Welcome to the latest edition of the Wednesday Wake-Up Call, a roundup of the most pressing conservation issues important to anglers. Working with our friends at Unlimited trout, Backcountry hunters and anglersThe Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, The Everglades Foundation, Clean water captains, VoteWater.orgAnd Conservation Falcon (among other things) we make sure you have the information you need to understand the issues and form an informed opinion.
Algal blooms on Lake Okeechobee stoke fears of another ‘lost summer’
Back in July 2018, massive algal blooms that started on Lake Okeechobee and spread to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries caused a multitude of problems for local residents, the tourism industry, the fishing community and wildlife:
The progressive disaster we’ve been reporting on in South Florida continues unabated as huge and hideous algal blooms continue to clog inland waterways and red tides fish kills plague the coasts. (Wednesday wake-up call 07/18/18)
Today, the same bacteria blanket nearly 80% of Okeechobee, and the lake is higher than normal (at 14 feet) at the start of the “rainy season.” If the level rises to 16 feet, the US Army Corps of Engineers will be forced to reinject the toxic water into the estuaries. In the video above, Eve Samples from Friends of the Everglades explains the current threat and what could happen in the coming weeks and months.
Click here to read more on sccf.org
Similar posts:
- Why Does Toxic Algae Continue to Affect Lake Okeechobee? on wptv.com
- Jacksonville Commander Announces Lake Okeechobee Wet Season Strategy on saj.usace.army.mil
- The seaweed-covered waters of Lake O surround the Port Mayaca lock and dam at tcpalm.com
2. The future of the Louisiana redfish is at stake
Tomorrow Louisiana will hold a meeting to discuss redfish management. This session will address concurrent Senate Resolution 46, which mandates that no redfish over 27 inches may be caught. While this is excellent progress, much more needs to be done to restore the Redfish. With the current recovery timeline, a 30% reduction in harvests is still insufficient to rebuild redfish stocks by 2060, while a 40% reduction by 2040 and a 50% reduction by 2034 will result in recovery. The American Saltwater Guides Association advocates a 50% reduction to allow stocks to rebuild by 2034. Anything else is not enough to recreate this iconic species.
Click here to learn more about the Louisiana redfish at saltwaterguidesassociation.com