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Florida Agriculture Literacy Day Drive through is an annual event held each spring in which hundreds of agriculture industry representatives read a designated children’s book about agriculture in elementary school classrooms around the state. The event is a partnership between Agriculture in the Classroom, Inc. and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Florida Agriculture florida In the Classroom is a non-profit organization charged with educating Aquaculture and Florida teachers and students in kindergarten through 12th grade about the importance of Florida A Florida Agriculture Literacy Day Book agriculture. It is funded by sales of the agriculture Written by specialty license plate known as the “Ag Tag.” Arlette Roberge Florida Agriculture in the Classroom is able to provide Agriculture Literacy Day books and other Illustration and Design by related items free of charge because of the funding Douglas Gillespie and Mark Cason it receives from the Ag Tag.

“Educate Students About Florida Agriculture” Commissioner Adam H. Putnam www.FreshFromFlorida.com (352) 846-1391 www.AgTag.org

Special thanks to Florida Farm Bureau’s Women’s Committee for their support. Escambia

Okaloosa Walton Holmes Santa Nassau Rosa Jackson

Gadsden Hamilton Columbia Jefferson Washington Leon Madison Duval Bay Suwannee Baker Calhoun Wakulla Taylor St. Johns Liberty Union Brad Clay Ahoy Lafayette Gilchrist ford Franklin Gulf 4 Alachua Flagler Dixie Putnam 3 Levy Marion Maties! Volusia Let’s travel through 5 . Lake I’m Ol’ Red Florida and along its coasts. Citrus Sumter We will visit aquatic farmers Seminole called “aquaculturists.” They work Would you like in a specialized area of agriculture Drive Through Hernando Orange called “aquaculture.” These farmers To visit an grow aquatic species in water They Pasco Brevard instead of soil. have special spots Pinellas Osceola Underwater in oceans, ponds and Florida Hillsborough tanks where they raise Aquaculture Polk farm? fish, , reptiles 2 and plants. Indian River Okeechobee Manatee Hardee 1 St. Lucie (Page 4-5) DeSoto Highlands Aquarium Fish Sarasota Martin 2 And Plants 1 (Page 6-7) Charlotte Glades

Hard Hendry 6 3 Lee Palm Beach (Page 8)

Oysters Broward 4 (Page 9) Collier

Sturgeon 5 (Page 10) Monroe Dade

Tilapia 6 (Page 11)

2 3 Some people think or .

Alligators enjoy Florida’s sunshine, and eat almost anything including insects, fish, turtles and birds.

Alligator farmers can breed their gators or collect wild alligator eggs from nests found in swamps Alligator Meat and marshes. The gator farmer Gators can live for hatches the eggs and grows the more than hatchling up to three to four feet in length before harvesting. 50 YEARS And weigh over Let’s start in Glades 1,000

County and visit UF/IFAS File Photo File UF/IFAS an alligator . farm. POUNDS alligators They get new Alligators are born Alligators are a little scary but what do you expect from a dinosaur’s cousin? from eggs TEETH When they wear out There are more than 20 alligator farms in Florida that raise these reptiles for their Their old ones. hides and meat. Purses, boots, wallets and belts can be made from alligator hides. At one time, alligators almost became extinct. They are a protected species now, which means they can only be hunted or farmed with a special permit. We now have lots of alligators on farms and in the wild.

A group of alligators Is called a Glades Congregation.

Douglas Gillespie Gator leather boots Alligators like and handbags sunny spots 4 5 Left to Right: Angel Fish, Tetras and Barbs (top right) Marine ornamentals Many marine species are also farmed for aquariums. These saltwater species include corals, clownfish, live rock, gobies, seahorses and more. More than growing new Douglas Gillespie Corals can be cut into smaller pieces colonies of corals Let’s visit to grow a new colony. This creates 500,000 the farmers raising more coral for aquariums without

Douglas Gillespie colorful tropical fish collecting it from the oceans. BOXES in Hillsborough and Of fish and plants are shipped from Polk Counties. Nemo in “Finding Nemo” was a

Douglas Gillespie Douglas Florida each year. clownfish. Since the movie came out, lots of people have added clownfish aquarIUM FISh to their saltwater aquariums. Live rock is not alive but is full of tiny marine life that live on and inside anD PlaNtS it. Live rock helps clean and filter aquarium water.

