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| Executive Director's Report: On another note, the FKCFA (and OFF- Marathon Chapter) has finally released its educational video: “Commercial Fisheries in the Florida Keys- Balancing the Conservation of Marine Resources and the Preservation of Fishing Communities.” The video mainly focuses on how commercial fisheries have evolved under Federal and State fisheries management laws in the Florida Keys and highlights how commercial fishermen and the general public are collaborating to conserve marine resources and preserve working waterfronts. In addition to administrative issues, the video summarizes the long standing heritage of commercial fisheries in the Florida Keys. Copies have been delivered to public offices, FWC commissioners, members of the Florida Legislature and other public offices. I will email all council members a link to the video once its up at our website. I think my trip to Tallahassee, followed up with the release of the educational video, will further strengthen FKCFA’s role as a strong organization protecting commercial fishing families in the Florida Keys. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nov 17, 2009 This afternoon, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen took to the floor of the House of Representatives to discuss impacts of proposed fishing regulations on the economic livelihood of South Florida fishermen. The video link to the speech is below, of the Congresswoman’s remarks. http://www.youtube.com/user/IleanaRosLehtinen#p/u/0/T8PDgkS3cYo
Commercial Fishermen of America calls for Magnuson Changes- By Richard Gaines, Gloucester Times Ending a three-day meeting and soul searching, the Commercial Fishermen of America announced plans to petition Congress to clarify the intent of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the defining law for commercial fishing. Jim Ruhle, president of the national association, said, "We heard strong voices from local fishermen that are right in line with CFA's strategic plan and dovetails with President Obama's goals of securing jobs and local economies." In a written release, the board said the CFA "will ask Congress to clarify several aspects of the Magnuson-Stevens Act that have led to a lack of management flexibility, resulting in a loss of jobs in fishing communities." The intent of Congress in the 2006 reauthorization of Magnuson has been argued and debated as a continuing theme in deliberations of the New England Fishery Management Council, which makes policy for the National Marine Fisheries Service, the executive body that channels the authority of the President. Bits of the debate echoed in the 21/2 hour public meeting the board held on Wednesday, to gauge enthusiasm and direction for the five-year-old organization which is seeking to expand membership to achieve a national voice. Referring to NMFS, Ruhle said, "The agency has completely run amok," misreading the Congressional intent in Magnuson to protect fish at the expense of the fishermen. "The industry needs to go back to Congress," he argued in a free-wheeling debate that lasted two hours, and pointed to a desire of the participants to have the CFA work on the legislative and regulatory issues as well as the overall image of the fishing community. Legislation is circulating in Congress that would effectively reinterpret Magnuson to specifically introduce conditions that would justify lengthening the deadline for the completion of recovery plans for overfished stocks. Ruhle, a commercial fisherman from North Carolina, said he did not believe Congress intended to direct NMFS to prevent the taking of abundant species such as haddock to maximize the pace of recovery of weaker species. "Why should we leave 80 million tons of haddock in the ocean for one or two species that may or may not be in trouble?" he asked at the meeting Wednesday. Representatives of fishing organizations from different regions were drawn to the meeting. "Thousand of jobs in hundreds of communities are in jeopardy if something is not done to reaffirm, at the highest levels, the value and importance of the commercial fishing industry to the nation," said CFA vice president Jeremy Brown, a Washington state fisherman.
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NOAA head touts $18.6M for major fisheries shift By Jay Lindsay Associated Press May 20, 2009 05:45 am BOSTON The nation's fisheries chief said yestersday that a seismic shift in New England fishery management is key to preserving the venerable industry and touted an extra $18.6 million to help make the change. "I believe that we have an unparalleled opportunity to truly demonstrate that good, stable jobs, stable fisheries and resilient ecosystems can be achieved together," said Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in a speech to a gathering of fishery management councils. Fishermen are working to switch by next year to a new "catch share" system that allocates a total allowed catch to groups of fishermen, who divide it among themselves. Today's system tries to stop overfishing by making fishermen less efficient, including by restricting the time fishermen are allowed to spend at sea. The current system is broadly hated. Overfishing on important stocks has continued, as shown in an annual report of the status of the U.S. fisheries, released yesterday by NOAA. Also, fishermen are forced to throw away huge amounts of their catch when strict daily limits on a species are reached. The fleet has withered as the number of days fishermen are allowed has dropped to about two dozen annually for many in New England.
