Saving Seafood

FLORIDA: Fish Poisoning More Common Than Believed

June 30, 2015 — Poisonings from a toxin carried by barracuda and other sport fish have been seriously underestimated in Florida, according to a new study — and the problem is far more common in fishing communities around the world than has been recognized, the lead author said.

In Florida, poisonings from the ciguatera toxin were highest among Hispanics, presumably because they are more fond of eating barracuda, according to the study, which was published this week in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Ciguatera (pronounced sig-WAH-terra) is produced by algae that grow in warm water, and there is a risk of it spreading north as ocean waters warm, said Elizabeth G. Radke, an epidemiologist at the University of Florida’s Emerging Pathogens Institute and the lead author of the study.

Read the full story at the New York Times

FLORIDA: Baitfish populations cut dramatically on Space Coast, elsewhere

June 20, 2015 — FLORIDA — When managers and commissioners from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission meet in Sarasota on Wednesday, they’ll be discussing several controversial subjects — including final rules for the first legal black bear hunt in nearly 30 years.

But the one that most directly affects Space Coast outdoors people is a resolution supporting the protection and regulation of forage fish species like mullet, menhaden and anchovies.

Menhaden stocks have definitely seen a drastic decline over the past 20 years. Just ask any fisherman that’s prowled the beaches of Brevard County — like Capt. Jim Ross.

Ross grew up fishing along the beach for cobia, amberjack, giant jack crevalle and a host of other species that were attracted to the moveable feast of menhaden (known locally as pogies.)

“We have 10 to 20 percent of the menhaden off the beaches that we used to,” Ross says. “You hear guys getting excited because they find a school of bait that might be the size of a Suburban and that’s not really that big. We used to have schools that would run outside the surf from the Cocoa Beach Pier to State Road 520.”

Read the full story at Florida Today