There are hundreds of varieties Seahorses can Aquariums help of tropical fish and aquatic plants Gillespie Douglas POlk Grasp objects with reduce stress. raised in Florida. Some are grown hillsborough their tails in outdoor ponds and some are raised in indoor tanks. In Florida, we ship freshwater and saltwater fish and aquatic plants worldwide People also buy Goldfish, for aquarium lovers. koi and plants for Clownfish like to

Douglas Gillespie Douglas Hide in anemones Gourami OUTDOOR How are farmers able to grow so many fish and plants? Florida has Some fresh water fish species PONDS. lots of warm weather and good raised in Florida include mollies, quality ground water. Farmers swordtails, gouramis, angelfish, know how to breed fish and tetras and barbs. There are more plants to be hardy and healthy. types of plants than you can ever

And they know how to keep imagine. We do not eat these fish UF/IFAS File Photo File UF/IFAS OUTDOOR TROPICAL water in ponds and tanks very or plants. They are raised so we can A scarlet cleaner Douglas Gillespie FISH FARM POND clean. enjoy their beauty. Perched on live rock 6 7 Growth rings Franklin Indicate a ’s age County has some of the best in the country! oysterS

Clams can be eaten steamed, fried, grilled, baked or in Levy County Franklin clam . raises the most hard clams. Let’s go

see them! Pelican Seafood Pelican

Oysters have a soft body Clams were a major protected by an outer shell, but food source for the an ’s shell is very rough native indigenous tribes Oysters are often and can cause painful cuts if you of Florida. Hard ClaMS eaten raw aren’t careful where you walk.

Oysters live in shallow bay areas OVER 125 Florida clam farmers use bags to where the ocean tide meets river MILLION grow clams on the ocean floor. streams. If oysters do not get the Florida clams are The bags protect small clams from right mixture of fresh and salt harvested each year. predators. Farmers let clams grow water, they cannot survive. for about one year before they are Levy Oysters are grown in cages to harvested. Young protect them from predators. oysters Clam farming keeps bays and In addition to farming, some are called fishermen use small boats and oceans clearer and cleaner. As Cedar Key Seafarms SPAT . clams feed and grow, they long tongs to gather wild oysters. cage-grown clean the water by filtering it Oysters are important because Oysters in and out of their shells. they help keep the water clean UF/IFAS File Photo File UF/IFAS by filtering it. Clam farmer They use nutrients in the water to grow their shells. So, Hard clams are called middle not only are clams great to PEARLS necks and little necks. But I’ve eat, they are also very helpful are formed when an never seen a clam’s neck, have for the environment. intruder gets inside you? A hard clam has two hinged an oyster’s shell, and the oyster coats it with hard shells to protect its tasty soft ‘nacre.’

UF/IFAS File Photo muscle. Photo File UF/IFAS Oyster bed 8 9 Let’s travel south to Hendry County to see farms. Dade tilapia County also has lots of tilapia farms.

Hendry can Sturgeon are weigh up to raised in Volusia 1200 County and in other . areas of the state. DAde POUNDS Tilapia

Tilapia is raised as food to eat. It is the most abundant food fish Other FOOD FISh farmed throughout the state, but sturgeon they are native to Africa. This fast- Redfish are called growing fish eats a vegetarian diet. Tilapia can grow in ponds, “RED DRUM” Because they make a Sturgeon are raised for their eggs which are and their high quality raceways, floating cages and tanks. drum-like sound. meat. In the wild, they can grow very large (about eight feet) and live up When they are about six months to 50 years. Sturgeon are often referred to as living fossils because they Jackson Tilapia old, they are ready to be harvested. UF/IFAS File Photo have survived virtually unchanged for more than 100 million years. Tank volusia tormentertackle.com

sarasota Bob and Carol Cox, mbara.org

HYBRID Goggle-eye STRIPED ,

Pinfish , Sturgeon REDFISH, caviar Some fish are raised to be bait for Bait Fish other fish. These include pinfish, goggle-eyes and shiners. Some people COBIA and call pinfish “ candy.” Cobia like to eat them also. Goggle-eyes are prized as bait because their amber color attracts many species. These fish POMPANO Tank-raised Are also raised for food. sturgeon UF/IFAS File Photo are commonly found at bait and tackle stores and retail shops. 10 11 Escambia

Okaloosa Walton Holmes Santa Nassau Rosa Jackson

Gadsden Hamilton Columbia Jefferson Washington Leon Madison Duval Bay Suwannee Baker Calhoun Wakulla Taylor St. Johns 10 Liberty Union Brad Clay Franklin Lafayette Gilchrist ford Now, join my Gulf friend Bobby Boat on Alachua Putnam Flagler Florida’s beautiful bays and Dixie oceans. You can watch fishermen 11 who make a living by catching Levy Marion sea life that grow and live Volusia in these waters. Lake Citrus Sumter Seminole

