University of Miami marine science student Lauren Hayes with her catch, a 7- or 8-pound mutton snapper, which was released and returned to its reef habitat more than 100 feet below the surface.
Greg Allen
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University of Miami marine science student Lauren Hayes with her catch, a 7- or 8-pound mutton snapper, which was released and returned to its reef habitat more than 100 feet below the surface.
Greg Allen
MIAMI — Recreational saltwater fishing is a significant part of Florida’s tourism economy. Anglers take more than 40 million saltwater fishing trips each year in Florida in hopes of catching a grouper, snapper or mahi mahi.
But strict regulations on seasons and species that can be caught mean that more than half of the fish caught on a typical trip are returned to the water.
Fishing guides, charter boat captains and marine fisheries officials spread the word about how to ensure released fish survive to fight another day. From Texas to North Carolina, the focus is on how to safely bring back reef fish – bottom-dwelling species like grouper, snapper and pigfish.
Recently in Florida’s Biscayne Bay, Captain Wayne Conn traveled a few miles offshore, with the Miami Beach skyline in the distance. Around twenty fishermen are on board the 75-foot boat. It doesn’t take long before one of the fishermen makes a catch. It is a mutton snapper, a prized fish. But it’s small and under the limit. Only 17 inches long. He needs to get back into the water. But they cannot simply be reintroduced.
Angela Collins, a marine fisheries specialist at the University of Florida, explains that when reef fish that spend their time in deep water are brought to the surface, the gases in their bodies expand, sometimes dramatically.
They may suffer from a condition known as barotrauma. “That’s when you see the fish’s eyes pop out of its head or its stomach pop out of its mouth,” Collins says. “Basically, this gas… expands and has to go somewhere. And that can obviously be detrimental to fish, even deadly.”
In Florida and federal waters, anglers must have descending tools like this. This is a weight attached to the bottom lip of the fish to quickly lower it 100 feet or more below the surface.
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In Florida and federal waters, anglers must have descending tools like this. This is a weight attached to the bottom lip of the fish to quickly lower it 100 feet or more below the surface.
Greg Allen
People fishing in Florida and federal waters are now required to carry special equipment on board to ensure reef fish survive once released. This includes ventilation tools, essentially long needles, which are used to pierce the fish’s swim bladder into its abdomen, releasing pressure.
But it’s also important to return the fish to its bottom habitat, 100 feet or more below the surface. Collins attaches something called a descending tool to the undersized mutton snapper. It’s a weight that she attaches to the fish’s lower lip before slowly lowering it back into the water.
“It brings him down very quickly,” she says. “It’s closed until it gets to 100 feet. And it opens. And it just allows the fish to swim.”
The ship moves to another location in deeper waters and soon someone is hit. On the bridge, Conn screams. “Look at it now, this fish is special,” he said. It’s a 7 or 8 pound mutton snapper. For Conn, it is a fish for keeping, “a fish that eats very well”. But Lauren Hayes, who studies marine conservation at the University of Miami, decided to publish it. “I love animals and they are so beautiful that I don’t want to be the one to kill them,” she says. “I want him to experience his happiness in the ocean.”
One of the deckhands pierces the fish’s swim bladder and uses a descending tool to lower it to the side. “Here he is, coming down guys…beautiful,” Conn says as he splashes in the water.
Conn has been operating charters and party boats from Miami for over 40 years. Recreational saltwater fishing in Florida has changed a lot during this time. “It used to be about killing a lot of fish.” But then he says, “The rules and regulations have come into effect. Some people quit because they didn’t want to follow the rules and regulations. They didn’t think it was fair. They didn’t fish as much when they didn’t. being able to come home with so many fish. Today, he said, people come to spend a day on the water, be with their friends and maybe come home with a fish. Conn says, “It’s about fishing just for what it is, it’s about the experience.”
Despite increased regulation, interest in fishing is growing, triggered in part, industry observers say, by a post-Covid surge that has boosted sales of boats and equipment. This is one of the reasons why there is an effort to raise awareness of ways to ensure that released fish survive and can be caught another day.
About two dozen anglers fish from Captain Wayne Conn’s 75-foot boat in Florida’s Biscayne Bay, not far from Miami Beach.
Greg Allen
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Greg Allen
About two dozen anglers fish from Captain Wayne Conn’s 75-foot boat in Florida’s Biscayne Bay, not far from Miami Beach.
Greg Allen
NPR News
