A History and an Overview of Recent Trends in the Fisheries of Florida Bay
BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE, 44(1): 3-33, 1989
A HISTORY AND AN OVERVIEW OF RECENT TRENDS IN THE FISHERIES OF FLORIDA BAY
James T. Tilman!
ABSTRACT This paper presents a historical review and description of the fisheries of the Florida Bay. Documented interest in the fishery resources of Florida Bay dates from the earliest accounts of human activity. However, prior to the 1940's, fishing activities were largely subsistence oriented, providing only supplemental family income. The first large-scale directed fishery was for striped mullet which provided the primary economic support ofthe historic Flamingo fishing village in the 1920's. Increased development of south Florida, improved transpor- tation, and population growth all led to increased sport fishing activities during the 1940's and 1950's, which increased the development of the commercial silver mullet and live shrimp bait fisheries. By the early 1970's, there were an estimated 25,000 recreational fishing trips a year to Florida Bay. Commercial activities reached a peak between 1977 and 1978 when over 350 individuals held permits to guide or fish commercially using nets, hook-and-Iine, or traps. Concern for the conservation of Florida Bay's marine resources quickly.followed the explosion of commercial and recreational use occurring in the late 1940's. Florida Bay was added to Everglades National Park in 1950 and, in 1951, the first special government regulations were established to control the methods, species, and locations of fish harvest, although no systematic effort was made to collect accurate catch and harvest statistics until 1958. The National Park Service (NPS) monitoring program has provided detailed data on the fishing effort and harvest of both commercial and recreational fisheries up to the present time. Five species (gray snapper, spotted seatrout, red drum, sheepshead and black drum) have comprised over 86% of the sportfish harvest since 1958. The total recreational fish harvest from Florida Bay by guided and non-guided parties has ranged between 700,000 and 800,000 fish per year since 1984. Species most frequently sought by guide fishermen include tarpon, bonefish, snook, spotted seatrout, gray snapper, red drum, and Spanish mackerel.
The history of fishing in Florida Bay and around the Florida Keys can be traced back to the earliest recorded accounts of human activity. Caloosa Indians lived off the bay as evidenced by their oyster shell middens and archeological remains on many of the Keys (Simpson, 1920; Brookfield and Griswald, 1949). Lower Matecumbe Indians are reported to have grown fish and exported them to Ha- vanna and early Spanish explorers sailed back to Europe with reports of fabulous catches of fish from the Florida Keys (White and Smiley, 1959) Schroder (1924) was the first to fully document the extent and nature of the fisheries in the Florida Keys, although Henshall (1891) reported that practically no fisheries existed along the mainland between Biscayne Bay on the east coast and Charlotte Harbor on the west coast during the spring of 1889. Browne (1912), in his account of the history of Key West, also described a sponge fishing industry along the western edge of Florida Bay and the shallow water banks of the Keys that had an annual harvest worth over $750,000 and employed about 140 boats and over 100 men. Commercially important fishes from Florida Bay in Schroder's report were white mullet (Mugil curema), striped mullet (M. cephalus), Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus maculatus), crevalle jack (Caranx hippos), pompano (Trachinotus spp.), snook (Centropomus undecimalis), grouper (Mycteroperca spp.), gray snapper (Lutjanus griseus), sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus), red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), black drum (Pagonias cromis), and spotted seatrout
3 4 BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE, VOL. 44, NO. I, 1989
(Cynoscion nebulosus). Schroder (1924) also mentioned tarpon (Megalops atlan- ticus) as an important gamefish that attracted many sportsmen to the state and which provided a large source of annual revenue to the local inhabitants. In the early 1920's, mullet (MugU spp.) was one of the principal fish in Key West markets during the late summer months (Schroder, 1924). The greater part of the catch of striped mullet (M. cephalus) was taken at or near Cape Sable with gill nets. Schroder (1924) reported that between 10 and 20 sloops and power boats operated in that vicinity and that as many as 30,000 pounds of fish were landed a day. White mullet (M. curema) was taken throughout Florida Bay and the Keys but this species was less sought and of less economic importance than striped mullet. In 1918, the total catch of striped and white mullet landed in Key West was 112,313 pounds (Schroder, 1924). Gill nets were also used on Spanish mackerel from November to March and many of the mullet fishermen shifted their efforts to mackerel during that time of year. The mackerel fishery developed after 1880, and, by the winter of 1919- 1920, over 2 million pounds were marketed through Key West (Schroder, 1924). Most ofthis catch was shipped to northern markets east of the Mississippi River. By the 1920's, shark fishing had become profitable and rendering factories were established at Key West and Big Pine Key (White and Smiley, 1959). During the 1920's, interest in the spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) also grew rapidly both for human consumption and as a sport fishing bait (Crawford and DeSmidt, 1923; Schroder, 1924). By 1927, over 800,000 pounds of lobster were being landed annually from the Keys area (Dawson and Idyll, 1951). Concern for the welfare of the lobster fishery led to state sponsored investigations of the lobster's biology as early as 1944. These studies first documented the importance of Florida Bay as a nursery area for juvenile lobster (Dawson and Idyll, 1951). Although a number of commercially important fisheries had developed in and around the Florida Keys, most fishing activity within Florida Bay was still sub- sistence-oriented and supplied only supplemental family income prior to the 1940's. The largest directed fishery within the Bay was for striped mullet which provided the basic economic support ofthe historic Flamingo fishing village near Cape Sable. Gill nets were the primary gear used to harvest mullet by these early fisheries. Cane poles were used for spotted seatrout and gray snapper, bulley nets for lobster, and dip nets for shrimp (Beard, 1952). During World War II, the demand for fish products greatly increased and large- scale commercial fishing operations were instituted in Florida Bay (Beard, 1952). The drag seine was introduced to harvest mullet but was effective on many other species as well. The increasing development of south Florida, improved trans- portation, and population growth allIed to rapidly increasing levels of sport fishing activities during the 1940's and 1950's (Ellis et aI., 1958), which stimulated the demand for bait caught by the commercial white mullet and live bait shrimp fisheries. The value of the bait shrimp fishery was reported to have jumped from under $7,000 per year in 1950 to over $21,000 during the first quarter of 1952 alone (Higman, 1952). Roller-frame trawls were introduced to harvest bait shrimp during the mid-1950's (Tabb and Kenny, 1961). Also during the 1950's, com- mercial trap fisheries for spiny lobster and stone crab developed along the outer margins of Florida Bay (Robinson and Dimitrion, 1963). Since the late 1960's, professional guiding of sport fishermen has added to the commercial fisheries in Florida Bay. Concern for the conservation of Florida Bay's marine resources quickly followed the explosion of commercial and recreational use occurring in the late 1940's. TILMANT: FISHERIES OVERVIEW FLORIDA BAY 5
Florida Bay was added to Everglades National Park in 1950, and in 1951 the first special government regulations were established to control the methods, species, and locations of fish harvest. Commercial trawling of shrimp and trapping of lobsters were prohibited within park waters at that time; but commercial fishing of mullet, spotted seatrout, and other fin-fish, as well as the trapping of stone crabs, were allowed to continue within designated areas and with designated gear. Although the NPS was committed to managing the fishery resources of the park on a "sustained yield" basis, no systematic effort was made to collect accurate catch and harvest statistics until 1958. In 1958, researchers from the University of Miami Marine Laboratory initiated the first directed survey of sport fishermen in Florida Bay. The "marine lab" survey of fishermen continued until 1967 and was the foundation of an expanded monitoring program instituted by the NPS in 1972. Documented growth in commercial fishing activities as well as declines in the stock of popular sport fish during the 1970's led the NPS to place additional restrictions on sport harvest in 1980 and to phase out all commercial fishing within the park by 1985. Since December 1985, the harvest of fishery resources within those areas of Florida Bay lying within Everglades National Park has been limited to recreational fishermen. The University of Miami and NPS fishery monitoring programs have provided detailed data on the annual fishing effort and harvest of the recreational fishery nearly continuously from 1958 to present and on commercial harvest and effort from 1972 until the closure of commercial fishing in 1985. These data provide the source of information for the following overview of recent trends in Florida Bay fisheries.