Environmentalists say the "catch share" system will better meet the law's mandates to stop overfishing because it sets a limit on how much of a certain species can be caught. But because it gives fishermen more control over how to catch it, proponents say it will better protect fish while also allowing fishermen to make more money. "I see catch shares as the best way for many fisheries to both meet the (law's) mandates and have healthy, profitable fisheries that are sustainable," Lubchenco said. The new system has significant costs, including managing each of the sectors fishermen will form and for more observers to ensure fishermen are staying within their catch limits. The $18.6 million in NOAA's proposed budget for the 2010 fiscal year to help with the switch is in addition to $16 million given in New England this year. Lubchenco said the 2010 budget also includes $4 million for fishery management councils nationwide to put annual catch limits in place and $1 million to study catch share programs. Lubchenco said NOAA must do a better job communicating with fishermen about the research and methods behind their assessment of a stock's health. Past stock assessments have veered wildly at times, bringing tough restrictions on species that a year earlier were considered healthy. That's made many fishermen skeptical of the science. "If we expect people to trust our decisions, we need to be transparent about our science and make ourselves accessible to those who will be affected," Lubchenco said
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First Lionfish Captured in Keys- Anglers Encouraged to Report Sightings via Telephone Hotlines 
On January 7, 2009 rapid responders from the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary removed the first reported non-native lionfish from the waters of the Florida Keys.
The fish was successfully captured from Benwood Ledge off Key Largo less than 24 hours after its sighting was reported by a recreational diver. The effective response team mobilization was the result of a non-native species early detection/rapid response plan developed by NOAA, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, REEF, the U.S. Geological Survey and others.
The fish, determined to be a juvenile, was euthanized and dissected to collect data for the continued study of the fish, its potential impacts to Keys’ native reef fish and commercial populations, and its habitat preferences.
Lionfish are native to the Indian and Pacific oceans, but are now considered established in Atlantic waters. First discovered off the coast of North Carolina in 2000, they are believed to have been present off the east coast of Florida since the mid 1990s. Since lionfish are popular in the aquarium trade, it is theorized that the fish were introduced to Atlantic waters by aquarists no longer wishing to keep the fish.
Divers who sight a lionfish in Keys waters are asked to take careful precautions as the fish is venomous. Do not attempt to capture it. Take note of the location (GPS coordinates, mooring buoy numbers, depth etc) and call either 305-395-8730 or 305-852-0030, or visit www.reef.org/lionfish.
Anglers who hook or net a lionfish in the Keys are encouraged to cut the line over a cooler and place the fish on ice. Do not attempt to remove the hook. Take note of the location at which you caught the fish and contact the sighting hotlines mentioned above.
The Sanctuary and REEF will be launching an educational campaign with divers, anglers and boaters in early 2009, as well as distributing boat decals featuring the reporting hotline numbers.
If stung, immerse wound in hot water (100-110 degrees F) for 15-20 minutes, but do not burn skin. Seek medical attention as soon as possible. It is recommended that you call the 24-hour Aquatic Toxins Hotline at the Florida Poison Information Center in Miami at 888-232-8635.
For more information on lionfish, and to view a video of the January 7, 2009 capture, visit http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/weeklynews/jan09/lionfish.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Book delves into detail about Florida’s ‘bugs’ BY DAVID STEVENS
‘Tis the season not to be spiny! But if you’re hunting for the most famous crawfish on the planet, make sure you include with your tickler and bug-bag a copy of John Kappes’ “The Florida Spiny Lobster” — available now at bookstores throughout the Keys. Just last week, Kappes’ book was named one of the three best books for adults in 2008 by the Florida Publishers Association. Kappes, a retired Miami-Dade County schools biology and marine biology teacher, holds a master’s degree in biology and has been diving for lobster since the mid-’60s. His book points out that “biologists figure that just about every adult lobster of legal size between Miami and Key West is killed during the legal crawfish season... But some credit for the survival of this delicious decapod should go to the National Park Service for its decision to create lobster