![]() ![]() Ross Boucek of the non-profit Bonefish Tarpon Trust grew up fishing for tarpon and snook in the waters off Everglades National Park. Efforts to curtail overfishing along the reef, he said, ran into “so much political pushback it’s off the charts.” “But we’re now teetering on the brink of calamity.”Īult expressed some sympathy for the regulators who failed to follow those recommendations in prior years. Ault, who chairs the University of Miami’s Department of Environmental Science and Policy. “If they had listened to us 20 years ago, things wouldn’t be so bad now,” said lead author Jerald S. The authors of the study are veteran scientists from the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They have been warning about this problem for two decades. Those findings should come as no surprise. Some fell so far short they barely hit 5 percent. Nearly every species of fish studied fell short of that level of reproduction. Using computer modeling, the researchers found that spawning fish need to reach at least 40 percent of their historic levels for the population to be sustainable. The species affected include some angler favorites, such as hogfish, yellowtail and mutton snapper, and red, black, and Nassau grouper. The study found that 85 percent of the reef’s grouper and snapper species have been overfished to the point that their populations have now fallen below sustainable numbers. The Florida reef wraps around the lower half of the state/NOAA “The southern Florida coral reef fishery requires urgent management intervention,” warns the study, published under the title, “Length-based risk analysis of management options for the southern Florida USA multispecies coral reef fish fishery,” in the May issue of “Fisheries Research.” The study, which examined 20 years of survey data on 15 species, found that the agencies in charge of overseeing its most important fisheries have allowed them to be overfished to the point that their continued reproduction has been affected. Now a new study says its fish population is being rapidly depleted, too. Despite that protected status, though, the reef has been hit hard by a pair of major threats to its future existence: a rapidly spreading wasting disease and climate change-driven bleaching. The reef is long enough that it’s part of not one but three national parks: Biscayne, Everglades, and Dry Tortugas. Meanwhile, anglers love to pursue the reef’s schools of sailfish, grouper, snapper, cobia, barracuda, mackerel, shark, African pompano, and wahoo. It’s long been a popular destination for snorkelers and divers, who are drawn there by its easy access, its warm waters, and its spectacular stands of elkhorn coral, magnificent barrel sponges, and majestic eagle rays. Lucie, on about the middle of the coast, down to the southern tip of the Keys. The reef stretches for nearly 350 miles from Port St. Just off Florida’s southeastern Atlantic coast lies the only coral reef in the continental United States. Oil Trains Pose A Significant Threat To National Parks.The Care And Keeping Of History Within The National Park System.Wastewater And Sewer Facilities Failing In National Parks.Private Philanthropy Fills The Gaps Of Deferred Maintenance.National Park Roads And Bridges Impacted By Lack Of Maintenance.NPS Is Running $670 Million Behind On Caring For Maintained Landscapes.Mixing Energy Development And National Parks.Maintenance Backlog Impacts Historic Structures In National Parks.Lack Of Dollars Crippling National Park Facilities For Staff And Visitors.Invasive Species A Plague On the National Park System. ![]() Groups Continually At Work To Acquire Private Lands Key To National Parks. ![]()
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