Hernando Orange Hi kids, Pasco Brevard Let’s go Pinellas Osceola fishing! Hillsborough Polk Indian 9 River Okeechobee Manatee Hardee 8 St. Lucie DeSoto Highlands Sarasota Martin

Charlotte Glades Drive Through Florida Hendry Lee Seafood Palm Beach 7 Broward 7 Shrimp 10 Snapper (Page 14-15) (Page 19) Collier

8 Mullet 11 Blue crab (Page 16-17) (Page 20) Monroe Dade

Grouper 9 12 Stone crab 12 (Page 18) (Page 21) 13

Spiny 13 (Page 22-23)

12 13 white shrimp

Outriggers

How do fishermen catch shrimp? They have specially designed boats with two long poles on both sides called “outriggers.” Special Let’s travel to Lee County as commercial shrimp nets hang from the outriggers into the ocean. As the boat fishermen go shrimping. This moves along, the fishermen pull the nets up to catch the shrimp, shrimpnfishflorida.com seafood will be sold to seafood allowing other marine life to escape. Shrimp markets and grocery stores. Shrimp can also be raised in ponds or tanks for bait or as food for SWIM, shrimp people. Native shrimp such as white shrimp are best suited as bait. Rather than crawl. Aquatic farmers must make sure there are enough minerals and oxygen in the water for the shrimp to thrive.

“Shrimp” is a word for being tiny or small. Florida shrimpers catch more than 10 million pounds of

shrimpnfishflorida.com shrimp each year. That’s a lot! It’s Lee the most popular seafood in the United States. Shrimp are tasty crustaceans. In Florida, there are Their hard shell several different types of shrimp. They include pink, is called an white, brown and royal red varieties. What about rock EXOSKELETON. shrimp? They don’t play the electric guitar! They get Brown shrimp their name from their extra hard shell.

They can live in FRESH, BRACKISH shrimpnfishflorida.com and SALT water.

White shrimp Steamed rock shrimp Sorting pink shrimp 14 15 Bob and Carol Cox, mbara.org

MULLET Live in the warm Florida waters Now follow me to Sam Wolf, tcpalm.com jumping Mullet and other Manatee County where similar places. mullet are jumping!

These fish like to jump but nobody knows exactly why. Maybe it is to warn the other fish that fishermen are coming. Mullet Many people think mullet are delicious to eat and worth the Fishermen haul in over hard work to catch them. They can 13 MILLION be eaten fried, broiled or smoked. Mullet are fish that live in oceans, POUNDS rivers or bays. They have excellent Of mullet a year. eyesight and swim fast in large groups called “schools.” Mullet are hard to catch with a hook and line so fishermen use cast nets to Manatee bring them in.

mullet Maria Anna Islander The Fishermen

fishing for Black mullet and

mullet mbara.org Cox, Carol and Bob Silver mullet are fishing with a Cast net Douglas Gillespie The Anna Maria Islander Fried Mullet the most popular. 16 17 Bob and Carol Cox, mbara.org Bay County in Florida’s Panhandle has lots of red snapper. Monroe County snapper has yellowtail as well.

GAG GROUPER Grow up to 80 pounds, and live up to 16 years. Is there something fishy in Pinellas RED GROUPER County? It could be grow up to 50 pounds, grouper! and live up to 30 years.

Bay Grouper are so popular Monroe you can only catch them during certain times grouper Red Snapper of the year. MyFWC Media Grouper is a yummy fish, which is Yellowtails like to live near the Florida fishermen catch lots southern tip of Florida. why people like to eat it. You can of red snapper and yellowtail Snapper try grouper in a sandwich, a salad snapper. Red snapper have bright contain lots Just like grouper, snapper are of protein, or just by itself. Fishermen catch rosy-red skin and irises. Many of millions of pounds of grouper Pinellas delicious, which is why fishermen very little them live in waters near Florida’s must be careful not to overfish fat and no each year with bait on a fishing Gillespie Douglas Panhandle. carbohydrates. hook. They use fish, shrimp and them. They can use hook and crab for bait. line gear, traps or spears but they Do you see the racing stripe on cannot use nets. That would catch the yellowtail snapper? It runs Bob and Carol Cox, mbara.org too many fish at one time. We don’t from nose to tail and looks cool! want to run out! YELLOWTAIL SNAPPER Grouper and Grow up to 11 pounds. MyFWC Media Cheese grits RED SNAPPER Grow up to 35 pounds. There are over 400 types of grouper. Two of the most popular There are are red grouper and gag grouper. approximately They both can live in the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean, but 105 red grouper like deeper water of SPECIES up to 1,000 feet. Should we dive gag Grouper Of snapper in Grouper fishing in and look for some? Yellow Tail Snapper the world. 18 19 Let’s go back to Monroe County. This time we are learning Stone Crab about stone crabs.

