An ambitious blueprint to better protect the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary — in the works for more than decade — 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 sanctuary’s acting superintendent, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said the plan tried to circumvent the state’s authority as the two agencies worked to compromise on rules that increased boating and fishing across an expanded sanctuary the size of Connecticut. Parts of the sanctuary cover state waters, so management authority is shared.
With just ten matters left to negotiate, Chairman Rodney Barreto complained most were “due to the State of Florida modifying its position on site-specific proposals in the spirit of collaboration.”
The new plan is the first in nearly three decades, and critics say long overdue as fragile reefs, seagrass meadows and once plentiful fishing grounds get hammered by booming South Florida. Dozens of public meetings and nearly 100 more technical meetings among agencies were held. More than 80,000 public comments were submitted.
“ I know that this is everyone's backyard, but this is a national marine sanctuary. This is the equivalent of the Grand Canyon to the rest of the country and what we do here matters.”Acting Superintendent Matt Stout
In its final version, the plan expands the boundaries of the Sanctuary by 20% to just over 4,500 square miles, adds 20 new wildlife management areas, four habitat restoration areas and 11 new coral nurseries. About 95% of the Sanctuary would remain open to fishing, but with different regulations on motoring and anchoring to protect coral, shallow flats and nesting birds.
“ I know that this is everyone's backyard, but this is a national marine sanctuary,” acting Superintendent Matt Stout said when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration unveiled the plan at a sanctuary advisory council meeting 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 of just right,” said Matt Brookhart, a regional director for NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. “ No one got everything, but everyone got something.”

But state officials say to work, the sanctuary needs to back off restrictions on some popular fishing spots and include FWC in emergency closures like the kind issued during last year’s brutal heat wave that bleached coral throughout the Keys. State officials, for example, want drift fishing to continue in expanded boundaries for protected areas near Alligator and Carysfort Reefs where sailfish are sometimes caught. But sanctuary officials and conservationists worry even surface fishing could still damage fragile reefs.
The state also opposes no-motor zones in Barnes Sound and near parts of Tarpon Belly Keys in the Lower Keys, which Sanctuary planners say is needed to protect seagrass meadows.
Banning anchoring at Western Dry Rocks would also effectively end fishing, the state worries, while sanctuary officials say year-round protection is needed from damaging anchors and chains.
READ MORE: New rules and new boundaries for Florida Keys sanctuary heading into final stretch
Having the objections remain at the 11th hour worried advisory council members who have been working on the plan.
”Maybe they need to hold off on the final rule until these management agreements and issues with the state are worked out because otherwise you're at risk…of throwing the baby out with the bath water,” said Gary Jennings, director of the Florida lobbying arm of the American Sportfishing Association.
The objections were not resolved, Stout said, because the letter was received after a draft plan needed for the final management blueprint was already in motion. He planned to meet with state officials this week and said the process still leaves time for negotiations. Once published Monday, a 30-day “cooling off” period kicks in before NOAA issues a final rule establishing the new management plan. After that, Gov. Ron DeSantis has 45 days to accept the plan or reject all or parts of it.
Rejecting increased federal protections would not be unprecedented. In 2016, Florida senators Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson floated a bill in Congress to block part of a new management plan for Biscayne National Park that included a marine preserve with stricter fishing rules. Park officials and conservationists said the preserve was desperately needed after heavy boat traffic left flats crisscrossed with prop scars and overfishing crippled reefs. A marine preserve in the Dry Tortugas has significantly increased the population of popular fish and helped replenish stocks.
The National Park Service and Department of Interior stalled implementing the plan. So in 2020. the National Parks Conservation Association sued. In March, a federal judge sided with the nonprofit and ordered the federal agencies to finally implement the plan.
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