Gil Muratori teaches a unique class in fish etiquette
He's part of a National Park Service experiment in south Florida to send first-time fishing violators to a school instead of fining them.
from the January 16, 2008 edition
Page 3 of 3
But, first, it's time for a slide show. About a dozen violators and other people attend the inaugural course, held in a small classroom at the University of Miami. Steve Saul, a marine biologist with the National Park Service who compiled the curriculum, gives a brief tutorial on how to identify different fish.
He flashes "dead and alive" pictures of many species to point out distinguishing characteristics – the different spots on a black versus a yellowfin grouper, for instance. He and his colleague, park ranger Vanessa McDonough, also lead the class through the labyrinthine regulations on size and bag limits.
Then it's Muratori's turn. Warming to his subject, he passes around barbed hooks - exhorting his audience to take care while handling them – and proceeds to explain why "circle" hooks are preferable to the classic 'J' shaped ones: They harm the fish less, which is crucial for catch and release. "Taking only the fish you're going to eat gives you a reason to go back out there," he says. "But the fish you throw back has got to survive."
He moves on to fish handling – a subject he's learned something about the hard way. "It was my own stupidity when the shark bit me," he says. "I was holding it, incorrectly and it got me. But you can't punish the shark for being a shark."
Muratori shows a scar on his forearm. The students wince.
Then he recounts another bad encounter – with the spikes of a catfish – before finishing with more mundane advice: Don't forget the sunscreen. "If you wait until you're on the boat to put it on," he says, "it's too late."
It's time for the test. Martinez, the fisherman, looks back over his notes to answer questions about size regulations. He ends up passing. "I won't be making those mistakes again," he says of the reason for his federal citations.
Which is just what Muratori and park rangers want to hear.
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