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61 out of 67 counties in Florida overwhelming voted in favor of Amendment 2 on election night. The measure preserves the right to forever hunting and fishing, and one environmental group is concerned.
Environmental Advocacy group Friends of the Everglades are critical of Amendment 2. Gil Smart is the policy director.
“This wasn’t something, you know, citizen-led initiative. This was placed on the ballot by the legislature. We’re just sort of really dubious as to the rationale for this in the first place and how this is ultimately going to be used,” Smart said.
He said the group’s biggest concern is gill nets being used – the entanglements are a wall of netting used to catch fish in the water and are prohibited in the state’s constitution.
“I think a lot of people, just off the top of their head, ‘sure I’ll have the right to hunt and fish,’, That sounds good, you know, that sort of thing. But, you know, our position all along was that this is not necessary. It’s not you know, Floridians right to hunt and fish is not under threat,” Smart said.
A backer of the amendment, the Congressional Sportsmen Foundation, says the claims are unfounded.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say gill nets are a major source of mortality for sea turtles, and endangers other marine life.
