Fisheries
[NALT]
Publications
Artificial Reefs in Florida 101 – effects on fisheries: Part 4 of an Artificial Reef series
FA244/FA244by Lisa Chong, Angela B. Collins, Holly Abeels, Anna Braswell, Andrew Ropicki, and Edward V. CampOctober 31st, 2022Increasingly, coastal managers are placing artificial reefs in marine waters. These long-lasting habitat alterations have measurable effects on fish, fishers, divers, fisheries, and marine social ecological systems. Understanding how artificial reefs function is necessary to make good decisions about future artificial reefs. Scientific research on many aspects of artificial reefs is not always summarized and explained. In response to this need, we designed a 4-part series called Artificial Reefs 101. This publication, part 4 of the Artificial Reefs series, explores a complicated but fascinating aspect of artificial reefs—should we expect them to lead to better fishing in the long run? Many people think artificial reefs should be a “win-win” since both fish and fishers seem to like them. But it is increasingly apparent that they are likely to increase fishing mortality more than they increase fish populations. So they could lead to more restrictive regulations.
How Stocking Recreational Fisheries Works (and Sometimes Does not)
FR449/FOR378by Nicholas Fisch, Diana Perry, Chelsey Crandall, Nick Trippel, and Edward V. CampApril 4th, 2022Stock enhancement or “stocking” is one of the oldest, most common, and most popular ways of improving recreational fisheries. Stocking is usually supposed to increase the number of fish available for anglers to catch. Unfortunately, stocking doesn’t always do this. The reasons why it may not always work as planned relate to some important concepts of fish ecology. This publication describes those ecological concepts and then also describes the three primary “outcomes” of stocking that anglers might observe. In the end, stocking can be very effective, but only if the stocked fish survive reasonably well and don’t decrease the population of wild fish.
Recreational Fishing Effort and How Management Actions Can Affect It—Part 2: Literature and a Case Study
FA259/FA259by Edward Camp, Micheal S. Allen, Thomas T. Ankersen, Savanna Barry, and Mark W. ClarkJuly 12th, 2023Recreational fishing, crucially important to Florida’s economy and ecosystems, can be affected by management decisions. Decisions that change the allowable harvest or the type of access to certain fishing areas are often expected to have strong effects on fishing effort, but the outcome of these actions is not always obvious. To provide greater insight into what may happen to fishing effort after management decisions, we describe case studies from the North American fisheries literature, some Florida-specific. These illustrate that the same or similar management actions (e.g., a more restrictive harvest policy) can have opposite effects on total fishing effort depending on the specifics of the case. We use this information as well as additional fisheries theory to explore a specific case study—what might happen if special harvest or access regulations were applied to a popular but ecologically and environmentally sensitive habitat—Florida's St. Martins Marsh Aquatic Preserve.
Spawning Potential Ratio: A Key Metric for Managing Florida’s Fisheries
FA241/FA241by Nicholas Fisch and Edward V. CampMay 11th, 2022From red drum to red snapper, many of Florida’s fisheries are managed with specific consideration given to a quantity called the Spawning Potential Ratio (SPR). This conspicuous acronym is an important metric to fisheries biologists and managers. It helps determine harvest size limits for fisheries and drives regulations for both commercial and recreational fisheries. However, SPR is not especially intuitive to the general public or even agency personnel and Extension agents. This publication is intended to describe what SPR is and explain how and why it is used in managing fish stocks. We think it will help people better understand fisheries management decisions, the documents describing them, and the science behind them.
Understanding Metrics for Communicating the Economic Importance of Florida’s Fisheries Part I: An Overview
FA260/FA260by Edward V. Camp, Christa D. Court, Andrew Ropicki, and Robert BottaSeptember 4th, 2023Understanding the economic importance of fisheries and coastal resources is vitally important for making good management decisions that affect human communities, local businesses, and environment and ecological sustainability. However, economic “importance” is not a very specific term, and can mean completely different things to different people. We reviewed different fields of natural resource economics to and describe the different economic terms most often used. This information can help management agencies and cooperative Extension agents use the correct terminology and teach the correct terminology in their outreach.
Related IFAS Blog Posts
Announcing the New SFFGS Website!
Josh BakerApril 21st, 2023Friday, April 21, marks the launch of our new SFFGS website! Over the past months, the IFAS Web Team has been working on transferring the content of https://ffgs.ifas.ufl.edu into a newly redesigned website. However, since this is a new design of the site, things will look a bit different or might be in a different […]
Keys to keeping Southeast, Southwest Florida trees and landscapes thriving is focus of monthly UF/IFAS webinar series
Lourdes MederosApril 3rd, 2023Property owners, professional landscapers and arborists struggle to keep Florida’s landscapes and tree canopies thriving amid hurricanes, pests, diseases, climate change and other impacts. To help communities and industries plan, manage and treat some of the issues plaguing lawns, trees, plants and shrubs, scientists and faculty at the University of Florida have developed the South Florida […]
New River, Who Dis? Snook Habitat Expansion in the Nature Coast
Emily ColsonMarch 27th, 2023Written by Ashley McDonald, UF/IFAS NCBS Research Scientist Project Summary The Suwannee River system was targeted this past winter by biologists in electrofishing boats to study a new addition to the local fish community, the recently range-expanded Common Snook (Centropomus undecimalis). NCBS Research Scientist Ashley McDonald and collaborators from the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission […]
Available Languages:
English
