by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
Duval County will no longer be one of three counties in the state that do not offer an alligator hunting season to the public.
The Jacksonville Waterways Commission voted 7-3 Wednesday in favor of a resolution to support opening the recreational opportunity in Duval County.
Commission Chair John Crescimbeni and members Caryn Carreiro and Penny Thompson voted against it.
Commission member Scott Shine said an inquiry from a citizen led to his interest in opening Duval to alligator hunting.
“I began to look into this and we had discussed possible legislation in City Council, but I think the Office of General Counsel has an exciting direction for us,” he said.
The commission discussed the issue at its Feb. 9 meeting. Duval County was the source of 140 calls to the nuisance alligator hot line in 2010. Opening a recreational season was suggested as a way to lower that number, according to Shine.
An alligator may be considered a nuisance if it is at least 4 feet long and poses a threat to people, their pets or property, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The fish and wildlife commission said the 7,844 alligators checked in 2009 was the highest total for the Statewide Alligator Harvest program in 10 years. The alligators averaged 8 feet in length.
At Wednesday’s regular meeting of the waterways commission in City Council chambers at City Hall, Assistant General Counsel Kristina Nelson explained that there wasn’t a need for council legislation to make the change.
The commission only needed to provide a resolution of support for the season in Duval County to the fish and wildlife commission.
The resolution detailed why Jacksonville had been left out of the program.
It stated that the fish and wildlife commission didn’t issue permits for incorporated urban areas. All of Duval County, as a consolidated government, is incorporated.
Harry Dutton, Statewide Alligator Harvest program coordinator, also attended the meeting to answer questions and provide information.
“The Statewide Harvest program is meant to be a recreational harvest. It’s not really meant to solve people’s problems with alligators,” said Dutton.
“It’s meant to provide recreational opportunities to the general public,” he said.
While an estimate on the number of alligators in Duval County was not available, Dutton explained that the fish and wildlife commission identifies the alligator habitat to develop its harvest quotas. It recommended a quota of 74 for Duval County.
“It’s a very conservative approach,” said Dutton.
Quotas in neighboring counties include 58 for Nassau, 68 for Clay and 114 for St. Johns. St. Johns has more land bordering the St. Johns River.
Before the vote, some commission members wanted further clarification as to why the alligator season was being considered by the commission.
“I have questions on why we are doing this,” said commission member Richard Hartley.
“Apparently, we had one citizen complaint and we are not addressing the problem of the high number of nuisance complaints. We ought to leave the alligators out there in the hinterlands alone, and let them go about reproducing and enjoying themselves,” he said.
“I don’t think we should do anything unless we have a good reason to do it and I don’t see any overwhelming need to do this,” he said.
Shine reaffirmed that the harvest program could help in reducing the number of nuisance alligator calls.
Hartley voted in favor of the resolution.
The approval of the resolution has the fish and wildlife commission preparing a harvest unit in Duval County.
It will accept applications May 4-17 for the random drawing of tags, and applicants aren’t guaranteed a license.
If applicants are chosen, the license and two tags will cost $270.
The season will be open from Aug. 15 to Nov. 1.
The recommended hunting zone by the fish and wildlife commission would include the part of Duval County outside of the boundary drawn by Interstate 295 and Florida 9A.
Baldwin and the Beaches were also excluded from the resolution, so the municipalities could determine on their own if they wanted to allow the alligator harvest program within their boundaries.
The nuisance alligator hot line number is 866-392-4286.
356-2466