Saving Seafood

FLORIDA: Florida weather: Are we in ‘hot water’? As temperatures rise, experts’ concerns wide-ranging

May 28, 2024 — Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean temperatures are running a few degrees above normal for this time of year, and warm-water impacts this summer and fall could range from enhanced tropical storm and hurricane formation to more blue-green algae blooms.

Water temperatures in Southwest Florida are hovering in the high 80s, according to the Nation Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA.

“Extreme warm waters can be problematic for numerous marine organisms, and the ecosystems they form,” said Ian Enochs, head of the sea coral program at NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory. “This is particularly true if the warm conditions last for a long time, when animals are unable to escape from the temperature stress day in and day out. This is very evident on coral reefs, where corals often live right at the limit of their temperature tolerances. If waters are too hot for too long, corals can turn white or ‘bleach’ as their relationship with helpful symbiotic algae is disrupted.”

The News-Press documented this type of damage in the Florida Keys in 2022, following scientists and anglers to see impacts warmer waters have had on the coral and even the flow of the Gulf Stream.

Read the full article at the News-Press

What’s Killing Endangered Sawfish in Florida?

April 15, 2024 — Fishing guides in the Florida Keys began reporting unusual sightings to Ross Boucek last fall. Small bait fish, especially at night, would start spinning in tight circles in the water, seemingly in distress.

As the months went by, more reports trickled in to Dr. Boucek, a biologist with the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, a nonprofit conservation group. Bigger fish — jacks, snook — were swimming in spirals or upside down in the shallow waters of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. So were stingrays and the occasional shark.

Dr. Boucek called scientists at state agencies and universities. They held meetings, took samples of the water and fish and tried to figure out what might be causing the fish to behave so strangely. A parasite? A sewage spill? Some other contaminant?

Read the full article at the The New York Times

Now is the time to create a robust aquaculture industry to ensure food security and support our economy

January 18, 2024 — America’s seafood industry has long been a vital contributor to our economy, with the seafood supply chain supporting more than 1.8 million jobs nationwide, but you may be surprised to learn that the U.S. currently imports far more seafood than it produces. This Congress, our colleagues have the power to change that by joining with us to support the expansion of offshore aquaculture.

Here in the U.S., the farming of fish and other aquatic species, also known as aquaculture, is a thriving industry in many states — including our home states of Alabama, Florida, Hawaii, and Mississippi and is being done in a responsible and environmentally friendly manner. Offshore aquaculture has an important role to play in the open ocean for producing sustainable protein that supplements our wild-capture fisheries and strengthens our working waterfronts and coastal economies.

With nearly half of all seafood consumed globally coming from fish farms, marine aquaculture produces many of the seafood that we eat and enjoy, including shellfish like oysters, clams, and mussels, as well as fish such as salmon, black sea bass and yellowtail, as well as seaweeds. But the lack of a clear and efficient permitting process for offshore aquaculture here in the U.S. has hindered the full potential of an American industry because it deters investment in offshore waters. Many investors simply take their capital overseas — bringing the jobs and revenue it produces with them, which is why we have joined together to propose a legislative solution to correct his problem and position the U.S. as a leader in sustainable seafood production.

Read the full article at The Hill

FLORIDA: While fish are plentiful off Wakulla County coast, marine heat waves concern environmental groups elsewhere

December 26, 2023 — The following transcript was released by WTXL:

“The fishing is greater than ever.”

Captain Joel Weir runs a fishing charter that goes around the world and in these waters off Panacea. “The fish we have the grouper the snapper fishing everything is phenomenal.”

He says business is good, but the Marine Stewardship Council tells me they’re concerned about the future of fishing in our oceans.

“They’re experiencing water temperatures that are higher than normal.”

FLORIDA: Portia Sapp of FDACS details impact of recent storms on Florida’s aquaculture industry

November 16, 2023 — Florida’s farmland is central to the state’s identity, but Florida’s waters are home to a growing farming industry as well.

Portia Sapp is the Director of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) Division of Aquaculture and Chairwoman of the FDACS Science Advisory Workgroup. She spoke to Senators about the state’s aquaculture industry, explaining its impact as well as several hurdles the still-developing sector is facing.

According to Sapp, there are about 1,000 aquaculture producers in Florida raising more than 1,500 species. Of licensed operators, 40% produce shellfish, 28% grow ornamental fish or tropical fish, and 17% focus on food fish, such as tilapia and shrimp.

