Troubled waters: Are fishing charters on the hook for using Boynton's boat ramp?
A feud between fishermen in Boynton Beach has led to questions about whether certain charter companies should be using the local boat ramp.
City leaders have decided to keep an eye on the issue while remaining hands-off, allowing all boaters, both recreational and commercial, to continue using the ramp.
The key point of contention — a handful of charter captains at the Boynton Harbor Marina claim their companies are suffering thanks to a rise in fishing charters operating out of the Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park boat ramp, less than two miles north of the marina.
Captains from both the marina and the boat ramp said they should be protected by the powers that be in Boynton Beach, a city with deep roots in the fishing industry.
Captains at the marina allege that other fishing boats are operating without the proper business credentials, cutting corners and picking up customers at the nearby boat ramp. The marina captains pleaded with city leaders to ensure that charters at the boat ramp are permitted and regulated.
In turn, captains who use the Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park boat ramp came out in force to defend their businesses and argue against the need for city oversight, alleging that Boynton Harbor Marina captains were trying to fend off legitimate competition.
The city has now tasked park rangers with monitoring the boat ramp and updating city leaders in the coming months.
Boynton Harbor Marina captains: City boat ramp should be regulated
The issue first became public in July when three charter captains from Boynton Harbor Marina brought their concerns to a city commission meeting. At least one captain had already raised concerns with city leaders in the months leading up to the meeting, to no avail, and the public comments were a final plea for action.
The marina captains, including Chris Agardy, longtime owner of Fish Envy Charters, said business at the marina declined sharply after the renovation and reopening of the nearby Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park boat ramp.
A growing number of charters began using the address of the boat ramp when advertising their services on a website called fishingbooker.com, and some of the marina captains speculated that charters were flocking to Boynton Beach after other cities and counties placed regulations on their own ramps.
Palm Beach County, for example, prohibits commercial operations from using county-operated boat ramps without first obtaining a permit from the Parks and Recreation Department.
Charter companies are using the ramp in Boynton Beach without having to obtain city permits or pay associated fees. The result, according to the marina captains, is a free-for-all that leads to traffic jams and long wait times for the nearby fish fillet tables — ruining the experience for recreational boaters.
Some charters even avoid the fee to park at Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park by launching their boats in other towns and picking up customers at Boynton Beach's ramp, the captains continued.
At the heart of the issue, they said, is a lack of regulation for one group and not the other. The marina captains had to go through the process of obtaining a Certificate of Use and Business Tax Receipts, or BTR, to establish their charter companies and operate at the city marina, a process that requires annual renewals and fees.
Such documents ensure that companies within the city are following safety requirements, zoning rules and other laws, and the marina captains argued that a business can't legally operate without them.
In a recent statement, city spokesperson Chelsea Sanabia said any business operating within the city is required to have a business tax receipt, but "BTRs are not required to launch out of Harvey E. Oyer Boat Ramp."
The concerns raised by marina captains generated a flood of internet comments, opinions and, in some cases, even rumors and apparent threats. Posts on social media said the marina captains wanted to entirely shut down commercial use of the boat ramp. "Who's this person so I can take him out!" one commenter said, while another said to "name names."
"My name is being mentioned online under false pretenses when all we wanted was regulation," Agardy said in an interview this week.
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Agardy, echoing the message shared by other marina captains, said he simply wanted all charter boats to operate under the same rules, on an even playing field. And recreational users, he said, were never brought into question.
"I never, ever wanted to shut this boat ramp down to anybody who doesn't have the right to use it," he said. "It was my intention to have these boats regulated. And the boats that have all the proper paperwork, I'm totally fine with them running out of the boat ramp."
Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park boat ramp captains: We're not doing anything wrong
In response, commercial captains who use the boat ramp came out in droves about a month later, packing the Aug. 15 commission meeting and taking a stand against any regulation of the ramp.
"The dudes that are crying about this got a little too big for their britches and they forgot where they came from," said one attendee, who identified himself as Captain Anthony. "Ten, 12 years ago, these same guys were doing the same thing all of us are doing. They got a little bit bigger of a boat and a slip and all of a sudden they're somebody."
The meeting included a presentation by Kacy Young, director of the Recreation and Parks Department. He said the city had no regulations to prevent charters from using the city boat ramp for business, and that Boynton Beach could be liable if a charter injures someone, damages property or breaks state and federal law.
But captains who spoke that night said they had million-dollar insurance policies and years of experience in the safe operation of a charter business, along with licenses from both the Coast Guard and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
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Why would Boynton Beach get involved in the regulation of charter boats, the captains asked, when state and federal authorities already oversee the industry? The city's vice mayor, Thomas Turkin, agreed and shared his own story.
"Lobster mini-season was recent, a couple of weeks ago," he said during the August meeting. "Between maybe 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. I was pulled over four times by FWC and one time by the Coast Guard. Five times in a matter of a couple hours, right? Mini season is usually busy. And guess what they checked? Everything."
Capt. Danny Barrow, a former leader with the Florida Guides Association, and a past host on Florida Sportsman Live Radio and Palm Beaches Gold Coast Fishing Report, even raised the possibility of a class-action lawsuit to challenge any regulations placed on Boynton Beach's boat ramp.
Barrow said he and other charter boats bring positive exposure and countless dollars to the city. When customers visit for a fishing trip, they stay at local hotels and enjoy area restaurants and shopping.
“All those years I’ve been in magazine articles, international broadcast TV shows," he said. "This is all about promoting Boynton Beach. That’s part of my job. Not just taking people fishing. I promote the city of Boynton Beach any time I’m using that boat ramp.”
The ramp is one of only two in the county that are handicap accessible, Barrow said. And it would be downright wrong, he continued, for a city like Boynton Beach — where the logo is a sailfish, and the motto is "America's Gateway to the Gulfstream" — to clamp down on local fishermen.
He then posed a question: “During a time of such economic insecurity, how can the city of Boynton Beach threaten an already struggling industry of hard-working people who are themselves struggling to make ends meet?”
What happens next? There are three options
City staff presented commissioners with three options:
Amend city codes to outlaw charters at the Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park boat ramp.
Amend the codes to start permitting and regulating commercial boats.
Leave things alone and monitor the situation for four to six months.
The commission voted unanimously to move forward with option three, allowing all boaters to continue using the ramp while the city keeps an eye on the park. And a city spokesperson said this month that charter captains are free to use the ramp as long as they follow Coast Guard and FWC rules.
Barrow commended the move in a follow-up interview, saying that all commercial boaters, including the people who use the boat ramp and the captains who operate out of the marina, deserve a break. The economy is slow and everyone is hurting, he said.
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"There's a lot of ocean out there," Barrow continued. "If we can't work together on this, we're going to fall apart as a whole."
Meanwhile, Agardy said he had to start a new business to support his family last month, after his charters dropped from about seven a week to two. He now focuses more on catching and selling fish instead of taking customers on their own fishing trips.
"I've come to terms now that Boynton Beach does not want to do any regulation at the boat ramp," he said. "They're going to let things be. So, after 21 years of being a captain at that marina, I am no longer a full-time charter captain."
The city's park rangers are keeping an eye on boat ramp operations, parking and traffic flow at Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park. They'll later provide an update on their findings to the City Manager’s Office, a spokesperson said.
Giuseppe Sabella is a reporter covering Boynton Beach and Lake Worth Beach at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at gsabella@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism and subscribe today
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Fishing charters are arguing over boat ramp in Boynton Beach
