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have no documented fact that a manatee has ever been killed by a <br />gill net. Mr. Sembler stressed that the commercial fishermen do <br />not have any gear that can attempt to hold a manatee, and noted <br />that commercial fisherman Richard Thomas said on the night of the <br />Angler Club meeting that anyone who thinks the net can do this, <br />he would be glad to give them a net and a boat and let them <br />circle a manatee and see what happens. <br />Mr. Sembler next addressed the statement made that most of <br />the gill netting done in Indian River County is done by netters <br />from outside this county, mainly St. Lucie County. He agreed <br />that there is a small bunch of people who come out of Fort Pierce <br />and go into the Vero Beach area to fish, and if they are creating <br />a problem, something should be done about this. Mr. Sembler <br />emphasized that the complaints do not emanate from the Wabasso <br />and Sebastian areas; those fishermen have been fishing their all <br />their lives. He next disputed the statement that the gill net <br />weights "mow" the grass as the weights are inside the line, and <br />as far as propellers tearing up the grass flats, he reported that <br />he has a statement from Bill Nelson, formerly mechanic at Inlet <br />Marina for four years, that over a five year average he replaced <br />propellers and lower units for commercial fishermen on the <br />average of one a year while for the boats at Oyster Bay Time <br />Share Resort, he replaced an average of 384 props a year until <br />they went to stainless steel, and then he replaced 96 props, plus <br />12 lower units yearly. <br />Mr. Sembler did agree the sports fisherman has a right to <br />speak, but felt he had to rebut the statements made. He stressed <br />that he would be glad to work with the sports fishermen as just <br />battling does not solve anything. <br />Commissioner Scurlock felt there is a a lot of miscommunica- <br />tion as he believed the people who would want to protect.the <br />river the most are the ones who make a living from it He did <br />feel there should be a vehicle for better communication and some <br />51 <br />.00T 2 1995 <br />K PAGE -341 <br />I <br />