METHODS
Both the University of Miami Marine Laboratory fishermen survey and the ENP fisheries harvest monitoring program interviewed fishermen at boat launch sites upon completion of their trip. Data recorded included area fished (Fig. I), reported catch, harvest, effort, species preference, and, since 1974, fish lengths. Details of the data collection and recording format have been presented by Higman (1967), Davis and Thue (1979), and Tilmant et al. (1986). Commercial fishermen were required to obtain an annual permit from the park and report their monthly catch and effort on a per trip basis after 1972. Reporting compliance of commercial fishermen was determined from reported field ob- servations of commercial fishing activity by park patrol rangers. Daily estimates of the total number of fishing boats operating within Florida Bay and adjacent waters were obtained from ranger reports, boat trailer counts, and concessioner reports prior to 1968. To improve the accuracy of these estimates, aerial surveys were used to determine the correlation of boat trailers at the Flamingo launch ramp to the total number and distribution of boats within the park after 1972. Over 243 flights were conducted using ramdomly selected weekdays and weekends stratified by month for three sample periods (July 1972 to May 1975; October 1977 to October 1978; and October 1983 to October 1984). Highly significant linear relationships between the number of trailers at Flamingo and total boats observed in the park were obtained during each sampling period. The accuracy of the aerial observers was about 94% (152 known patrol boats on the water: 143 sighted). No significant differences were found among the regression statistics for the three survey periods and, therefore, all data were pooled to strengthen the expansion estimates (r = 0.84, N = 243). There was no significant difference in the boat count-trailer count regression between weekdays (r = 0.65, N = 133) and weekends (r = 0.70, N = 110) (P < 0.02). The resultant predictive equation for total recreational boats was: total boats = 266.48 + I.] 3 (ramp trailer count). The percentage of recreational boats actually fishing was determined from boater interviews at the Flamingo ramp. Most of the recreational fishermen catch data for Florida Bay and immediately adjacent waters (Fig. I, areas 1-5) has come from interviews conducted at the Flamingo boat ramp. Flamingo is by far the greatest single access point to Florida Bay and has been used by 50-60% of the total fishermen. During 1972-1973 and 1981-] 984, additional interviews were obtained at ramp sites along the Keys. How- ever, no significant differences were found in the catch composition or success per unit of effort of these fishermen when compared to those fishermen fishing the same areas interviewed at Flamingo. Since 1972, between 7 and 15% of the estimated total recreational fishing boats within the Florida Bay area were interviewed annually (Tab]e ]). Commercial fisheries reporting compliance varied greatly 6 BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE, VOL. 44, NO. I, 1989
US 41
uS 41
SR :?7
Gulf of Mexico
..!SEY NUMBERED ARtA$ ARE ECOlOGICAllY QlFFERENT flStIlNG "AlAS
*""SPOR1FI$HI\IG lNIERVI[W $lIfS
o , ~ ~... " ...."
Figure 1. Fishing areas in Florida Bay. Areas are (I) North Florida Bay, (2) South Florida Bay, (3) Cape Sable, (4) Whitewater Bay, (5) Shark River, and (6) Ten Thousand Islands.
among fisheries, but generally ranged from 15 to 60%. Estimates of total recreational catch and harvest of individual fish species were made quarterly during each year by applying the recorded mean catch (or harvest) of that species per successful trip to the estimated total number of fishing trips successful for that species. The estimated total number of recreational fishing trips successful for a species was determined by applying the proportion of recreational boats, contacted by interviewers, that was successful for the species to the estimated total recreational boats determined by the ramp boat-trailer count. A similar approach was used for estimating total commercial harvest. Total successful com- mercial trips were estimated by dividing the total reported trips by the percent of ranger observed trips that were reported under the assumption that trips reported were representative of those not reported. Because of annual and seasonal variation in reporting compliance and recreational interview effort, percent composition of the harvest was calculated from estimated totals for individual species.