Monroe Fishermen catch over 6 MILLION Pounds of Blue crabs Each year.

A string and

UF/IFAS File Photo a smelly fish We’re can be used traveling north to catch blue again because Dixie crabs. County has lots of Blue Crab blue crab!

Have you ever grown too big for Bob and Carol Cox, mbara.org your pants or shirt? Blue crabs do! Stone Crab When their shell gets too small they crawl out of it and within 24 They absorb lots of water hours a new, bigger shell forms Stone crab are a unique kind of seafood. Only the claws are eaten to crack their shell when it is time to molt. This over their soft body. This is called Dixie and they are yummy! Fishermen can harvest one of the claws from the stone crab, and then the crab will grow another one back! It takes happens about 20 times “molting.” When their shell is during their lives. older and hard, we say they are about a year, but it keeps more stone crab in the ocean. Their larger hard shell crabs. The ones with claw is called a “crusher claw.” It does just that - crushes the crab’s prey. About the new softer shell are called soft Blue crab get their name from the The smaller claw is the pincer claw. Stone crab are caught in wooden blue color of their shell. They have traps in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Some fishermen put 98% shell crabs and you can eat the Of all two pincer claws and four pairs of Florida Sea Grant out up to 100 traps at one time. That’s a lot of traps to check each day. entire crab, shell and all. Stone crab bright blue legs. Females have red comes from tips on their legs which look like Douglas Gillespie Florida. painted fingernails. Blue crab can MyFWC Media live in colder water than other Fishermen use chicken necks, types of crab. pig’s feet and fish heads to bait crab traps. Fishermen use metal traps to catch them but they only haul in some of their catch. They let the little crabs go so there will be Hard Shell Wooden crab Stone crab Blue crab some for next year. Crabbers trap claws 20 21 Bob and Carol Cox, mbara.org

They crawl and hide under rocks Florida Sea Grant on the bottom of the ocean and Gulf in the warm waters of South Florida and the Keys. Fishermen catch them with their hands and in wood or plastic traps.

MyFWC Media

Let’s stay in Loading lobster SPINY Monroe County to learn traps about spiny lobster. LOBSTER Live in the Caribbean Sea, You can only catch them when the Atlantic Ocean and they are large enough, during the Gulf of Mexico. certain times of the year. About six million spiny lobster are harvested every year! Spiny lobster Baby spiny lobster

They are cousins to shrimp, crabs and Spiny lobster look a little like crayfish, and are a monster! They have long referred to as “bugs.” antennae, teeth that crush prey, 10 legs and horns over their eyes. But, they are a delicious monster Monroe and people love to eat them.

a full lobster

Florida Sea Grant trap Spiny lobster hunt at night.

Female lobster carry their bright orange- colored babies on their underbellies.

MyFWC Media MyFWC MyFWC Media Commercial Prepared lobster Lobster boat tails 22 23 DefInitIOns

Antenna: A long, thin sensitive organ on the head of an insect, crab or lobster that is used to feel and touch things.

Aquatic: Living or growing in the water.

brackish: A mixture of fresh water and salt water.

Caviar: The eggs of a large fish (such as the sturgeon) that are salted and eaten as food.

Crustacean: A type of animal that has several pairs of legs and a body made up of sections that are covered in a hard outer shell. Crabs, shrimp and are crustaceans.

Extinct: A species of animals that no longer exists.

Filter: To move something, such as a gas or liquid, in order to remove something unwanted.

Iris: The colored part of an eye.

Marine: Relating to the sea or the plants and animals that live in the sea.

Native: The place or type of place where a plant or animal naturally lives.

Nutrient: A substance that plants, animals or people need to live and grow.

Overfish:To catch too many fish so that there are not enough remaining.

Pincer: A type of claw that holds objects.

Predator: An animal that lives by killing and eating lanD ho! other animals. Reptile: An animal that has cold blood, lays eggs, and has a body covered with scales or hard parts. Snakes, lizards, turtles and alligators are reptiles. We’re heading to shore because stores, tropical fish and plants who farm aquaculture products our tour is complete. But we hope at pet stores or maybe even an or make their living from our bays Shellfish:An animal (such as a crab or an oyster) that you will ask for Florida seafood alligator purse in the mall. Then, and oceans. Good bye! has a hard outer shell and lives in water. at restaurants and grocery remember the men and women

24 25 “Educate Students About Florida Agriculture” Commissioner Adam H. Putnam www.FreshFromFlorida.com (352) 846-1391 www.AgTag.org

FDACS-P-01513 Rev. 1-2017