sanctuaries, first in Biscayne National Park and later in Everglades National Park.” Whether the legal or poaching season is upon us, and considering the facts of what the lobster is up against in terms of its survival — "interminable pressure from commercial fishing, sport divers, natural predation, disease, poaching and habitat destruction” —Kappes attributes a more amazing fact to the lobster’s non-extinction: their “biological resiliency.” Despite this bug’s resilience, Kappes writes, “If you find a ghost [abandoned] trap, knock a hole in it so it won’t keep on killing.” From offering “how-to” techniques on capturing this “clever crustacean,” to their mating rituals, to their favorite food (gastropods snail-like mollusks), to their natural enemies (which, I didn’t know until I read Kappes’ book, include lobsters themselves — for they are sometimes cannibalistic), to regulations, to “no-take” zones and “research only” zones, to their taxonomy, to their total range and Caribbean hotspots, to their fascinating molting process, to their growth rates, to their annual “strange ritual” (what Kappes calls “one of the great mysteries of marine biology” — a mass migration “to points unknown...triggered by an autumn storm”), to their sophisticated, internal navigational system comparable to homing pigeons (they use the earth’s magnetic fields relative to an internal mineral, “magnetite,” to travel the sea floor), Kappes’ absolute appreciation for these Panulirus members is certainly undeniable. Insofar as the sustainability of this species relates to the 43-year-old lobster laws, Kappes delicately yet rightly points out: “Recommendations that the minimum legal carapace length be increased from 3 inches to 3 1/4 inches have come from biologists studying the effects of the commercial and sport diving catch on the ability of the crawfish to reproduce.” Copies are available at Moore Books in the Pink Plaza in Key Largo, the Cover to Cover bookstore in the Tavernier Towne Center, Hooked on Books and World Wide Sportsman both in Islamorada, and The Dolphin Research Center in Grassy Key.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Probing Question: What is Killing the American Lobster? By Doug Fraser A Woods Hole scientist believes he may have found a key culprit behind a mysterious disease linked to a dramatic drop in lobster populations from Buzzards Bay to Long Island. In research conducted this summer, Hans Laufer found that common man-made chemicals used in plastics, detergents and cosmetics had infiltrated the blood and tissue of lobsters, making them more vulnerable to a particularly virulent strain of shell disease. The disease causes gross deformation of the lobster's protective shell, and it can interfere with growth and reproduction. In the worst cases, the shell is so badly pitted it prevents the lobster from molting, resulting in death. "It looks like the shell has been eroded away by acid," said Robert Glenn, a state Division of Marine Fisheries senior biologist and director of the state's lobster program. Glenn said more research needs to be done to pinpoint the cause of the problem. "We don't have enough of a handle on the mechanism causing the disease," he said. First seen in Long Island Sound in the mid-1990s, the shell disease quickly spread up the coast into Southern New England and corresponded with a steep drop-off in the lobster harvest. New York's lobster catch plummeted from more than 7 million pounds in 1999 to less than 3 million pounds in 2000 and less than a million pounds by 2003. The trend continued up the coast to Connecticut, Rhode Island and Buzzards Bay, with lobster landings dropping off quickly over the next four years. The Southern New England and Long Island lobster stock is still at historic low levels, Glenn said. In 2005, lobster was the single most valuable commercial fishing species in New England, worth nearly $12 million to 132 Cape lobstermen and about $56 million statewide. Alkylphenols are found in a wide variety of products including many cosmetics, detergents and plastics. The chemicals are classed as endocrine disrupters: agents that mimic or interfere with the work of hormones. In low-oxygen environments such as heavy sediments or underwater, alkylphenols degrade very slowly. The chemicals enter the ocean through wastewater and septic system effluent, as well as road run-off. In his research at MBL, Laufer used radioactive alkylphenol molecules to track the chemicals in lobster tissue. He found alkylphenols were blocking a critical amino acid derivative that hardens lobster shell. Scientists believe bacteria may be responsible for the shell disease. But the lobster can molt to shed a defective shell, and Laufer believes the alkyphenols inhibit a new shell from hardening, leaving affected lobsters vulnerable to bacteria and other opportunistic diseases and predators. Glenn's research has found rising water temperatures in the waters south of the Cape could be a prime factor in the spread of the disease.