RESULTS When the first accurate data on recreational fishing activity were collected in 1958, an estimated 9,000 fishing trips per year were being made to Florida Bay (Table 1). By the early 1970's, the number of recreational trips had increased to 25,000 per year. In addition to the recreational activity, 42 commercial guides, 25 commercial hook-and-line fishermen, 69 net fishermen, and 30 trap fishermen held permits and were fishing within Florida Bay by 1972 (Table 2). Commercial activity increased annually and reached a peak in 1978 when over 196 commercial fishermen fished in Florida Bay. Recreational fishing activity declined during the 1970's, possibly due to gas shortages and/or reduced population levels of gamefish (Tilmant et al., 1986), but increased dramatically from 1980 to 1986 (Table 1). TILMANT: FISHERIES OVERVIEW FLORIDA BAY 7
Table I. Number of recreational fishing boats interviewed annually within the Florida Bay area and percent of the estimated total number of fishing boats these interviews represented
Total fishing boats Fishing boats interviewed Fishing boats interviewed Calendar year (estimate) (No.) ('Ii>orlOlal) 1958 637 1959 9,000 1,040 11.6 1960 9,980 1,015 10.2 1961 14,300 956 6.7 1962 17,830 1963 18,740 1964 21,670 1,470 6.8 1965 22,110 2,259 10.2 1966 19,537 1,583 8.1 1967 19,000 602 3.2 1968 20,670
1972 1,209 1973 24,507 4,103 16.7 1974 22,640 4,940 21.8 1975 22,401 4,768 21.3 1976 21,358 3,850 18.0 1977 20,255 4,007 19.8 1978 19,145 3,872 20.2 1979 16,371 2,311 14.1 1980 16,511 3,154 19.1 1981 17,171 4,240 24.7 1982 17,982 3,891 21.6 1983 19,594 4,749 24.2 1984 22,450 6,781 30.2 1985 23,901 5,583 23.4 1986 26,522 6,933 26.1
Commercial fishermen first began obtaining fishing permits from the Park Su- perintendent in 1966. However, the permit did not become mandatory and in- formation on catches was not reported until 1972. The proportion of fishermen voluntarily obtaining permits prior to 1972 may have been close to 100% as little immediate change was noted in the annual number of permits issued once per- mitting became mandatory. During the late 1960's, the number of permits was fairly equally divided among three fisheries; net, hook-and-line, and guides (25 to 30% each). A fourth fishery, crab trapping, received approximately 20% of permits. By the late 1970's, the number of commercial permits being issued increased for all fisheries, but not equally. Net fishermen held approximately 40% of the permits, guides about 25%, hook-and-line fishermen approximately 20%, and trap fishermen about 16%. After the intended phase-out of all commercial fishing (except for recreational guiding) was announced in 1979, the number of net, commercial hook-and-line, and trap fishermen in the park decreased. In 1984, only 29% of the commercial permits issued were for netting fish, 12% were for hook-and-line, and 14% were for crab trapping. Commercial H ook-and- Line Fishery. - The number of commercial hook-and-line fishermen working in Florida Bay and adjacent waters (areas 1-5) increased from 25 in 1973 to 32 in 1977, but then declined. The decline in this fishery was largely due to the revised park fishing regulations promulgated in 1980 (36 CRF 7.45). These regulations established a 10 fish/species, 20 fish total bag limit for all hook- and-line harvest from park waters and applied to commercial as well as recre- ational catches. 8 BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE, VOL. 44, NO. I, 1989
Table 2. Number and typesofpermitsissuedby EvergladesNationalPark tocommercial fishermen working within FloridaBay and immediately adjacentwaters (m = number of totalthatreported fishingformullet;p = number oftotalthatreportedfishingforpompano)
Year Net Gear Trap H&L Guide Total permits 1966 90 39 40 56 225 1967 128 47 39 52 266 1968 88 46 33 49 216 1969 68 37 32 49 186 1970 104 42 33 49 228 1971 84 26 28 47 185 1972 69 56m 31 41 47 188 51p 1973 110 104m 35 30 44 219 93p 1974 105 101m 48 37 45 235 75p 1975 III 106m 47 18 47 223 SSp 1976 103 102m 67 29 39 238 2p 1977 181 180m 55 54 71 361 Ip 1978 192 190m 57 41 73 363 6p 1979 139 136m 46 90 70 345 8p 1980 107 92m 32 23 70 232 90p 1981 100 86m 33 19 76 228 82p 1982 96 86m 31 17 41 185 83p 1983 91 84m 30 21 96 238 80p 1984 88 82m 79 13 102 282 77p 1985 78 65m 22 II 17 228 7p Average 106 40 32 62 240
The primary gear of the commercial hook-and-line fishermen was the cane pole with tandem hooks and no sinker, baited with live clupeids, shrimp, or artificial lures (Donaldson, 1984). These fishermen fished up to four poles and usually fished alone. Spotted seatrout was the primary target species and comprised 97% of the estimated total harvest. Other commercially valuable species included in hook-and-line reports were gray snapper (1.5% of total harvest) and red drum (0.3%). The estimated commercial harvest of red drum and gray snapper increased slightly after 1980, suggesting that these species were targeted as the "other species" to round out the 20 fish aggregate bag when this limit was imposed in 1980. Annual estimated effort in the commercial hook-and-line fishery within Florida Bay averaged 504 trips for 4,598 man-hours of fishing (Table 3). Effort was highest in 1972 (1,550 trips and 14,988 man-hours), but then declined drastically to only T1LMANT: FISHERIES OVERVIEW FLORIDA BAY 9
