Fishing Around Florida

“For 15 years, officials, environmentalists, fishermen and boaters have struggledto put together a plan to protect one of South Florida’s jewels — a national park, almost entirely underwater, where a part of the largest reef tract in the United States lures throngs of divers and anglers who fish its once-abundant grouperand snapper.... The fish have come under pressure not only from South Florida’s booming population but also because fast boats, GPS devices and other high- powered gear make finding and catching fish much easier than it was a coupleof decades back.... Closing the 10,522 acres to fishing — a section of the park that the federal government controls alone — is one of several options on the table, Mr. Carlstrom [Brian Carlstrom, the park’s superintendent] said. It has been shown, in some cases, to be an effective and quick way to replenish fish stocks, scientists said.... State officials bristle at the idea of a no-take reserve. They said the proposed section is one of the park’s most popular areas and covers about 30 percent of the reef tract. In their view, shutting down fishing should always be a last resort, and in this case it is not, they argued.

“There were fish everywhere and all over the place. There were very few guides in the late ‘30s and ‘40s, so you could pick any of the best spots to see and cast to tarpon. Today, you have to stake out your spot. Guides often go out late in the afternoon to get to their spots before they are taken; no more did you casually pick your spot.”

“King Mackerel, having been decimated off Key waters by commercial overfishing and the fact that it is truly a pelagic fish, spends less time in Keys waters... The kingfish, once reaching sizes over ninety pounds with a world record of more than ninety-three pounds caught in Puerto Rican waters, is caught off the keys today in weights from twenty-five to seventy pounds. A friend, Richard Jacobs, whose father fished in Bimini, showed me pictures of kingfish that were over one hundred pounds... Today, there is no question that with huge catch pressure on these and other great fish, they would be getting smaller and smaller.”

1952 — 264,561,200 lbs.1962 — 204,758,356 lbs.1972 — 179,112,300 lbs.1982 — 206,079,412 lbs. 1992 — 173,452,949 lbs. 2002 — 115,400,602 lbs. 2012 — 91,867,313 lbs.

More recreational fish are caught in Florida than in any other state. In 2011, 51,520,000 fish were harvested, totaling 41,259,000 lbs., from 10.4 million marine recreational fishing Trips in east Florida (Atlantic Ocean) and 14.16 million recreational fishing trips in the Gulf of Mexico. “The most commonly caught non-bait species (numbers of fish) were spotted seatrout, red drum, sand seatrout, Atlantic croaker, and sheepshead.”

“One of the major economic victims of the spill was the seafood industry. Florida fishermen catch more than 84 percent of the nation’s supply of grouper, pompano, mullet, stone crab, pink shrimp, spiny lobsters and Spanish mackerel, a haul totaling more than $200 million annually. As the spill grew larger that summer, so did the area of the gulf closed to fishing by the National Marine Fisheries Service office in St. Petersburg. Ultimately more than 88,000 square miles — a third of the gulf — was shut down.... Six months after the spill ended, anglers began pulling in red snapper with ugly lesions. Tests by University of South Florida scientists verified that chemicals from Deepwater Horizon oil had clogged their livers, causing immune system problems.”

“A decrease in the size of trophy fish caught by Key West fishing boats has occurred over the last 50 years, reflecting a loss in the largest fish from the coral reef environment... The average length of individual trophy fish declined from 91.7 cm to 42.4 cm, and the average weight declined from 19.9 kg to 2.3 kg between 1956 and 2007.”

“Florida restaurants, once renowned for fresh local seafood, are coming up short on popular local dishes as species decline and reliance on foreign imports grows... Once-abundant species in the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, including red snapper and a variety of groupers, red drum, greater amberjack, and black sea bass, are now classified by the government as “overfished,” i.e., severely depleted... Of 57 species managed by the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council, the status is not known for 38 of them—or 66 percent... Eleven species of Gulf fishes, from sharks to groupers, are now candidates for listing as endangered or threatened, along with manatees and sea turtles. Available evidence suggests that almost all prominent reef fish and pelagic stocks are ‘growth-overfished,’ which means that most fish are captured before they can reach maximum age and size.”

Elkhorn and Staghorn corals numbers have plummeted 97 percent since the 1970s. “NOAA Fisheries Service announced its decision yesterday to list elkhorn (Acropora palmata) and staghorn corals (Acropora cervicornis) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).... This will be the first time a coral has been listed as endangered or threatened under the ESA.... The primary factors [for extinction] include disease, temperature-induced bleaching, and physical damage from hurricanes. Other factors include damage from commercial and recreational activities, sediments and contaminants from land-based sources, and poor water quality.”

“Translating the potential habitat changes into impacts on specific marine speciesis difficult, as there are many combined factors at play. However... Average temperatures in parts of the state have increased by about 2 degrees F since the1960s, and precipitation over the past century has decreased in the south and increased in Central Florida and the Panhandle. ...[H]igher sea surface temperatures are damaging coral reefs, enhancing marine diseases and making the region’s hurricanes more intense and destructive... Essentially, all of these changes combine to create a “perfect storm” for Florida fishing.”

“I am a captain of a charter boat in the Fl. Keys as well as a lifelong (47 year) resident of Marathon, Florida.... From my own personal observation in the past 30 years, I have seen quite a bit of change to the fish habitat in the region, particularly in Florida Bay. We have noticed an increase in water levels along the shoreline. This has translated to higher salt water levels up in the Everglades National Park as well which is the major estuary for the region.... The lack of fresh water and the increase of the level of salt water have resulted in the intrusion of pure salt water into normally brackish water areas. This has caused major die offs of thousands of juvenile fish, not to mention its effect on the other marine life. The direct and rapid result to the region has been a combination of muddy, dead water as well as a major decrease of the fish and coral that used to flourish in the region. This in turn has affected the entire food chain of the region. The changes have become most pronounced in the past 15 years.”

“Data released Tuesday show oxygen in the gulf has dropped to severely lowlevels in an area that begins about 10 miles off the coast of mid Pinellas County and extends north to Pasco County. Scientists say it appears the phenomenon was brought on by an especially long-lived episode of Red Tide [toxic growth of algae that can kill fish]... The newest scientific evidence, from the state Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, confirms what divers and fisherman have been saying for weeks: The oxygen-depleted areas have turned into fish graveyards. Boaters have found goliath grouper bobbing dead on the gulf’s surface and sea turtles too weakened to dive. Divers have searched the sea floor, only to find dead sponges and coral and shells of crabs with no living animal inside.”

A retiree trying his luck fishing off a pier in Pensacola describes one of the problems plainly: “Twelve years ago, you could catch three coolers (of fish) in three hours,” he said. “Now, you're lucky to get a cooler in three days.”