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Florida Forever/ Stan Mayfield Working Waterfront’s Grant Program The Stan Mayfield Working Waterfronts Florida Forever grant program was created by the 2008 Legislature and included in Section 380.5105, Florida Statutes, the Florida Communities Trust Act. To fund the program, the Legislature provided 2.5% of the total Florida Forever program distribution, which at the current level provides $7.5 million annually to the program. The Stan Mayfield Working Waterfronts funds will be used to acquire a parcel(s) of land directly used for the purposes of the commercial harvest of marine organisms or saltwater products by state-licensed commercial fishermen, aquaculturists, or business entities, including piers, wharves, docks, or other facilities operated to provide waterfront access to licensed commercial fishermen, aquaculturists, or business entities. Stan Mayfield Working Waterfronts funds may also be used for the acquisition of a parcel(s) of land used for exhibitions, demonstrations, educational venues, civic events, and other purposes that promote and educate the public about economic, cultural, and historic heritage of Florida's traditional working waterfronts, including the marketing of the seafood and aquaculture industries. The acquisition of land used for recreational waterfront activities would not be considered within the Stan Mayfield Working Waterfronts program. Rule Development During the month of August, Florida Communities Trust and the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services held rule development workshops in five coastal locations throughout the state for the Stan Mayfield Working Waterfronts Program. The workshops were designed for stakeholders to provide ideas that will help shape the grant application and land acquisition procedures governing this new Florida Forever program. Taking all of the stakeholder suggestions into account, Florida Communities Trust and the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services have developed proposed governing rules for the program, which have been submitted to the Florida Communities Trust Governing Board for review and approval. For any questions regarding rule development, please contact Ken Reecy, Community Program Manager, at 850-922-2207 or ken.reecy@dca.state.fl.us
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Invasive Lionfish Native to the tropical Indo-Pacific region, lionfish are often kept in both public and private aquariums. Since 2000, however, lionfish have been observed, primarily by SCUBA divers in coral, rocky and artificial reefs along the southeast coast of the U.S., from Florida to North Carolina and also throughout the Bahamas, Bermuda and Cuba. In more recent years lionfish have also been caught by bottom fishing anglers. Scientists expect lionfish to continue to disperse throughout the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Keys. There is also increasing concern among fishery scientists that lionfish, having no natural enemies, may adversely impact natural fish populations. In addition, this fish has venomous spines and may pose a danger to divers and anglers alike. NOAA would like to encourage divers and fishermen to be extremely cautious and avoid contact with the venomous spines of the lionfish and to help us spread the word to others by posting and distributing the informational flyers
If you or someone you know gets "stung" by the venomous spines, (all the spines are venomous, see figure below) they are advised to immerse wound in hot water for 30 - 90 minutes and seek medical attention as soon as possible. Hook and line or fishing related lionfish catches can be reported to NOAA by emailing to reportlionfish@noaa.gov or calling (252)728-8714.
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Atlantic, Gulf, Caribbean - Critical Habitat Designation Proposed for Threatened Elkhorn and Staghorn Corals
NOAA Fisheries seeking comments on its proposal to designate critical habitat for elkhorn (Acropora palmata) and staghorn (A. cervicornis) corals, which we listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Four specific areas are proposed for designation: the Florida unit, which comprises approximately 3,301 square miles of marine habitat; the Puerto Rico unit, which comprises approximately 1,383 square miles of marine habitat; the St. John/St. Thomas unit, which comprises approximately 121 square miles of marine habitat; and the St. Croix unit, which comprises approximately 126 square miles of marine habitat. We propose to exclude one military site, comprising approximately 47 square miles because of national security impacts. NOAA Fisheries is seeking comments from the public on all aspects of the proposal, including our identification and consideration of the positive and negative economic, national security, and other relevant impacts of the proposed designation, and the areas we propose to exclude from the designation. A draft impacts report prepared pursuant to section 4(b)(2) of the ESA in support of this proposal is also available for public review and comment.
Comments on this proposal identified by the Regulation Identifier Number (RIN) 0648-AV35, must be received by May 6, 2008 and may be submitted via the internet at: http://www.regulations.gov, by mail to: Assistant Regional Administrator, Protected Resources Division, NMFS, Southeast Regional Office, 263 13th Ave. South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, or by Fax to: 727-824-5309.
For additional information please contact Jennifer Moore or Sarah Heberling, phone (727) 824-5312.
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Islands in the Stream
Gulf groups, anglers, divers want say as feds consider management of the popular site.
By TERRY TOMALIN, Outdoors Editor
Published February 8, 2008
ST. PETERSBURG
The Florida Middle Grounds, one of the most popular fishing and diving destinations in the Gulf of Mexico, may soon be governed by new regulations, which, among other things, may ban anchoring in this environmentally sensitive area.
"We have not proposed any changes to fishing regulations," said Billy Causey, regional director for the federal govern- ment's National Marine Sanctuary Program. "But there are certain activities that have an impact that do need to be addressed."
Located about 80 miles northwest of Tarpon Springs, "The Grounds" as they are often called by recreational anglers and scuba divers, are a series of old coral reefs that run in north to northwest parallel ridges.
With an average depth of approximately 130 feet, the Middle Grounds is a favorite destination for hard-core anglers and spearfishermen.
Commercial longline fishing is currently banned in the 460-square-mile area, although the Middle Grounds were once a favorite stop for fishing boats that made the run from Apalachicola to Tarpon Springs.
"It takes most boats four to six hours to get out there, so it is not a place you visit on a whim," Hardman added. "You go there to fish and dive. And because it takes so long to get there, you usually spend the night."