219 trips (2,261 man-hours) by 1975. After this decline, the highest effort years were 1979 at 414 trips and 1984 at 704 trips. Estimated harvest in the commercial hook-and-1ine fishery from Florida Bay exceeded 42,000 fish per year for the first 3 years monitored, but dropped to only 8,400 fish in 1975 (Table 4). Peak harvest in the fishery was in 1972 (100,380 fish) with a lesser peak in 1979 (19,160). Less than 2% of all commercial hook- and-line trips reported from Florida Bay were unsuccessful. The greatest estimates of unsuccessful trips occurred in 1974,1978-1980, and 1983, when as many as 7% of the trips were unsuccessful. The reported harvest rate of commercial hook-and-line fishermen (Table 5) in Florida Bay was highest in 1972 at an average 64.0 fish per trip (6.7 fish' man- hour effort-I). Prior to 1980, the lowest average harvest rate was 38.2 fish per trip I (4.4 fish·man-hour- ). After 1980, the average harvest was less than 17 fish per trip (2.4 fish·man-houe'). Catch rates (harvested plus released fish) also showed marked decreases immediately after the bag limits were instituted, but then in- creased in 1984 and 1985. The bag limit regulation should not have affected the rate of catch unless fishing strategy was changed to harvest one or more additional species. No records of released fish were kept prior to 1979 and therefore catch rates are unknown prior to that year. Net Fishery. - NPS regulations in effect after 1951 dictated areas and type of net gear that could be used within Everglades NP. Under park regulations, the upper bays and estuaries of Florida Bay (e.g., Maderia, Little Maderia, and Joe Bay) were closed to netting. "Run-around" gill nets could be no more than 1,200 yards long with a 1.5-in stretch mesh. Trammel nets could not exceed 1,200 yards with outside mesh of not less than 12 in and an inside mesh (gill net) of not less than 3.25 in (stretched). Trammel nets could not be set closer than 200 yards apart. Most net fishermen held permits for other activities such as commercial hook- and-line fishing or crab trapping. The number of fishermen holding permits to net fish within the park declined from a high of 192 in 1978 to a low of 78 in 1985. The target species of the net fishery varied with the type of gear used and the location of fishing grounds. The gill net fishery harvested both white mullet (M. curema) and striped mullet (M. cephalus). The white mullet fishery was concen- trated in Florida Bay while striped mullet were harvested from eastern Florida Bay northward to the Ten Thousand Islands. The trammel net fishermen fished almost exclusively for Florida pompano (Trachinotus carolinus) and, during more recent years, Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus maculatus) in deeper waters along the western boundary of the park. Target species also differed by season. Fishermen concentrated their efforts for striped mullet during the spawning runs in late December and early January in order to obtain roe mullet. Pompano, Spanish mackerel, and white mullet were netted primarily during winter (January-March). Annual estimated harvest by net fishermen from Florida Bay and adjacent waters (areas 1-5) averaged 1.24 million fish (Table 4). The largest harvest for the period of record was in 1975 (2.07 million fish), followed by 1972 (1.87 million fish) and 1978 (1.67 million fish). The lowest annual harvest occurred in 1981 (593,000 fish). Estimated harvest by species is shown in Table 4. An estimated average 3,370 net-sets per year were made by fishermen within Florida Bay and immediately adjacent areas between 1972 and 1985 (Table 3). The vast majority of this effort was for white mullet, although, during 1978, a nearly equal number of sets were made for striped mullet, pompano, and white mullet, and in 1979 the estimated number of net-sets for pompano (mostly around 10 BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE, VOL. 44, NO. I, 1989
o OO-V("l"')~ ",-ar-O\ 0\'<1'0\'" ...... "t'f ",,"
-a 00 N -aNOO-aN -O.q-l.r) OOO'
-a 00 ON-aOON -a"'N-.6'" oor-r-""':; ... ' o ~ N\C-O\N NNOO-.6 '" -oor-\O- OOOOO-a N' o o o ' o V) -a--OON lJ') tf') N \0 N-OOON '<1''<1''''''' "''<1'00 an \C t""') l/") r-N 0 Oll"'lO'\l./") NOO N '<1'. or\ """"00'" 00 , N "''''N o 0\ V'l-O\ON f"'---ooV) ('I")V)r-tn-: NO N r-",O 0.'" "'!. -"'- q-NV"'''''''0... N N or\ 0\. "'' O\OOO\N OOrt'>-ar') '" -a-a N •...• OO"'N o ... -' a, -.....'5 '"•...:l'"•... :l 0 ..c::,O..c:: (3,c:a '5 E E , , oil zz<00> TILMANT: FISHERIES OVERVIEW FLORIDA BAY 11 -c t""l N-N...o r- on '" r- ~ N voo~ oil > -0- ~ r- ..: 00"'(".1" N'M 0-, v t""l 00~ 00 *r-vt""l-c* ~ f""I-r---: on r-oov '" 00~ 00 '" 0-,- ov N....,;- v' ..; ~r- N -c t""l r- ("1")0-,-00 00-00 "'-c'" ooo~ -c-c- "'v 00 - ...... 0 N-M " vt""l ~- '" 0-, v 00000..0 \O-~ .., "'t""lN vN~ 00 - 00- -c 0 ..0..0 N-V' v r-"'0~ t""l -c -o-.voO -van vv'"Voo~ -co- N '" r- OO f""I"-" N"-" r-V - v v -c \ONoooO -q-oo\.Ci .••.t""l~ .,.; "'''''''r-r-_ 0-, r- OO ON- N-eO a- 00 v ~ r-,N .r:>" E ()" CI" ~ <:: r- ..'" 00 N lr) r--- 0000r- c o-,Nv •••. 0-, - 0 ~ 00 r- ~- 0000 0-," ..,...,'" N' a:: '"0; o~ v 00~ 'E "E E 8 9 'll 0. ~ "C 0. '0 •.. "C ~ .., :!l'"g~ ••..•.•.. 0..'" ::s -OvO O\\Otnl/") Ov •....v ",)fI"'I•.._ •..~ O\N\O N v. -"d"l£')~ •....00 V-'\O- tnf'Q- - 00 O"'vM 0 •....•....0\ '" •.... -000\"'" rr) 0\"' f''' Or. .. > M' ('f~ .( ..c v' c£ \0(".1-- -"'- \0. - M.. v •....0\ M •....0 OOtrlt'--O\ OOOOVV 00 •.....~-oo •....\000 •.... '" on OON - ~- 0:: 0\' v' "" v' 00 v' 0•....· 0\0"1"","- 0\ M •.... o'" N, M.. - 0\00"'0\ \0- 00 0 M NooN- -(".10\0\ \0 N 00 '" MO\O'" OO-r--- 0\ N '" •.... ("f')-OOO\ A ("f"}"l.I"'I"-"-" r- ar)'NN -" v' ..c 0 '" MM- N •....N- N v, - N 0\ -\OV)~ 0\0 r--- 0'\ 00 00 000 MV"'O\ •....N NOO\OO •.... - •.... 00 - -.N O-r..-OO OON ON' 00 "':'O"M-"' 00' NV NNN -M -0\ N' 0\0'\-0 f'-v- v \000 \00-\0 •.... - "'v 0\00 c£N' '"00 OV'V'N' OOV MOOM M.. - O. NO\OO\ v-OON 0 •.... -M 0\ O\MO\\O •.... - O\VI v 00 M '" vv ,,'" 00'" 0:: c£ \0' 0:: o •••.. •....VI •....•.... VI - OOvOO•.... -NN""," VI - •....0 - "'0\0\0 - •.... VI 00 - -..,... - 00 000 •.. 0\ V' ,..) o .,.)