The fish and other organisms grown in Florida can serve as food and bait, help conservation efforts and aid in research, among other uses.

Sapp said the aquaculture industry has grown 50-fold since 1990 and now represents about 52% of global fisheries production for protein. While growing for protein is an obvious benefit, Sapp told the Senate Agriculture Committee Tuesday that there are environmental benefits as well.

Read the full article at Florida Politics

New NOAA report confirms widespread coral damage from Port Miami dredge

September 10, 2023 — Nearly a decade after dredging Port Miami left a swath of dead coral yet to be repaired, a new federal assessment confirms damage was far more widespread than originally reported.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report found dredging and rock chopping that pulverized the ocean bottom created a blizzard of silt that buried at least 278 acres around the reef, and likely far more. The report upholds previous findings and will be used to permit future dredging as well as long overdue repairs.

Those repairs, which should have started within a year of the dredge ending, could wind up costing Miami-Dade County hundreds of millions of dollars under a 2012 contract signed by the county.

Miami-Dade County officials said Thursday they were reviewing the report. Any estimate on costs to mitigate damage would be premature, they said.

In a statement, Mayor Daniella Levine-Cava said the county was working with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection on a mitigation plan to repair damage.

“I’m deeply concerned about the damage of coral colonies and committed to learning everything we can about what took place and where we go from here,” she said.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection said Thursday it was still looking into the matter.

Read the full article at WLRN

FLORIDA: After the Storm, a Cherished Local Fishing Industry Feels More Fragile

September 2, 2023 — Dan Ellison started shrimping when he was 12, bringing a change of clothes on the boat so he could make it to school after early-morning outings. He would sketch shrimp boats in class, before quitting school in eighth grade to pursue his passion.

“I couldn’t do what a doctor or lawyer does,” Mr. Ellison, 61, said. “But they couldn’t do what I do. You’ve got to know so much to survive.”

He joined his father shrimping and fishing in tiny Horseshoe Beach, Fla., a business that took a significant hit when the state banned net fishing in the 1990s. In a good year, he said, he makes about $30,000.

“It’s just a dying breed,” Mr. Ellison said of shrimpers in the Big Bend region, where the Florida peninsula meets the Panhandle. And the damage wrought by Hurricane Idalia presents a whole new challenge.

Read the full article at the New York Times

Gov. DeSantis plans to seek aid for the Big Bend’s fishing industry

September 2, 2023 — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday said the state will seek federal help for the fishing industry in the Big Bend region, as cleanup efforts moved into a second day from the devastation caused by Hurricane Idalia.

Meanwhile, the state reported its first confirmed death related to Idalia, while utility workers still had about 135,000 customer power outages to tackle from the Category 3 storm, many in sparsely populated areas of North Florida.

The governor’s plan to seek help from the U.S. Department of Commerce for the fishing industry followed White House approval of a separate request for a major disaster declaration.

Read the full article at WFSU

Florida’s Big Bend coast in Hurricane Idalia’s path

August 30, 2023 — Building into a category 3 hurricane, Hurricane Idalia is moving across the Gulf of Mexico’s deep reservoir of historically warm water, with the National Hurricane Center predicting a path into the U.S. state of Florida’s northern Gulf Coast and landfall the morning of Wednesday, 30 August.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency across 46 counties statewide. Local authorities around the city Tampa Bay ordered a mandatory evacuation, and coastal towns and small fishing ports near Fort Myers, smashed by Hurricane Ian last year, were put on watch, even though forecasters are predicting Idalia will likely track farther north, close to Cedar Key, roughly 80 miles north of Tampa Bay.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Florida’s coral reefs are dying. Here’s why you should care

July 30, 2023 — Right now, the Great Florida Reef is experiencing catastrophic conditions following a marine heat wave that has engulfed the ecosystem for months.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the marine heat waved moved into the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea around February and March and is predicted to persist with extreme ocean temperatures through at least October.

The duration and intensity of these abnormally warm waters is a significant concern for the health of the coral.

Dr. Cory Krediet, an associate professor of marine science specializing in corals at Eckerd College, spoke to News 6 while helping rescue efforts in the Florida Keys.

“We’re looking to use microbes to try to increase resilience of corals to future stress. But right now, here at Mote Marine Lab, restoration efforts are happening. They’re bringing corals back from the reef into the land-based nurseries, to try and keep them out of the reef environment until some conditions hopefully may subside back to normal,” Krediet said.

Read the full article at Click Orlando