Editor, The Beacon:

RE: Proposed Amendment 2

As a hunter and angler, I am deeply concerned about the impact of this unnecessary amendment. The right to fish and hunt is already set forth in Chapter 372, FL Statutes.

The proposal states that traditional hunting and fishing are the preferred methods of managing and controlling fish and wildlife, in lieu of science-based methods. No list of acceptable “traditional” methods is included.

Traditional hunting methods include a number of long outlawed activities, including, but not limited to, shooting deer and alligators at night with a light; shooting turkeys off the roost on moonlight nights, using live hen turkeys to lure gobblers; shooting, drowning or lassowing swimming deer; catching dove and quail in chicken-wire traps; traps that snap shut on a foot or leg; and capturing and eating gopher tortoises and sea turtles (and eggs).

Marjorie Rawlings’ Cross Creek Cookery includes recipes for gopher tortoise, sea turtle eggs and black birds.

Currently illegal traditional fishing methods include “monkey fishing” (using electric shock); explosives; trawling for shrimp without turtle excluder devices; and seining for freshwater catfish and sport fish.

Is the preferred way to manage manatees, eagles, scrub jays, panthers, white ibis, flamingos, indigo snakes, porpoises, sea turtles, gopher tortoises and other wildlife by hunting them?

John C. Baker

DeBary