The Middle Grounds is just one of seven biologically diverse areas that federal officials hope to link together under one management system (Islands in the Stream), similar to the way various protected areas in the Florida Keys were linked together under the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Program.
The other areas in question include the South Texas or "Snapper Banks;" the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico Reefs and Banks located 60 to 100 miles off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana; the Pinnacles, which are 62 miles off the Mississippi and Alabama coasts; Madison-Swanson Marine Reserve, 58 miles southeast of Port St. Joe; Steamboat Lumps, 115 miles south-southeast of Port St. Joe and Pulley Ridge, found 150 miles west of Cape Sable.
All of these areas are influenced in a clockwise motion by the Yucatan, Loop and Florida currents that circulate in the Gulf of Mexico. Federal officials say these currents are the oceanic equivalent of wind on land, spreading the seeds of life across long expanses of open water.
"So what happens in one area could affect what is going on in other areas," Causey said. "That is why we want to see all of these areas managed together." Executive action
Creating a series of specially managed marine areas in the Gulf of Mexico would not be without controversy. In July 2006, President Bush created the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in Hawaii with one stroke of a pen. "They shut down a huge area to all fishing," said Ed Walker, a local charterboat captain who tracks marine issues. "And the public had nothing to say about it."
Not everybody is pleased about the "Islands in the Stream" plan, of which few details are known. In November, Thomas McIlwain, chairman of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, questioned the process, citing "lack of public involvement." McIlwain said he thought the proposal should come before the council, like other management issues. "The draft proposal has not involved any of these groups so far, and the Council would like to see this lack of consultation change if the proposal is to proceed," he wrote in his letter to federal officials.
A public process Causey, who had to fight various commercial and recreational fishing advocacy groups in his battle to create the Keys' sanctuary system, said the Islands in the Stream program will not be developed without first holding public hearings.
Fishermen, used to anchoring wherever they find fish, will not like being told they must tie up to designated mooring buoys. "We had the same problem in the Keys," he said. "Now we have a system of more than 500 mooring buoys. We have another 36 sites in the Dry Tortugas, which is very similar to the Middle Grounds. We never have more than one or two boats tied up at any one time. So I don't think crowding will be a problem."
The Bush administration has not made a final decision on the Islands in the Stream proposal, according to Carlos M. Gutierrez, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the federal agency that oversees the National Marine Sanctuary Program. In a December letter to the gulf council's McIlwain, Gutierrez pledged that any "deliberations" will involve the fishery management council and the "stakeholders," i.e., the anglers and divers.
Causey, meanwhile, said that no decisions will be made until a public hearing can be scheduled somewhere in the Tampa Bay area, though a timetable has not been set. "We want the public's input," he said. "We need to have the stakeholders at the table." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oceans 40% Fouled By Pollution, Fishing, Warming, Study Says
By Alex Morales
Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Fishing, pollution and climate change damaged more than two-fifths of the world's oceans, said scientists who produced a map of the human toll on marine life.
Every single square kilometer of the oceans is affected by something man-made, and 41 percent has a ``medium high'' or ``high'' impact, the scientists, led by Ben Halpern at the University of California, Santa Barbara, said in an article to be published in the journal Science Feb. 15.
The researchers examined 17 ways that humans affect oceans, including shipping lanes, oil and gas exploration, and invasive species, and mapped the effects across coral reefs, mangroves and continental shelves. The map will help world policymakers protect the oceans, Halpern said in a telephone interview.
``A lot of the past studies have looked at just a single activity -- fishing or climate change or land-based runoff pollution, and they looked at the impact of just one of those,'' Halpern said yesterday. ``We've looked at the overlaying cumulative sum of all of these activities at once, so you can really get a big picture of how humans are affecting the oceans.''
Oceans near the poles were unaffected by humans. The North Sea and the South and East China Seas were heavily impacted, said Halpern. The Mediterranean, east Caribbean, Persian Gulf, Norwegian Sea, Bering Sea, the east coast of North America and the waters around Sri Lanka were also among the worst, the article said.
`Degraded State'
``Those areas are definitely in a degraded state, and a state that if people went diving in, probably would not be too happy to be in,'' Halpern said.
Reefs and mangroves, coastal habitats that receive a lot of attention from conservationists, were heavily damaged by human activities, the study said. Worst were rocky reefs and continental shelves, where commercial fishing concentrates, Halpern said.
``Where you're in a very high impact situation, it's fairly heavily degraded, and the ecosystem is probably not something people would even recognize as a normal healthy ecosystem,'' Halpern said. ``It probably means that most of the big fish and invertebrates are gone and that the plants and animals that live on the bottom are much less abundant than they used to be.''
