SANIBEL ISLAND, Fla., — July 28, 2013 — Hundreds of volunteers spent their Saturday morning counting scallops. It sounds silly, but the scallop population has plummeted in recent years because of red tide and freshwater releases.
We traveled with crews out on the water who gave us a first hand look at what the tally means for our water ways.
Six employees with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission keep track of scallop populations throughout the state of Florida.
"Our goal is to help manage the population of scallops. We want to get a study on the population numbers, on how they increase and decrease over the years," said Bryan Fluech, Florida Sea Grant Extension agent.
It's an unrealistic task, but with more than a hundred enthusiastic volunteers, it becomes reality.
"It's a very educational experience, and you don't really get that very much," said volunteer Holly Hassett.
"This is an opportunity to help scientists kind of gauge and see how the population is doing out here," said Susie Hassett.
The reason these scallops are so important is because they act as an indicator or a litmus test for how our waters are doing.
"These sea grass beds are extremely important for our recreational and commercial fishing, our tourism industry, so when we get to see higher populations of scallops, it can be an indicator that these systems are working really well," said Fluech.