There is news on the Lionfish removal front. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) awarded $250,000 to five organizations in early 2018 to research and develop innovative methods to remove lionfish from deep water habitat. Also, the National Marine Fisheries Service has finally approved a permit to set out 100 cages to study [...]
Red Tide Is Everybody’s Problem Algal blooms, including red tides, are natural occurrences. They are part of the complex life cycles and ecological balance of our marine ecosystem. However, excess nutrient pollutants, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, from human activity can disrupt the nature’s balance creating devastating blooms in our waterways that are more intense, [...]
The continuing northern advance of the toxic red tide bloom on Florida’s west coast that began last February now stretches from Sanibel Sound to St Petersburg. In its wake, the beaches are piled with dead sea life from fish to sea turtles and manatees. Beachgoers are a rare sight as people are doing their best [...]
On August 7th, START’s Chairman, Sandy Gilbert, gave the Manatee County Commission an update on the Gulf Coast Oyster Recycle and Renewal (GCORR) Program that has been underway for the past year. Sandy began by explaining that given the County’s extensive investment in infrastructure over the years including replacing 2/3 of the septic systems along [...]
In May, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center forecasted a 75 percent chance that the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30, would be near or above normal. They planned to update the Atlantic seasonal in early August, just before the peak of the season. They have done so and it is [...]
