Salt Water Fish at Extinction Risk

I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment.

"For a long time, we've been interested in endangered species, of course, and from a fish standpoint, that has primarily translated into freshwater environments in North America."

"A vast majority of the species are found in South Florida coastal waters because of the variety of habitats: coral reefs, estuaries and seagrass habitats, which contain a large number of these species."

The report on extinction threats points out a misperception about ocean creatures...

"It's long been our feeling that the ocean is a vast reserve and that we don't have to worry about things like reductions in numbers of fishes."

But, they say, those reductions are real. Which came as a surprise, even to some of the reporting scientists...

"Even we as scientists have let it sneak up upon us. That in many cases, species in the marine world and estuarine world are also at risk."

I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment.

"Florida probably has more of these environments and more of these species than any other place in the United States."

In fact, it is Florida's uniqueness among North America's coastal areas, that gives it such a pivotal role in salt water fish survival...

"Because of our location in a tropical and subtropical area, because of the presence of a very unique ecosystem--the Everglades, we have a number of different areas that can be found only in Florida, within North America."

And it is threats to those unique areas that contribute the possible extinction of salt water fish species...

"If that environment is stressed or threatened, as is the case in the Everglades, Florida Bay and the Florida Keys, and many of the lagoons in the southern part of Florida, then the situation becomes even more perilous."

Salt Water Fish and Degrees of Extinction

"Biological extinction means killing all of the known individuals of a species, and therefore there are no more of them. There are some species in Florida where this could occur. But most of the time, what we're talking about are population extinction or commercial extinction."

That commercial extinction has already been reached by many species...

"Commercial extinction would be when there's not enough fish for a commercial fisherman to go out and catch anymore. It's not profitable to do so. And for some species, we've reaching that threshold."

Scientists find the threat of population extinction just as concerning...

"Many of the species were talking about in Florida are not unique to Florida. They're found in other areas of the United States or the countries to the south. But their populations in Florida may be reaching extinction or threatened to that level."

Threats to Florida's Most Popular Fishes

I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment

"In South Florida, we have a number of species that are primarily tropical in nature, that have their northernmost populations in southern Florida."

Tom Schmidt is a Marine Biologist for the National Parks in the Everglades and Dry Tortugas, and points out the risk to widely fished species like some Snapper and Grouper   (Tom Schmidt, Marine Biologist, Everglades and Dry Tortugas National Parks)...

"Snapper and Grouper of course are some of our main food delicacies on the table, and they are seriously overfished up and down the Florida Keys, until you reach the Dry Tortugas where the Black Grouper, Red Grouper and some of the Mutton Snapper seem to be more stabilized. But elsewhere, where they're not protected, they're overfished."

The scientists who contributed to the report hope it attracts attention, before it's too late...

"Are the stocks going to continue to decline to the point where they actually have a chance of becoming extinct, as opposed to just no longer fishable? When you get to that kind of a level, there's great concern."

Hope for Threatened Salt Water Fish Stocks

I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment.

The National Park Service is one of the groups taking note of a new report that tells of an extinction threat for many salt water fishes -- a large number of which are found in Florida's coastal waters. Tom Schmidt is both one of the report's authors, and a marine biologists for the National Parks in the Everglades and Dry Tortugas  (Tom Schmidt, Marine Biologist, Everglades and Dry Tortugas National Parks)...

"We are in the process of developing a Marine Protected Area (MPA)--a research natural area-- in the Dry Tortugas National Park, which we will hope will provide further research into the identification of these species, and protect these species from overfishing and other manmade impacts."

One National Park Service activity will be an inventory of virtually all the plants and animals in the Park's South Florida coastal waters...

"We will be developing programs to inventory and monitor not only these species but other species in the park waters, which will hopefully provide protection and conservation of these species in the future."

And with the report on Fish Extinction threats getting attention, part of its mission is already accomplished...

"Through more attention to their demise and risk at an earlier stage, and hopefully try to prevent serious cases of depletion and extinction later on in their life history strategies."