('f"'l'" -"-" 00 ~_ 0:: 0\ M \ONV \0 N -\0 N' TILMANT: FISHERIES OVERVIEW FLORIDA BAY 13 Table 5. Summary of annual mean harvest-per-unit-etfort statistics for commercial and recreational fisheries occurring within Florida Bay and immediately adjacent waters between 1972 and 1985 Commercial Net fishery Recreational line Trap "II spp. Striped mullet White mullet Pompano Stone crab Non-guided Guided Year fish/trip fish/net set fish/net set fish/net set Ib/trap-night fish/man h fish/man h 1972 64.0 214 1,030 N/D 0.24 N/D \.46 1973 4\.0 259 868 N/D 0.22 0.80 \.25 1974 49.6 368 283 N/D 0.12 0.76 1.40 1975 56.7 \37 1,012 21 0.15 0.67 1.16 1976 52.8 N/D 424 120 0.15 0.71 1.82 1977 4\.4 169 330 46 0.09 0.75 1.77 1978 39.2 281 550 8 0.14 0.80 \.65 1979 38.2 202 1,486 21 0.12 0.86 \.55 1980 23.4 624 808 52 0.11 0.78 1.41 1981 21.3 687 558 37 0.10 0.69 1.33 1982 17.0 233 1,031 37 0.07 0.75 1.41 1983 16.9 381 939 59 0.10 0.81 \.47 1984 13.7 496 647 48 0.07 0.86 1.35 1985 15.2 580 564 67 N/D 0.71 1.06 1986 0.66 0.92 Cape Sable) exceeded that for white and striped mullet. Mullet and pompano fishermen look for schools of fish and only set their nets once a school has been located. During most years, less than 1% of the reported trips were unsuccessful in locating fish and making at least one set. The highest percentage of unsuccessful trips was in 1975 (4.65%) when 150 unsuccessful trips were made in the second and third quarters. The majority of this unsuccessful effort occurred in northern Florida Bay. The average hours fished per trip was 7.5 h during which time 2-3 sets were made. The 1980 regulations prevented new fishermen from entering the net fishery by placing a moratorium on permit issuance and abolishing commercial fishing in park waters after 1985. Effects of these regulations on the net fishery were profound with average annual harvest and effort reduced by 50% from 1980 to 1985 (Tables 3, 4). However, the percentage of unsuccessful net sets was reduced by 50%, suggesting that either only the more successful net fishermen remained or that remaining fishermen were able to attain a greater efficiency with reduced fishing competition. Average harvest-per-set and average set-per-trip increased for both striped mullet and pompano from 1980 to 1985, but did not increase significantly for white mullet (Table 5). The incidental catch of non-target (but marketable) species in the net fishery ~las comprised only 2% of the total fish reported landed by this fishery. Thirty- nine species (comprising 23 families) have been included in net fishermen reports. The average annual net harvest and harvest rates for the four commonly netted sportfish species for the period 1972-1985 were as follows: gray snapper, 670 fish (0.17 fish/set); spotted seatrout, 1,320 fish (0.37 fish/set); red drum, 93 fish (0.02 fish/set); and sheepshead, 94 fish (0.02 fish/set). The most commonly caught incidental species was crevalle jack with an average annual harvest of 2,862 fish averaging 0.76 fish/set. There was a strong correlation between the total harvest of incidental species and harvest of striped mullet (r = 0.75, P < 0.005). This correlation did not exist with white mullet harvest (r = 0.33, 0.5 < P < 0.25), suggesting that most incidental harvest was taken with the striped mullet fishery. 14 BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE, VOL. 44, NO. I, 1989 Trap Fishery. - The trap fishery within Florida Bay has targeted the stone crab (Menippe mercenaria) and, to a lesser extent, the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus). Prior to the establishment of Everglades National Park, a variety of traps, cans, and other devices were used in Florida Bay in attempts to capture spiny lobster, P. argus (Smith, 1948; Dawson and Idyll, 1951). However, because of concern for spiny lobster resources, the commercial harvest ofthis species was prohibited within the park by NPS regulations established in 1951. Recreational harvest by hand or bully net was permitted in accordance with state laws until the 1980 NPS fishery regulations were imposed. The stone crab fishery was seasonally regulated by the state of Florida with legal harvest limited to October 15 through May 15. In addition, NPS regulations restricted trapping to the outer areas ofthe bay (Fig. 1). The number of fishermen holding permits to trap stone crabs within the park reached a peak during 1976-1978 and then declined (Table 2). However, the annual total trap-nights of effort did not decline steadily with number of permit holders (Table 3) due to an annual increase in average number of traps reported pulled per fishing trip. The average number of nights traps were fished before pulling (soak time) also increased from 1972 to 1985 (Table 3), possibly indicating larger boats operating in the fishery which would pull out and service more traps, but did so on a less frequent basis. Effort in estimated total number of traps pulled fluctuated dramatically before 1977 but ranged between 100,000 and 210,000 traps from 1977 to 1985 (Table 3). The increased effort during the peak years resulted from more trips reported by a greater number of individual fishermen. Neither the average number of traps pulled per trip nor the average soak-time per trap showed any clear correlation with peaks in effort. The bulk of the trap fishing effort within the park occurred in Florida Bay and to a lesser extent off Cape Sable. From 1978 to 1985, most of the effort was concentrated in southern Florida Bay, which consistently ranked as the most productive area, supplying 64% of the total crabs harvested. Sixty-six percent of the traps reported pulled annually were from the southern bay area. The waters off Cape Sable averaged 14% of traps pulled and 19% of the harvest. From 1977 to the 1984-1985 season, the estimated annual stone crab harvest from park waters averaged 82,100 Ib of claws (Table 4). During the peak years of1973-1974 and 1976-1977, estimated total harvest was 246,630 Ib and 226,590 1b, respectively. The lowest estimated harvest occurred in the 1974-1975 and 1975-1976 fishing seasons when less than 30,000 Ib were caught annually. More crabs were harvested at the beginning of the season (fourth calendar quarter) than during later periods. Higher early season harvest resulted from a slight decline in catch rate as the season progressed, but perhaps more importantly, a consistent decline in the number of traps reported fished. The soak time per trap also usually increased during the season, possibly reflecting less profitable trips from generally lower harvest. Catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) data on stone crabs for the period of record re- vealed an overall declining trend (Table 5). The largest decline in the annual mean CPUE was noted between 1973 and 1974 with other severe drops from 1976 to 1977 and 1981 to 1982. After each of these poor catch years, however, catch rates increased the following year before continuing to decline. A quarterly analysis of catch rate