The new diver flags can be seen from two directions — and steered clear by boaters.

Proposed state law would simplify bass limitations

Four-sided buoy with safety symbol to aid divers

Two hips and a hooray for Florida’s work-in-progress plan to make a single statewide rule for largemouth bass size and bag limits. The idea is easy to support, but the details could be something to bicker about.

What we have now is a statewide rule with the burden of a dozen local and regional variations. That creates confusion — a complex definition of Lake Okeechobee, for instance — and most freshwater fishing-doers should be glad to see the end of it.

The rule being proposed says keep-and-eat fishing-doers will be allowed to take home five largemouth per day, same as now. The new part: One can be 16 inches or longer, a significant jump from the 12-inch line that applies now north and west of the Suwanee River and 14 inches in the rest of Florida.

The simplicity is admirable, but should the present daily limit of five be continued, increased or decreased? What about the less than 16-inch size limit for four of the keepers? Is the present common standard of 14 inches better? Should the max be more than 16 inches?

The FWC has finished a calendar of public hearings, but if you haven’t attended one there’s still time to add your views online to the pile already being considered. You might have a better idea.

First, it would be well to review the background, where you’ll find an explanation for the FWC view that the common practice of releasing smaller bass to let them grow bigger doesn’t meet the goals of conserving the big ones to let them grow bigger still.

That’s counter-intuitive to fishing-doers accustomed to releasing all their bass because that’s the sporting way — or only because they don’t feel like cleaning fish at the end of a tiring day and warm-water bass don’t taste so good anyhow.

Now the state of Florida wants us to keep the semi-small to medium ones, not that a 14 or 15 incher is bait bucket stuff, but a lot of us would feel guilty for keeping it.

What, now we’re supposed to feel guilty if we don’t?

Imagine catching a bass, removing the hook ever so gently, thanking the fish and cradling it in the water until it catches its breath, when a voice from behind cries “Halt!” There’s a stern-faced wildlife officer in tactical pants and combat stance, right hand on the grip of her Glock.

“Turn around real slow,” she commands. “Now put that bass on ice with the others.”

There aren’t any others, you blurt, I turn them all loose.

“Oooh, you in a heap o’ trouble boy,” that cop says, making a note of your confession.

Don’t worry yet about getting a ticket. The projected time to implement the new rules is July 2016. That gives bass-catchers two years to recondition their thinking, make constructive complaints and acquire a taste for warm-water bass.

The pending rule is an outgrowth of the state’s Black Bass Management Plan, approved by FWC in 2011.

Here’s how to catch up on that plan and speak your piece on the pending rule proposal: go online to myfwc.com/fishing and scroll down the left side. There’s a pictorial link to the management plan and just below it another link to the survey where you can submit your own ideas.

Saltwater fishing regulations streamlined

There’s more simplicity coming for saltwater fishing, with elimination of local regulations called Special Acts that duplicate or contradict other state laws. Three such acts in Indian River County (Vero Beach- Sebastian) prohibit nets and limit the types of tackle used in the Indian River channel and its banks; restrict the kinds of gear used in Sebastian Inlet, near bridges and in canals; forbid throwing cast nets from bridges and limit shellfish harvest within 75 feet of shore without permission from nearby property owners.

In Manatee County waters, next door to Sarasota, it’s goodbye to seven Special Acts. One of them lets the county set its own bag limits for finfish on the Manatee River. Some inland waters are off limits to haul seines but others are not, and that’s out too. Limits on commercial fishing near certain river islands are going, along with net rules specific to waters in the city of Palmetto.

Those are not the only places where there are Special Acts, most of them enacted before the creation of statewide authorities that enacted statewide regulations.

FWC said it will work with other counties to get rid of them — “to help streamline and reduce regulations throughout the state, increasing transparency and consistency.”

Diver-down flag

A diver-down buoy that can be seen from not two but three or even four directions? Why not? A new law makes it legal in Florida, and it’s a wonder nobody produced such a thing years, even decades, ago.

The flags we’re used to seeing are flat and mounted on small buoys that divers and snorkelers tow. With a white diagonal stripe on a bright red square, those can be seen from two directions — and steered clear by boaters who know what they’re for.

Those were the kind specified in state law until June, when Gov. Rick Scott signed the new law co-sponsored in the Legislature by State Rep. Holly Raschein of Key Largo and Sen. Joseph Abruzzo of Wellington.

Now there’s a four-sided buoy with the safety symbol on each side. The only one we know about yet is called the Goumba flag. It’s due on the market soon, no certain date or price known at this writing.

Michael Greenfield, a Boca Raton diver, created it after a co-worker told him of a relative whose legs were lost in a boat strike. The buoy, called a “Goumba Flag,”

has two rope handles for divers to hold onto in case they’re separated from their boat.

According to Goumba’s website, www.buydiveflags.com, the Goumba Flag has a 55-pound buoyancy rating and can be ordered with an optional topside LED light that’s visible as far as two miles.

Research deadline

There’s an Aug. 11 deadline for public comment on the National Marine Fisheries Service’s pending account of research needs and priorities for highly migratory species (HMS).

If you’re a stakeholder in the management of billfish, sharks and tuna, it’s probably worth investing the time to review the document and submit your views and criticisms.

According to NMFS, “The document contains a list of near and long-term research needs and priorities that can be used by individuals and groups interested in Atlantic HMS to identify key research needs, improve management, reduce duplication, prioritize limited funding, and form a potential basis for future funding. The priorities range from biological/ecological needs to socio-economic needs.”

Here’s the Federal Register link you’ll need to get the info: www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/07/10/201416168/atlantic-highly-mi....

If you need help navigating the issue, try calling Steve Durkee at 202-670-6637.