INDIAN SHORES, Fla. — The Seaside Seabird Sanctuary is caring for more than 80 brown pelicans that have become injured on the Skyway Fishing Pier.
Melissa Edwards, Avian Hospital Director at Seaside Seabird Sanctuary, said about 20 pelicans remain at the sanctuary's hospital.
She said more than 50 pelicans are in the outdoor rehabilitation enclosure. Edwards said the majority of injuries are from fishing hooks and line entanglement.
"Unfortunately, with the colder weather, that can impact food availability, and then when you combine that with a lot more tourists in the area trying out fishing, flocking to the piers, that can lead to some unintended consequences for the birds," said Edwards.
Edwards said the wildlife sanctuary typically sees an influx of brown pelicans during the winter months. She encourages people to never feed wildlife and avoid casting in areas where there is a large population of birds.
"The baitfish, once the water temperature reaches a certain point, they’ll start to move further offshore, and that can make it more difficult to find, so unfortunately, the fishing piers kind of present an easier opportunity for a meal so that will bring birds more likely to come by where people are," said Edwards.
Last year, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved modifications to fishing regulations at Skyway Fishing Pier State Park.
The changes include an annual educational requirement for anglers, fishing rigs with more than one hook attached (e.g., sabiki rig, chicken rig, topwater plug) are prohibited from Nov. 15- March 15 each year, and anglers are limited to using no more than two sets of hook-and-line fishing gear (e.g., rods or handlines).
The changes went into effect on October 1, 2023. The FWC will monitor the effectiveness of those regulations and return with an update for potential future action two years after implementation.
The rules are designed to reduce the likelihood of injuries to seabirds, according to the FWC.
"It is important to remember, though, that the birds that we do admit are just a fraction of the birds that are becoming entangled or hooked. Any bird that’s leaving with hooks or lines still on them, they return to their rookery areas, those offshore islands, and they can become trapped in those trees, and it's a very unfortunate way for them to go," said Edwards.
"Fishing is awesome. It's a great sport, especially in Tampa Bay. We have so many wonderful areas to do it in, but we have to be conscious of the wildlife."