data revealed that lower averages generally occurred in the early and late months of the season during every successive year from 1972 until 1982. The commercial blue crab fishery was a relatively recent development in Florida Bay. Catches for this species were only reported from 1981 to 1985. Annual estimated harvest averaged 3,496 lb (Table 4). The reported catch and effort of TILMANT: FISHERIES OVERVIEW FLORIDA BAY 15 40 35 30 ." ~ II 25 .aII 0 .c II Ii: 20 '6 •...'0 15 Q ~ 10 5 0 GS Sf CF CJ RD SH SM GR LF BD SK TP Species Figure 2. Percent harvest by species in recreational fishery at Flamingo (areas 1-5), ENP, 1959-1984. GS = Gray Snapper, ST = Spotted Seatrout, CF = Sea Catfish, CJ = Crevalle Jack, RD = Red Drum, SH = Sheepshead, SM = Spanish Mackerel, GR = Grouper spp., LF = Ladyfish, BD = Black Drum, SK = Snook, and TP = Tarpon. blue crab closely tracked the stone crab season and largely represented a by-catch component of the stone crab fishery. The largest estimated blue crab harvest was landed in the 1983-1984 season with 9,926 lb. Harvest for the fourth quarter of 1984, the beginning of the 1984-1985 season, was the highest quarterly harvest on record. Recreational Fishery. -Sport fishermen harvested over 75 species offish, but only five species (gray snapper, spotted seatrout, red drum, sheepshead and black drum) comprise over 86% of the harvest (Fig. 2). Estimated total non-guided recreational effort declined from 25,000 trips per year in 1973 to only 16,000 trips per yer by 1978 (Table 1). After 1980, the recreational effort grew annually and, during 1986, exceeded an estimated 26,000 trips per year in Florida Bay. The number of commercial guide fishermen working Florida Bay also increased after the late 1970's and, in 1985, made an estimated 4,000 trips (Table 3). The total recre- ational fish harvest from Florida Bay by guided and non-guided parties ranged between 253,000 and 291,000 fish per year after 1984. Species most frequently sought by guide fishermen include tarpon, bonefish, snook, spotted seatrout, gray snapper, red drum, and Spanish mackerel. The estimated annual total harvest of each major species is shown in Table 6. Recreational fishermen fishing Florida Bay are largely local residents. Over 89% of the fishermen interviewed reported that they lived in south Florida, 7% indi- cated they were Florida residents but not local, and only 4% lived out of state. The proportion of boaters coming from various localities has remained relatively constant since 1972. There was no consistent season of highest fishing effort by recreational fisher- men. The fewest trips, however, were always made between July and September (Fig. 3a). The first, second, and fourth calendar quarters each averaged 26% of the total annual estimated effort with the third quarter averaging 22%. Low third- 16 BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE, VOL. 44, NO. I. 1989 r-O •.... ~ 0-00 00 r- N- VN 0 N V N O •.•.• ~ 00 •.•.•0- "'0 N- •.... 0 00 V VN •.•.•N VV'" '" Or- •.... '" r- 0'" '" '" ~ 00 '" g: 0\'''';- 0-.-. O..c (".,i'r"""'l" oON .,; N N a- NN 00 - N - .>0: .. OV •.... 00 0- Vr- r- ~ r- V 00 vO 00 ~ -0 - 0- o:l •.•.•V - •.... "'~ •.... •.... •.... ~-'" V- V~ N- N 00 o-v VOO 00~ '" •.•.•0- •.... ~'" iJ.. V~ 00 N r- - ON ~N V 0- 0 00'" '"00 NO- ~ 0- 00 ~ '" •.... "';-00 V· ..c f""'i'~'" 0\ ...... " r----"-'" or\' N· ~ ...;-r-. r---"r"""'l" •.•.•·N· 00·V· ~ •.... N r- •.•.• 'ac:: a- 0-- .g '" - o:l Z '".., 0- 0- N'" Vr- V'" r- ~ ~ N •.•.•0-0 "'V •.... '" Nr- -~00N VN •.•.•r- '"•.... '"V 00 0- ~ 00 ~ ~ •.... NV '0 N'"•.•.•N '" 00 •.... '"oo ~'"r- •.•.• o:l •... N 00 Or- o-r- •.... '" 0- 00 ~ V r- "'~ V. r-. V- •... vi'~ 0-.." ~ 0\'-" r-. '"r-. •..... N· ~ v· .,; 'fll ~~ Nor\' r- '" .., ~ v- ~V V ~-"N- ~> S 0- 00- <1"0- N r- OO •.•.•N 00 r- NO -r- 0 0'" '" •.... - 0- N~ 0000 0- "'0 '"r- OO ~ -N 0- - ~ 0- ~<1" .•. -~ r- N N co '0 r- V N co - V '"N N- '" co co, r-,r- 00 0- N CO '"00 00 ",' ~ - "!- ON 0- 0 0- VN '" '"V r- V 00'" '0 CO '"0-00'" '" V N q 00'" V)"'~ ",' N' ~ "!- V)N'Il:t-OO o \O-t-\Ot'- 00 o " \.0 00 r- ("f") V '" N'N' N' 000 voo r- 00 o N .., O'It'----O 0- o 00 VN N'" N r- - '" r-: -"' ",' '" r-'OV'Or- ..,..\0 \C) \C) \0 N 00 COO '" ""N' MON"I::too r- 00 V') 0\ q-.- . N r- 00 VV Nv o V '" ",'N' N' ["'--lI") ("0..1- N o o 00 0 a-. '" '" 00 00 f'f") ("f'j f'I"'l r--- V '" r-'N' .'"0 .'"0 .'"0 .'"0 .'"0'" .'"0'" .'"0'" U'-'" U'-'" U'-'" U'-'" U'- U'- U'- ll) ;:l ll) ;:l ~O'" ;:l ~O'" ;:l ~O'" ;:l ~O ~O'" ;:l ~O'" ;:l ~O '"0 ll) ;:l .S ~ ~ ll) i5 t" ~ 0 1l U ci. ..><: U CI E 0. ..c } '"E .~ 2 •...'" u:: ..c >0 '"0 ..c ll) ~ '" ~" ~ 0. cu Cii u::'" ii: ~ 0 '2'" ;:l > U ;>. :c'" U 0 0 '"0 oj l':: 0. •... l:: f-o EQ'" en en'" 0 U en'"'" j 18 BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE, VOL. 44, NO. I, 1989 •• A 7 - •• - Ie - ~'.i •• l!; Ii ... ~l:::l 3 :z 2 0 73 74 7•• 7& 77 7•• 7" "0 .., ••2 ••3 .... •••• •••• YEAR B "0 ••0 70 "0 ~'.i ••0 g! ••0 30 20 '0 0 73 7.•. 7" 7" 77 7•• 7" ••0 .., "2 ••3 ..... •••• •••• YEAR ~ 1ST QUARTER ~ 2ND QUARTER 3RC QUARTER .••.TH QUARTEr. Figure 3. Seasonal effort (a) and harvest (b) by recreational fishermen in Flamingo, areas 1-5, 1973- 1986. quarter fishing effort can be attributed to unpleasant conditions (heat, thunder- storms, and mosquitoes) in the backcountry and ramp areas. Although the least effort occurred during the third quarter, total harvest was frequently higher during this quarter than others (Fig. 3b). Most guide fishing activity within the park occurred during the first and second calendar quarters (January-June) with least activity during the third quarter (July- September). Approximately 67% of the guide trips within Florida Bay were re- ported during the period January-June. In addition to trips, the average number of anglers per guided trip was also highest during the first and second quarters. Data were available on the percent of parties successfully catching fish for six of the years between 1958 and 1967 and for every year since 1972. During the earlier period, between 11 and 16% of the parties were unsuccessful catching any fish. Since October 1972, unsuccessful anglers have