NEWS & EVENTS
ANNOUNCEMENT FOR MEMBERS AND NON-MEMBERS!!!
June 28, 2010
2010 BANQUET
Longfins Banquet for 2010 will be held on July 9, 2010 at 6:00 pm at:
13208 NW 8th Lane
Miami, FL 33182
All members and non-members are welcome.
This is a pot-luck event, so please bring a dish and drink(s) of choice.
Please RSVP to Mark at stalnaker@bellsouth.net so we can coordinate
dishes and seating.
We will be raffling some great prizes!
2011 U.S. NATIONALS
We are proud to announce we will be hosting the 2011 U.S. Nationals. The competition will be held in the Florida Keys; dates and locations to be announced. Check back with us for updated information.
OLD NEWS
NOAA Announces Temporary Fishing Rule to Protect South Atlantic Red Snapper Effective January 4, 2010
NOAA’s Fisheries Service has announced an interim rule that will prohibit commercial and recreational fishing for red snapper in federal waters off North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and the Atlantic coast of Florida.
The six-month rule becomes effective on January 4. It can be extended an additional six months if necessary.
The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council requested the fisheries service implement this interim rule while the council explores long-term measures to address the critical condition of red snapper.
The most recent scientific assessment shows too many red snapper are being removed from the population too quickly, which indicates a need for protection under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Most of the remaining population consists of smaller, younger fish, who produce fewer eggs than older fish.
“The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires us to manage fish populations so they grow to a size that can sustain the largest average catch possible for the long term,” said Roy Crabtree, southeast regional administrator for NOAA’s Fisheries Service. “Unfortunately, the red snapper population has not been able to reach that size; therefore, closing the fishery is the first step toward protecting this species, rebuilding the stock and ensuring fishing for generations to come.”
The council is expected to recommend long-term measures to the fisheries service sometime in mid-2010. NOAA’s Fisheries Service will provide additional public comment periods before implementing final long-term management measures.
For more information on South Atlantic red snapper, visit http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov or http://www.safmc.net/.
NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages out coastal and marine resources. Visit http://www.noaa.gov.
ABOUT TIME... BOATING COURSES MANDATORY... FOR SOME...
October 9, 2009
New laws aimed at boating safety and protecting natural resources are in effect. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and other law enforcement agencies throughout state are out to alert Floridians to new laws and enhancements to existing laws that deal with boating under the influence, boating safety education, waterway markers, possession of gasoline on a vessel and destruction of coral.
The enhanced penalty for BUI is the same as it is for driving under the influence. The blood-alcohol level or breath-alcohol level of 0.20 that was a violation in the past has changed to 0.15.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2010, any boater born on or after Jan. 1, 1988 will be required to take an approved boating safety course and possess an FWC-issued boating safety identification card. Anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 1988 and purchases a boat will have 90 days from the purchase date to obtain a boating safety identification card.
NEW GROUPER REGULATION EFFECTIVE JANUARY 2010.
Some changes already came into effect as of July 2009. See Fish List under Competitions page.
Please visit: www.myfwc.com/RULESANDREGS/Saltwater_Regulations_Grouper.htm#Atlantic
US NATIONALS OF FREEDIVE SPEARFISHING
The Longfins participated in the Nationals hosted this year on August 6th. Visit www.nationals09.com.
2009-2010 SPONSOR OF THE YEAR PAGE
We added a new page for our top 2009-2010 Sponsor. Each the officers will identify the top sponsor and will dedicate a full page to this sponsor. The content of the page is designed by the webmaster but the content is at the discretion of the winner.
This year's winner is ScubaWorld, who showered us with raffle prizes, especially at our July banquet.
On behalf of our members and non-members who have been enjoying your generosity, THANK YOU!!!!!!!
LONGFINS SEMI-ANNUAL BANQUET
Wonderful banquet!!! What a blast!
We had an outstanding turnout for this dinner which was followed by raffles. It was good to see old friends during the dinner and meet visitors. This banquet was in lieu of our July 20th meeting. We had tons of raffles from our sponsors, which we would like to thank for their contributions. The main sponsor was ScubaWorld who donated outstanding prizes for raffles: beuchat t-shirts and caps, beuchat banner, a Beuchat wetsuit, two spearguns among other articles. We also other articles like an underwater camera.
We did not forget the ladies who also were able to play for baskets of cosmetics. That was a fantastic idea which will be repeated at our next raffles.
A BIG THANK YOU TO PARINEZ WHO PUT THE WHOLE EVENT TOGETHER BY HERSELF!!!
LATEST CLUB RESOLUTIONS
- There will be only 4 competitions for points this year (see details on date on the Competitions page). We will NOT take the best competitions results to find who goes to the Nationals. Instead, we will add up the total number of points of all competitions.
- We send our best divers to the Nationals every year. They get priority to participate so anyone from outside the club who wishes to join just for the Nationals will have to come AFTER our members.
- Divers can have as many membership as they want with other clubs. However, if they decide to participate to the National for another club than the Longfins they will AUTOMATICALLY lose their right to Club monies, simply because they do not represent the Club.
- Competitions will start this year in September
- Longfins competitions have two categories: one for experienced divers who compete for 1st, 2nd, 3rd place and biggest fish and the other for non-experienced divers who compete for a single winning trophy, as well as for the biggest fish award. There can only be a non-experienced diver category if there are 3 or more competitors in this category.
- Membership will have to be fully paid by a specific date otherwise previous competitions points WILL BE FORFEITED i.e. they will not be recovered even once the diver updates their membership if the diver missed the due date for membership payment.
This year's top competitor is Julian Cruz. Last year was Harolf Dean. Both divers will be listed on the same page since Harolf did not have his page in 2007-2008.