There is now a lot of discussion in Florida about protecting the Barracudas with a lot of commercial fishing interests uncomfortable with the idea but here is the rub :
Barracudas have provided a lot of fun for Inshore, Flats and even Blue Water Charter and Light Tackle Guides and their customers.
Bringing in lots of tourist dollars for many years, admittedly Baracuda populations suffered because of our misguided use of their lifeless bodies killed, taken back to the Charter Boat Docks
Stabbed on to a Nail Rack to be photographed and later dropped into a dumpster at the end of the day
after attracting the next day's charter customers.
Fortunately the last 30 years most of that stopped because of pressure from more resource protective
Captains and Guides but, most of the pressure came from a more protective Angling client group.
Unfortunately the next problem the Barracudas faced was the Dastardly Shark Fin Hunters who
Preferred Barracuda Meat to bait the miles of Long Line gear.
Shark Finning has subsided quite a bit only after doing major damage to the World Wide Shark population and of course the Barracuda.
Now with the marked increase of demand for eating fish the Barracudas are again in trouble....
Barracudas on the Reefs, Wrecks and Rock Piles in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, lying in schools
are easy targets for a small groups of young men with Spear Guns.
Barracudas are being killed by the thousands for as little as $1 a pound and sold to the general public
being marketed as snapper, grouper, porgy....you want some grouper we got it always.