varied only between 4.6 and 7.4% of those interviewed (Fig. 4). The highest percentages of unsuccessful parties (during the latter record) occurred in the mid to late 1970's when reported catches of nearly all major species declined. From 1980 to 1985, the proportion of parties failing to catch a fish consistently declined. Many guided fishing trips are for specialized gamefish species such as tarpon and bonefish which are not harvested. Few, if any guide trips seeking other species are unsuccessful at catching. The overall percentage of annual guide trips for which T1LMANT: FISHERIES OVERVIEW FLORIDA BAY 19 9 e 7 6 ~ " 5 ~m" ~" 4 3 2 o Yeor Figure 4. Percent of recreational fishermen interviewed who caught no fish. no fish were harvested averaged 18%. The highest percentage of no-harvest trips occurred in 1982 (38%). Only seven no-harvest trips were reported from 1972 to 1975, but after 1978, over 30% of the trips did not harvest fish. The percent of trips not harvesting increased to a 1982 peak and then declined to 30% in 1985. The average number of fish harvested per successful man-hour of non-guided fishing effort (Table 5) has remained relatively constant even though the numbers of individual species comprising the total catch has varied (range 0.66-0.86 fish' I man-hour- ). The average number of fish harvested per man-hour by successful guide fishing parties increased sharply in 1976 from 1.16 to 1.82 but then declined to only 0.92 by 1986 (Table 5). Although the harvest per guided man-hour effort decreased after 1976, a greater proporion of fish caught were released. Reported catch rates of guides increased from 1.31 fish 'man-hour-I to 2.51 fish ·man-houel between 1979 and 1985 while the percentage of fish released by guides increased from 12.5 to 36.7%. DISCUSSION It is obvious from early historic accounts and recent fishery investigations that Florida Bay's fisheries resources have long been and continue to be of economic and recreational importance. As the human population has grown in this region, so has the consumption of fishery resources. The mullet fishery grew from an annual harvest of around 112,500 Ib in 1918 to an annual harvest of over 2.3 million Ib during much of the 1970's. The commercial harvest of spotted seatrout grew from only small numbers landed with mullet in 1918 (Schroder, 1924) to an annual hook-and-line harvest of over 40,000 fish in the early 1970's. The stone crab fishery grew from one of 8,000-10,000 crabs per year in Key West markets at the tum of the century to an average 95,000 Ib of claws during the 1970's and 1980's. Perhaps the greatest growth, however, has come in the recreational fisheries with over 260,000 fish landed annually from Florida Bay during the most recent years (1984-1986). 20 BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE, VOL. 44, NO. I, 1989 A recent economic study of the fisheries in Florida Bay placed the total direct and indirect economic value of the non-guided recreational fisheries at over $7 million per year and the guided fishery at between $1.1 and $1.2 million per year (Centaur Associates, 1986). Prior to closure in 1985, the direct and indirect eco- nomic value of the commercial fisheries were estimated by Centaur (1986) to be between $1.6 and $2.2 million per year. The economic value of the recreational fisheries grew from 1972 to 1985 despite the fact that the number of non-guided recreational fishing parties declined from 1972 to 1979. The rate of this growth accelerated with increasing numbers of fishing trips from 1979 to 1985. The closure of Florida Bay to commercial fishing in 1985 reduced the annual biomass of fish removed from Florida Bay and adjacent waters from 1.32 million Ib in 1985 to 380,500 Ib in 1986. A major portion of this reduction was due to the lack of mullet netting but the harvest of sportfish species also declined nearly 100,000 lb. However, a steady annual increase of about 7% in the number of recreational fishing trips within the park since 1979 suggests that the total biomass harvested each year can be expected to again increase. Assuming an average weight per recreationally harvested species of 1.51b (based on a proportional calculation of measured mean weight for each of the major species), the fish and crab biomass removed from Florida Bay by all fisheries combined between 1972 and 1985 ranged from 0.86 to 2.44 million Ib and averaged 1.56 million Ib per year, which represents approximately 4.04 Ib per acre of habitat per year. In a multi-species fishery, it is difficult to determine maximum possible harvest in total biomass or numbers of fish as impacts will vary with species. However, the annual total non-guided recreational harvest of all species combined from 1972 to 1985 was remarkably correlated to the total annual effort expended (r = 0.936), even though the species composition of the harvest varied annually (Table 6). The consistent linear increase in harvest through the highest levels of effort expended to date indicates that the maximum potential harvest of the recreational fishery has not been reached. A significant relationship was not found between the more selective professionally guided effort and the annual harvest. The harvest-effort correlation in the recreational fishery suggests that either fishermen direct their effort toward another species when a previously preferred species drops in catch rate or that the species populations are somewhat com- pensatory; as one becomes more abundant, the other declines. Comparisons among the five species comprising over 86% of the total harvest revealed significant inverse correlations between the estimated total annual harvest of gray snapper and that of spotted seatrout (r = 0.894, P < 0.01), red drum (r = 0.790, P < 0.01), and black drum (r = 0.543, P < 0.05). There was a significant positive correlation between black drum and red drum harvest (r = 0.702, P < 0.1). Although the annual total harvest was inversely correlated, the harvest rate of gray snapper and those of spotted seatrout, red drum, and black drum were not correlated, indicating that compensatory population changes were not a likely