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.