SW Fla. divers, shrimpers pull massive net from illegal reef

Grant Erickson was in no mood to fail Friday.

"Just give it more power," he yelled to his crew aboard the Penny V, a shrimp boat based out of Fort Myers Beach. "Turn it up another notch. Something will happen. And I don't care if it spins the boat in circles."

Erickson and his crew were three of a dozen or so divers and boaters who helped remove a massive shrimping net from an illegal reef about 10 miles off Bonita Beach.

They'd been on the water for about seven hours, but that's nothing new for divers and shrimpers, the latter of which spend about 30 days at sea on a single fishing trip.

Organized by Florida Gulf Coast University's Vester Field Marine Station near Bonita Beach, Friday's work included several dives to determine exactly where the reef and net were located followed by several attempts to pull the fishing gear from about 40 feet of water.

Divers from the Lee County Sheriff's Office and marine officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission helped in the retrieval.

Visibility at the bottom was less than a foot, the divers said, which meant they could only see a few inches in front of their faces and masks.

Sheriff's office and Vester divers descended to the illegal reef — a massive pile of concrete poles that are about 18 inches wide and 20 feet long — several times.

"It's about $20,000 worth of gear," said Erickson, who owns 12 shrimping boats that ply the Gulf of Mexico from Southwest Florida to Texas and back.

His crew lowered a rope several inches thick to the entangled net, where a Lee County Sheriff's Office diver tied it to a secure fitting.

On the final pull, the thick and heavily-worn rope stretched taut as Erickson's crew drove away from the reef. The boat vibrated throughout as the tension increased.

A dull thud could be heard as the rope went slack, a sign that the snag worked loose.

The Penny V plowed slowly toward the northwest, dragging most of the lost shrimping rig.

"It's from Brownsville (Texas)," Erickson said upon seeing the gear as it was being hauled from the emerald waters.

He said the area where the illegal reef was formed by dumping and the shrimp net caught is a regular shrimping area for local fishermen.

"It's just trash now," he said. "How would any of us (shrimpers) know that it's out there unless it was reported."

Vester manager Bob Wasno said the illegal reef is about 40 feet in length and width and is not marked on any boating charts.

"Our concerns are making sure this potential killing field is removed, the shrimper get back his gear and the sheriff's officers get a chance to dive and practice their skills," Wasno said.

Because the net is re-enforced stainless steel and is designed to last decades, submerged and lost rigs often become aquatic killing machines. These types of fishing nets entrap sea turtles, marine mammals, fish and even diving birds.

Fishermen at the reef said they have been fishing the spot for at least three or four years, but it's almost impossible to determine who dumped the mound of concrete in the Gulf of Mexico.

It's sitting in about 40 feet of water and comes within 20 feet or so of the surface, divers said.

Lee County dive team leader Jeremiah Marcotte said sheriff's office divers respond to about two to three calls a month, ranging from body recovery in the Gulf of Mexico to evidence recovery.

"It's an environmental concern, and you don't want any divers getting caught in it," Marcotte said. "And sea turtle nesting season is coming up, and they're endangered."

Sea turtle nesting season runs from May 1 through Oct. 31.

Wasno said the reef will soon be marked on navigational charts and will be named after the Vester Marine Field Station.

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