Florida is riding the crest of a marine conservation wave with a vote Tuesday to create a no-fishing zone in Dry Tortugas National Park.

Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet voted 3-1 to enact the recreational fishing ban across about half of the lush waters of the park perched at the western end of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, some 100 miles southwest of Naples. Commercial fishing already is prohibited in the park.

Two ocean study commissions in 2003 and 2004 have sounded the alarm about declining health of U.S. oceans and have proposed marine reserves as a way to provide refuge to dwindling fish populations.

The no-fishing zone at Dry Tortugas National Park is the last piece of a marine reserve proposed in 2001 to encompass 197 square nautical miles — the largest marine reserve in North America.

Environmental groups lauded Tuesday’s step as an important precedent, but the Coastal Conservation Association of Florida, a recreational fishing group, has fought the proposal for years. No-fishing zones don’t help fish; they only hurt fishers, opponents say.

They have an ally in Republican Gov.-elect Charlie Crist, the state’s attorney general, who cast the dissenting vote Tuesday.

“I am reluctant to restrict the freedom of recreational fishermen and fisherwomen to fish,” Crist said, hearkening back to fishing trips he took as a boy with his father.

David White, regional director for The Ocean Conservancy, said he was stunned by Crist’s vote given Crist’s campaign pledge to be the governor for all Floridians.

“His vote today could be interpreted that some people have more privileges (when it comes to natural resources owned by all Floridians) than others,” White said.

CCA of Florida Executive Director Ted Forsgren said Crist’s vote sends an important message for the incoming administration.

“It will help in these things not being allowed to proliferate,” Forsgren said.

The no-fishing zone at Dry Tortugas National Park will be in effect for five years and requires a vote by the Cabinet to renew it after that. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will work to set benchmarks by which to measure whether the no-fishing zone is successful in boosting fish populations.

The no-fishing zone covers 46 square nautical miles of the park. A one-mile radius around Fort Jefferson remains open for recreational fishing. Another 54 square nautical miles of the park will remain open to recreational fishing. Diving, snorkeling, wildlife viewing and boating will be allowed in the no-fishing zone.

One of the biggest benefits for the no-fishing zone will be research, scientists said. The area included in the zone takes in shallow-water habitats such as shoals and reefs that are not present in the rest of the ecological reserve around Dry Tortugas.

That will allow scientists to track fish through their full range of habitats in areas free of human disturbance and provide a means to compare the health of closed areas to the health of parts of the oceans subject to human disturbance.

Environmental advocates pitched the recreational fishing ban as an chance for Bush to bolster his legacy as he prepares to leave office.

“One thing both sides can agree on: increasing fish populations is a good thing,” Bush said. “We’re in favor of that.”

Forsgren took issue, though, with the premise that no-fishing zones will increase fish populations beyond the reserve’s boundary. Citing a study of a reserve near Cape Canaveral, Forsgren said more fish enter marine reserves than leave them. “Fish aren’t stupid,” he said.

He also cited a study, led by University of Miami marine biologist Jerald Ault, that showed grouper and snapper populations are on the rise at Dry Tortugas National Park despite recreational fishing being allowed there.

Ault said Forsgren is oversimplifying both studies. The population bump is attributable to increases in the number of small juvenile fish that need years, maybe a decade, to reproduce at a high rate.

“We’re seeing changes that lead us to believe we’re moving in the right direction,” Ault said. “We’re a long way from recovery.”

The no-fishing zone approved Tuesday has been under review since 2001, when the ecological reserves to the north and south of Dry Tortugas National Park were created.

In August 2005, the Cabinet moved the proposal forward by resolving a decades-old dispute between Florida and the federal government over ownership of submerged lands in the park. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved it in February.

Crist said that calls Tuesday to approve the ban out of respect for the lengthy process of review and public input are misguided.

“We’re not potted plants here,” he said. “We’re elected too.”