cause of the harvest relationships observed. The overall decline in recreational harvest of gamefish from Florida Bay during the 1970's was only partially due to a decline in fishing effort. Harvest rates of most species comprising the fishery also declined during that period, suggesting declines within their populations. Gray snapper was an exception to the general trend. Subsequent increases in harvest rates since 1980, while effort has also increased, imply that the population changes occurring are reflective oflong-term population cyclic trends or, possibly, annual climatic and environmental condi- tions rather than responses to fishing activity. Since age classes comprising the major portion of the fishery vary greatly among species, environmental relation- T1LMANT: FISHERIES OVERVIEW FLORIDA BAY 21 ships and long-term population trends can only be accurately expressed on a species by species basis. No significant relationship was discernible between har- vest rate of all species combined and environmental variables such as rainfall. However, among individual species such relationships were, in some cases, sig- nificant (Tilmant et aI., 1989; Rutherford et aI., 1989). Within the following papers of this section, studies addressing population and habitat characteristics of individual species are presented. Those papers dealing with gamefish further explore catch rate trends, mortality rates, environmental relationships and long-term cyclic trends in those species' abundance. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Numerous persons were involved in the collection of data presented. Between 1958 and 1968, J. B. Higman, Institute of Marine Science, University of Miami, was largely responsible for the collection program and provided many early analyses. Most fishermen interviews were conducted by E. B. Thue and C. L. Spadero, NPS/ENP Research Center from 1972 to 1978. G. E. Davis, NPS/ENP Research Center, revised the fisheries monitoring program, instituted a formal commercial fishermen reporting system, and provided several analyses of the data from 1972 to 1978. Since 1978, most of the sport fishing interviews from Florida Bay have been provided by J. Heath. I thank D. Buker for his computer programming contributions and E. S. Rutherford for invaluable assistance, practical advice, and critical review of the manuscript. C. Doffermyre typed and edited the manuscript. LITERATURE CITED Beard, D. B. 1952. Return of the gill net to Florida Bay. Nat. Pks. Magz. Vol 26: 110-111, 130- 133. Brookfield, C. M. and O. Griswald. 1949. They all called it tropical. The Data Press, Coconut Grove, Miami, Florida. 77 pp. Browne, J. B. 1912. Key West, the old and the new. Bicentennial Floridiana Facsimile Series, 1973, Univ. Fla. Press, Gainesville, Florida. 16 pp. Centaur. 1986. Socio-economic analysis of commercial and recreational fisheries in Everglades National Park. Final Rpt. to USDIINPS Everglades NP. Centaur Associates Inc., 1400 1St., N.W. #700, Washington, D.C. 20005. 146 pp. Crawford, D. R. and w. J. J. De Smidt. 1923. The spiny lobster, Panu/irus argus, of southern Florida: its natural history and utilization. Bull. U.S. Bur. Fish. Vol. 28: 304. Davis, G. E. and E. B. Thue. 1979. Fishery data management handbook. NPS South Florida Research Center Tech. Rpt. Ser. SFRC T-546. Everglades NP, P.O. Box 279, Homestead, Florida. 80 op. Dawson, C. E. Jr. and C. P. Idyll. 1951. Investigations on the Florida spiny lobster, Panu/irus argus (Latreille). Fla. St. Bd. Conserv., Tech. Ser. No. I. 39 pp. Donaldson, G. 1984. When the change begins, Florida's mullet men are there. Nat. Fishermen. Apr: 30-33. Ellis, R. W., A. Rosen and A. W. Moffett. 1958. A survey of the number of anglers and of their fishing effort and expenditures in the coastal recreational fishery of Florida. Fla. St. Bd. Conserv., Tech. Rpt. Ser. No. 24. 48 pp. Henshall, J. A. 1891. Report upon a collection of fishes made in southern Florida during 1889. Bull. of the U.S. Fish Commission, Vol IX: 371-389. Higman, 1. B. 1952. Preliminary investigation of the live bait shrimp fishery of Florida Bay and the Keys. Miami, University of Miami, Marine Laboratory. Report to Florida State Board of Con- servation, (ML 3789): 8 pp. --. 1967. Relationships between catch rates of sport fish and environmental conditions in Everglades National Park, Florida. Proc. Gulfand Carib. Fish. Inst. 19: 129-140. Robinson, R. K. and D. E. Dimitrion. 1963. The status of the Florida spiny lobster fishery, 1962- 63. Fla. St. Bd. Conserv., Tech. Rpt. Ser. No. 42. 27 pp. Rutherford, E. S., J. T. Tilmant, and E. B. Thue. 1989. Fishery harvest and population dynamics of spotted seatrout, Cynoscion nebu/osis, in Florida Bay and adjacent waters. Bull. Mar. Sci. 44: 108-125. Schroder, W. C. 1924. Fisheries of Key West and the clam industry of southern Florida. Appdx. XII to the Rpt. of the U.S. Comm. ofFish. for 1923. Bureau Fish. Doc. No. 962. 74 pp. Simpson, C. T. 1920. In the lower Florida wilds. G. P. Putnam and sons, New York. 404 pp. Smith, F. G. W. 1948. The spiny lobster industry of the Caribbean and Florida. Carib. Resch. Council Fish. Ser. No.3: 1-49. 22 BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE, VOL. 44, NO. I, 1989 Tabb, D. C. and N. Kenny. 1961. A brief history of Florida's live bait shrimp fishery with description of fishing gear and methods. Mar. Lab., Univ. Miami Rept. to Fla. St. Bd. Conserva. ML67784. 25 pp. Tilmant, J. T., E. S. Rutherford and E. B. Thue. 1989. Fishery harvest and population dynamics of Red Drum (Sciaenops oce/latus) from Florida Bay and adjacent water. Bull. Mar. Sci. 44: 126- 138. ---, ---, R. H. Dawson and E. B. Thue. 1986. An analysis of the recreational and commercial estuarine fisheries harvest within Everglades National Park, 1958-1985. U.S. Nat. Pk. Ser. South Fla. Resch. Ctr. Tech. Rept. Ser. SFRC-86/08. 233 pp. White, L. V. and N. K. Smiley. 1959. History of Key West. Get. Outdoors Pub. Co., St. Petersburg, Fl. 104 pp. DATEACCEPTED: December 8, 1987. ADDRESS: U.S. National Park Service, South Florida Research Center, Everglades National Park, P.O. Box 279, Homestead, Florida 33030.