Sebastian Inlet – The inlet will be closed temporarily at night, starting in approximately two weeks, due to many reports of vindictive actions by fishermen.
The Sebastian Inlet District Commission held a special meeting on Wednesday, 4:30 pm, August 31 and voted 3-2 to close the popular jetty daily from dusk to dawn. This closure time will give their legal counsel time to work with local and state agencies in figuring out how to stop the mischievous activities.
The primary concern of the Commission is the reports that they received about fisherman on the jetty casting lures, lead weights and other objects into the boats below.
District administrator Martin Smithson stated that there were cases of interaction between angler and boaters for years, but serious incidents have escalated in the past couple of years.
“We have a file full of complaints from boaters who have been struck with objects thrown from the jetty,” Smithson said. “A bad situation is just waiting to happen where someone gets hit and falls overboard.”
“When we find some answers to the problems we’ll call for another special (commission) meeting, and the commissioners will consider re-opening the jetty,” Smithson said.
Motion for closure of the 745-foot jetty was made by Commissioner Beth Mitchell, of Sebastian.
“The commission has been diligent, but the agencies involved have not been as responsive. We need our people to work with these agencies to do a better job,” Mitchell said.