Climate change had the biggest impact on oceans, raising temperature, acid levels and ultraviolet radiation, Halpern said.
Worse Picture
``In coastal areas, you get everything from land-based pollution, and oil and gas development, invasive species as well as climate change and fishing causing problems,'' he said.
The map created by the scientists doesn't include fish farming or sediment runoff from dammed rivers, said Halpern, who said the group's estimates were conservative.
``There are going to be interactions among these different activities that makes the whole much greater than the parts,'' Halpern said. ``The picture would probably look worse if you accounted for these interactions.''
Effective ocean-management can stop the degradation, the study said. Climate change likely will intensify the damage, according to the scientists.
Policy makers should use the scientists' map to separate harmful ocean activities, so negative effects aren't magnified, Halpern said.
``We have business districts and residential districts, schools and churches. All these things are zoned into different places to create some cohesion to our communities that make sense. You don't have a strip club next to a school,'' the researcher said. ``We can allow all these activities to go on, but just not in the same place.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net . --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Probing Question: What is a red tide?
Although its name sounds like a low-budget horror movie, you won't find "Red Tide" at a theater near you. To take in this natural phenomenon, you'll have to venture to the ocean, because red tide — or more scientifically, HAB or harmful algae bloom — occurs when a harmful variety of algae reproduces so densely that the water appears red, yellowish-brown or green from the high concentrations of photosynthetic pigments.
Explained Michael Arthur, a Penn State geosciences professor with research expertise in marine ecosystems, most varieties of algae are harmless and occupy an essential tier of the food chain.
The algae responsible for red tide, however, is one of a few dozen species of phytoplankton called dinoflagellates that, under the right conditions, produce toxins. The level of toxicity depends on the specific algal variety involved, with the most dangerous species emitting potent neurotoxin that can kill marine and coastal wildlife, and can even cause illness or death in humans.
But why do these blooms occur?
According to Arthur, "Blooms can't occur unless the algae is already present in the water, and the right nutrients are present — particularly nitrogen and phosphorus — to supply the raw materials that stimulate rapid growth of the algae population."
Aided by warm water and stagnant surface conditions, nutrients play a large part in allowing the algae to reproduce so quickly. Arthur said one source of these nutrients comes from upwelling, a process where colder, deeper ocean water is brought up to shallower water, bringing nutrients with it. Upwelling along the U.S. West Coast may have a lot to do with the high incidence of blooms in that region. The bluish-green glow, or bioluminescence, of the relatively harmless dinoflagellate species Noctiluca scintillans, is a common sight in California's waters.
However, Karenia brevis — the microorganism responsible for most red tides in Florida's Gulf of Mexico — is a much redder and more dangerous strain. A 2005 outbreak along Florida's southwest coast was described in The New York Times as one of the state's "worst red tides in decades." At its peak, it caused a 2,000 mile-wide "dead zone" off the city of St. Petersburg that was responsible for "more than 950 tons of dead creatures" that washed up on area beaches. Ironically, hurricanes typically bring relief by diluting the concentration of algae, but even Hurricane Katrina didn't end Florida's 2005 ferocious outbreak.
Areas where pollution drains into the ocean often experience algae blooms, Arthur noted. He suspects excess nutrification is the cause. "Blooms have been observed around aquaculture sites and fish farms where nutrients are being shed into the surrounding water," he said. "Fertilizer run-off from farmland and sewage waste also add to the nutrient content, supplying the algae with a more abundant food source."
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), over 50 percent of unusual marine mammal mortality events are due to harmful algae blooms. While shellfish such as clams, mussels and oysters are not directly harmed by red tide, their filter-feeding systems store the algae's toxins in their tissue. If tainted shellfish is ingested, they can have a deadly affect.
As Arthur explained, "Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) and other syndromes caused when people eat tainted shellfish can cause catastrophic damage to victims' cardiovascular, digestive and/or neurological systems. Some, including PSP, are potentially fatal. If you contract this condition," he continued, "the first symptom you'll likely notice is a numbness on your tongue. If this occurs, you should get medical help immediately. Breathing machines have saved lives in this situation. Otherwise, the heart keeps beating but the paralyzed lungs fail, leading to death."
Reported occurrences of PSP in coastal areas have increased in the last 30 to 40 years. Arthur said it's possible that the condition is simply more widely recognized today and therefore more accurately reported. There also are more people living in coastal areas, as well as better monitoring systems to locate PSP-carrying algae. However, he suggested that the increase is likely due at least in part to an actual increase in HAB. Warmer water temperatures resulting from climate change have tentatively been associated with algae blooms, though research is continuing on the subject.
