Page 9 - Palm City Spotlight - August '24

Palm City Spotlight, Page 9

seNior News

Council On Aging Martin The Circle of Safety Program provides SafetyNet areas where even GPS and cellular technology aren’t

Offering Circle Of Safety bracelets to those in need. The bracelet is lightweight and effective.
worn around the ankle, where it stays in place and isn’t
“With the sheriff’s office, the Council on Aging, and
For Loved Ones With bothersome like a wrist bracelet. It stays on all the time. families working together,” Ripper said, “we can build a
It’s waterproof. And it’s free.
circle of safety and protection around our most vulnerable
Memory Issues “We see the heartbreak in families when a loved one loved ones.”
wanders. When we were offered a grant from the WellMed Martin County residents can get enrollment information
It only takes a moment – a loved one with memory Charitable Foundation for a program that really works and for the Circle of Safety Program by calling the Council on
issues wanders away, and the panicked search begins. is cost-free for our families, Council on Aging jumped at Aging Martin at (772) 223-7800 or visiting its offices at
Sometimes the person is found quickly and returned safely it,” said Council on Aging Martin CEO Karen Ripper. the Kane Center, 900 S.E. Salerno Road in Stuart. More
– but not always. The bracelet uses the latest technology to help protect information is available at its website www.coamartin.org.
The Council on Aging and locate individuals before they are hurt or lost or
Martin County is offering worse. The bracelet gives off a signal that is read by a
a better way to help special tracking system monitored by the Martin County Treasure Coast
individuals with cognitive Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff’s deputies are trained, certified
conditions like dementia and and equipped with SafetyNet Search and Rescue receivers
Alzheimer’s and the families to act quickly in an emergency. The signal works even Outdoors
that love them. in densely wooded areas, buildings, shallow water and
Crazy Tilefish Rules

By Jim Weix
Avid tilefish angler
Sam Young sent me an
email after my latest
article on tilefish. In
short, he said: “I read
your article in Stuart
News today regarding
golden tilefish. Below is
a notice from the South
Atlantic Council (NOAA
fisheries) providing
notice of the closure of the 2024 golden tilefish
recreational season that lasted almost two months!
Long story short, the allocation of the total allowable
catch is 97 percent going to commercial interests, and
a ‘whopping’ 3 percent goes to recreational. Yep,
recreational gets 3 percent. Not even close to equitable.
The season is closed in the app Fish Rules so no one can
claim they didn’t know.
Thought you should
know, and your readers
too. Everyone should
be letting NOAA know
that this allocation
must be equitable for
recreational anglers.”
What he was politely
telling me was that
tilefish season was
closed when the anglers
caught the fish. This
seemed rather strange
since the anglers had
been stopped that day
by the FWC. Their fish Tom Flynn and the author
were examined, and they caught a few fish dinners.
went on their way. If you
went to the FWC site for fishing seasons, it said that it
was open all year, with a bag limit of one per person.
When the FWC office was called about this, they
said, “Oops!” and corrected their site. To complicate
things further, there is a different season for golden and
blueline tilefish.
However, both species are caught using electric reels
in anywhere from 750 to 2,000 feet of water. Have you
ever seen what a fish looks like when it is quickly yanked
1,000 feet to the surface?
Anglers are required by law to have a “descending
device” so that released fish can be returned to their
original depth. However, a Magic Wand might work just
as well in the case of a fish that was just yanked up from
those depths.
This situation is unacceptable. The recreational
season for both blueline and golden tilefish should be
the same. There is also no valid reason that 97 percent
of the allowable catch goes to commercial interests
and only 3 percent to recreational.
This is the sort of thing that promotes the idea that
some government people get extra financial benefits.
Editor’s note: Jim Weix is an avid hunter, angler,
conservationist, as well as an outdoor writer. Jim is
included in the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s
Hall of Fame for helping restore thousands of acres
of wetlands. Jim is a broker associate with The Keyes
Company. He can be reached at (772) 341-2941 or by
email: jimweix@jimweix.com.

See answer in this paper.