Commercial fishermen think they smell a rotten fish inside the computers at the wildlife commission.
Participants in the Baitfish Pilot Program have filed Freedom of Information Requests with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission seeking information about the decision to terminate the experimental program. Several panhandle companies participate in the program, including locally owned Destin Bait, and are allowed to use tarpaulin nets to harvest bait fish. The fishermen feel they weren't given a fair hearing at a couple of commission meetings earlier this year, prompting the information request. The fishermen's attorney, Pat Floyd of Port Saint Joe, filed a request for commissioners' past e-mails dealing with the baitfish program as well as other pertinent public records. Destin said the state has been dragging its feet in answering the request and that computer records produced to date are missing documents, according to the fishermen's computer expert.