To those who consume seafood, Arthur suggested, "You have to be careful and know where things come from. Don't just walk along the beach, pick up an oyster or mussel, and pop it into your mouth." Watch the news for "red tide alerts" and, when dining at a seafood restaurant, "use the buddy system," he advised, "so that you can notice physical or behavioral changes in each other that might signal shellfish poisoning."
Caution is the watchword, because although "Red Tide" may not be a horror movie, its impact can be pretty horrific.
Source: By Marissa McCauley, Research/Penn State
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Dust Storms Overseas Carry Contaminants to U.S.
Scientists Study Whether Diseases Are Also Transported
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/05/AR2008020502950_pf.html
By Doug Struck, Washington Post Staff Writer, Wednesday, February 6, 2008; A02
Seventy-five years ago, aviator Charles Lindbergh turned the controls of his pontoon plane over to his
co-pilot, wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh, while flying above Iceland. He thrust a makeshift metal arm holding a sticky glass plate from the cockpit. He wanted to see if the winds high aloft the Earth were as clean as they seemed. They were not.
Now, with NASA satellites and sampling by researchers around the world, scientists know that great
billowing clouds of dust waft over the oceans in the upper atmosphere, arriving in North America from deserts in Africa and Asia.
Researchers have also found that the dust clouds contain not only harmful minerals and industrial pollutants,
but also living organisms: bacteria, fungus and viruses that may transmit diseases to humans. Some say an alarming increase in asthma in children in the Caribbean is the consequence of dust blown from Africa, and predict they will find similar connections in the Southeast and Northwest United States.
In the late 1990s, Eugene Shinn, who was studying the widespread die-off of Caribbean coral reefs for the
U.S. Geological Survey in Florida, began wondering if smaller living organisms came with the dust. He eventually linked live microbes brought from Africa to sea fan disease, which was infecting the coral.
Shinn enlisted USGS microbiologist Dale Griffin. They and other colleagues devised a method of collecting air samples, using a contraption built with a vacuum pump from Home Depot drawing air through a two-inch round sterile filter.
In the first test, collected during a dusty day in 2000 over the Virgin Islands, Griffin said he thought they
might find evidence of four or five different microorganisms growing colonies on the filter. Instead, he found 30 colonies, each with billions of cells.
"I did not expect that many," he said. "And we know that whatever grows on the filter represents only
about 1 percent of what's really there. People just don't think about microorganisms moving around the atmosphere, at least that far."
Griffin said that "in Florida in the summer, when the dust storms are pulsing across, if you walk outside and
breathe, 50 percent of the particles you breathe come from Africa," more than 4,000 miles away. They contain mold spores and bacteria that increase allergies and respiratory diseases.
Shinn, who is now retired, said that there has not been enough response to these findings.
"No one in authority really wants to hear about this problem, even when it is known that African dust
sporadically exceeds EPA air standards in places like Miami during the summer months," Shinn said in a letter recently. "No government agency wants to face this problem because no one knows what to do about it.
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Dust Storms Overseas Carry Contaminants to U.S.
Scientists Study Whether Diseases Are Also Transported
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/05/AR2008020502950_pf.html
By Doug Struck, Washington Post Staff Writer, Wednesday, February 6, 2008; A02
Seventy-five years ago, aviator Charles Lindbergh turned the controls of his pontoon plane over to his
co-pilot, wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh, while flying above Iceland. He thrust a makeshift metal arm holding a sticky glass plate from the cockpit. He wanted to see if the winds high aloft the Earth were as clean as they seemed. They were not.
Now, with NASA satellites and sampling by researchers around the world, scientists know that great
billowing clouds of dust waft over the oceans in the upper atmosphere, arriving in North America from deserts in Africa and Asia.
Researchers have also found that the dust clouds contain not only harmful minerals and industrial pollutants,
but also living organisms: bacteria, fungus and viruses that may transmit diseases to humans. Some say an alarming increase in asthma in children in the Caribbean is the consequence of dust blown from Africa, and predict they will find similar connections in the Southeast and Northwest United States.
In the late 1990s, Eugene Shinn, who was studying the widespread die-off of Caribbean coral reefs for the
U.S. Geological Survey in Florida, began wondering if smaller living organisms came with the dust. He eventually linked live microbes brought from Africa to sea fan disease, which was infecting the coral.
Shinn enlisted USGS microbiologist Dale Griffin. They and other colleagues devised a method of collecting air samples, using a contraption built with a vacuum pump from Home Depot drawing air through a two-inch round sterile filter.
