much of that is recreational fishing impact, The left off the largest seafood producing state in the lower 48 from this image. to be fare we need to add the commercial diving industry. How big it the economic impact from the commercial diving industry ?

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

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Granted this is total sales generated, suffice it to say fishing is big business in Florida, six times more than Alaska and more than California. I wonder how much sales scuba diving accounts for?

As far as this park is concerned, the only thing that matters is the economic impact of the fishermen who fish on the bridge versus the divers who dive under the bridge.

 

[Pipehorse]

As far as this park is concerned, the only thing that matters is the economic impact of the fishermen who fish on the bridge versus the divers who dive under the bridge.

I realize the statistical data is more of an interesting side note and not necessarily germane to the current topic. So yes one could argue that on a local scale the diving at BHB has a greater impact than fishing. However, the argument that the greater impact of diving is the only thing that matters is utterly shortsighted. Palm Beach County residents fishing at the bridge have a greater claim to the rights at that area than non Palm Beach County residents scuba diving there, whether they hail from Broward or Martin Counties, or if they come from Fairbanks, Alaska regardless of economic impact. The problem here is a criminal manner. The criminal activities of a few bad fisherman, is not a valid reason or excuse to ban all fisherman. The Rivera Beach Police/FWC/Palm Beach County Sheriffs need to deal with it. Thats three separate agencies with jurisdiction. And the other argument that its to hard to catch the perpetrators in the act and therefore the only solution is to ban all fishing is as utterly shortsighted and ludicrous as the economic impact argument.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

And the other argument that its to hard to catch the perpetrators in the act and therefore the only solution is to ban all fishing is as utterly shortsighted and ludicrous as the economic impact argument.

Well, I've noticed that most city parks are closed during the night for the purpose of eliminating criminal activity. It is a move to make things easier for LE. How is this different?

 

[johndiver999]

As far as this park is concerned, the only thing that matters is the economic impact of the fishermen who fish on the bridge versus the divers who dive under the bridge.

You REALLY think that this is the way public policy should be formulated? Without any regard for individual's rights? We should only look at the group of people who have (or spend) the most amount of money and every policy should be formulated to cater to their wishes - at the expense of others?

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

You REALLY think that this is the way public policy should be formulated? Without any regard for individual's rights? We should only look at the group of people who have (or spend) the most amount of money and every policy should be formulated to cater to their wishes - at the expense of others?

Generally policy is formulated to favor business, right or wrong, that is the reality.

Here we have some locals who attempt to hook divers which can result, and has resulted, in hospital visits. It is not practical for LE to monitor for this. As a result, I don't feel sorry for the fishermen losing the right to fish from that bridge when there are other locations nearby. Let me ask you this. If you were fishing, and you accidentally hooked a diver, would you take off or would you check to see if the person was okay and ensure they received proper medical attention? Given that the former is the common case, you don't think that doesn't play into policy?

As uncfp posted:

As usual, there is always more to the story.

Diving the Blue Heron Bridge area can be done two ways, from boat or most commonly shore entry from Phil Foster Park. Diving from the park is regulated by the park.

Fishing this area is also done multiple ways. Within the park there is a large fishing pier as well as two smaller fishing platforms. Then there is the Blue Heron Bridge itself. This is a structure that connects the mainland to Singer Island. It is the fishing from the actual bridge that is the source of controversy and essentially involves a small section on the east side.

In February the state of Florida installed no fishing signs on at least two bridges within the state, Blue Heron Bridge was one. Of course there was pushback from fishermen from both sites. A councilwoman for Riviera Beach was contacted about the signs on the BHB and in (my opinion) a knee jerk reaction had the signs removed (and received FB and local news publicity for her heroism in saving the livelihood of these few fishermen). All within 24 hours. After another uproar, this time by divers, the councilwoman decided to actually investigate the issue. She has since removed the FB posts with her and the fisherman she saved.


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[uncfnp]