In the first test, collected during a dusty day in 2000 over the Virgin Islands, Griffin said he thought they
might find evidence of four or five different microorganisms growing colonies on the filter. Instead, he found 30 colonies, each with billions of cells.
"I did not expect that many," he said. "And we know that whatever grows on the filter represents only
about 1 percent of what's really there. People just don't think about microorganisms moving around the atmosphere, at least that far."
Griffin said that "in Florida in the summer, when the dust storms are pulsing across, if you walk outside and
breathe, 50 percent of the particles you breathe come from Africa," more than 4,000 miles away. They contain mold spores and bacteria that increase allergies and respiratory diseases.
Shinn, who is now retired, said that there has not been enough response to these findings.
"No one in authority really wants to hear about this problem, even when it is known that African dust
sporadically exceeds EPA air standards in places like Miami during the summer months," Shinn said in a letter recently. "No government agency wants to face this problem because no one knows what to do about it.
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Workers are priced out of Key West
Even longtime residents are no longer able to pay the Conch Republic's soaring rents and mortgages.
Their departure hurts the newer businesses catering to the wealthy.
By Carol J. Williams
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
8:13 PM PST, February 9, 2008
KEY WEST, FLA. — The old salts of the shrimp fleet have been undercut by Asian shellfish farmers. Flower children who hitchhiked here in the '70s have taken their beads and tambourines and boogied back north.
Teachers and firefighters, grocery clerks and bank tellers, hotel maids and falafel fryers -- all are leaving Key West, unable to pay rents and mortgages twice as high as on the mainland. At least 14% of those younger than 55 have left in the last few years, cutting into the workforce.
"I'm a sixth-generation Conch and I don't know if I'll be able to stay here," says Millie Bringle, 26, who manages a real estate office by day and tends bar by night at El Meson de Pepe, a boisterous Cuban eatery on Mallory Square. Bringle says she misses the days when her male customers at El Meson de Pepe were mostly mainstream dropouts clad year-round in cargo shorts and flip-flops, their graying hair in ponytails. "Some of them still wear ponytails and flip-flops," she says of the new locals. "But now that guy on the bar stool in front of me is probably a millionaire."
Despite Florida's 3% cap on annual property tax rate increases, the skyrocketing home prices in the Keys have compounded a traditionally high cost of living, with most goods trucked in over 150 miles from Miami while gas prices routinely hit record highs.
Monroe County, which stretches from this southernmost key to the unpopulated western Everglades, has lost more than 2,000 workers since the 2000 census. That's a body blow to the service-oriented economy of a county with only 75,000 residents and 2.25 million overnight visitors a year.
"We have a shrinking population -- one of the few places in Florida going in reverse," said Ed Swift, owner of the Conch Tour Trains, which thread the narrow streets of the historic Old Town.
Swift's trains are full of day-trippers from the cruise ships that have replaced the shrimp fleet at the seaport. "Whether it's the teaching profession or the hotel business, we have a critical shortage of qualified people. We have a shortage of warm bodies." An employer of 300, Swift had to move some of his operations to St. Augustine recently because he couldn't find local workers who could repair and maintain the tour trains.
Monroe County froze the number of overnight accommodations a decade ago when the Keys were designated an area of "critical concern" because of fragile mangroves, endangered manatees and protected sea grass.
The dearth of workers has put strains on the upscale establishments patronized by the swelling ranks of the wealthy. While the high-end hotel stock grows, working-class rentals are being razed and replaced. More than 2,400 mobile homes have disappeared from the Keys since 1990.
"Monroe County now has a 38% vacancy rate, which is shocking," Murray says of the part-time homes. "That tells you that the people who are buying are those who can afford a second home, and those who once were there have gone."
Average wages in the Keys are 9% lower than for the rest of Florida, and residents here pay on average more than 50% of their household income to keep a roof overhead, the FIU study noted.
Personal finance advisors recommend spending no more than 30% of monthly income on housing.
For more than a decade, the Keys have imposed a 1% tourist tax on accommodations, goods and services, and committed half the revenue to buying land for middle-class home construction. That has persuaded contractors to put more than 3,000 subsidized homes on the drawing boards, but local officials say the needs are at least three times that number and that the influx of wealthy buyers far outpaces the construction for Conchs.
The pressure to cash in keeps developers concentrated on the seven-figure market. "The baby boomers are retiring and the successful ones are looking for their McMansions in the sun," says Key West historian Tom Hambright. He came here with the Navy in the 1960s, when the military and commercial fishing were more important to the local economy than tourists.
carol.williams@latimes.com
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