7th International Science Symposium & Flats Expo

PRESENTED BY

Photo Marc Montocchio

Table of Contents

Flats Expo

A bonefish pre-spawning aggregation in the Bahamas. Photo: Cameron Luck

Board of Directors

Carl Navarre, Chairman of the Board

Bill Horn, Vice Chairman of the Board

Jim McDuffie, President & CEO

Evan Carruthers, Treasurer John Johns, Secretary Tom Davidson, Founding Chairman Emeritus Harold Brewer, Chairman Emeritus Russ Fisher, Founding Vice Chairman Emeritus Jeff Harkavy, Founding Member, and Circle of Honor Chair

John Abplanalp Rich Andrews Stu Apte Rodney Barreto Dan Berger

Adolphus A Busch IV Sarah Cart John Davidson Greg Fay Dr. Tom Frazer Doug Kilpatrick Jerry Klauer

Thorpe McKenzie Wayne Meland Ambrose Monell Sandy Moret John Newman David Nichols Al Perkinson Julian Robertson Rick Ruoff Casey Sheahan Adelaide Skoglund Noah Valenstein

Symposium Committee Members

John Abplanalp

Stu Apte Chris Bird Jennifer Bird Lucas Bissett Adolphus Busch John Davidson Greg Fay Bill Horn Jeff Harkavy Christopher Jordan Gerold Klauer

Meredith McCord Wayne Meland Andy Mill Sandy Moret Carl Navarre David Nichols Chris Peterson Kris Rockwell Kyle Rossin Bill Stroh Krissy Wiborg Hewes

Honorary Trustees

Dr. Marty Arostegui Brett Boston Betsy Bullard Yvon Chouinard Matt Connolly Marshall Field Guy Harvey Steve Huff James Jameson Michael Keaton Rob Kramer Huey Lewis George Matthews

Davis Love III Tom McGuane Andy Mill John Moritz Johnny Morris Jack Nicklaus Flip Pallot Paul Tudor-Jones Bill Tyne Joan Wulff

Advisory Council

Randolph Bias Charles Causey Don Causey Scott Deal Paul Dixon

Chris Dorsey Chico Fernandez Mike Fitzgerald

Pat Ford Christopher Jordan Bill Klyn Clint Packo Jack Payne Stephen Reynolds Ken Wright

Welcome

Welcome to the long-awaited 7th International Science Symposium & Flats Expo!

Your participation in this special event commemorating BTT’s 25 th Anniversary demonstrates your commitment to the conservation of the flats fishery. Over the next two days, stakeholders from across the world of flats fishing—scientists, resource managers, industry leaders, and the angling community—will come together to share information, foster collaboration, and affirm their support of mission-critical work to improve water quality, conserve habitat, and ensure effective fishery management.

The theme of the Symposium is Conservation Connections , with an emphasis on addressing known fisheries management needs with actionable science. The program features science presentations and panels by BTT, collaborating scientists, resource managers, and stakeholders on important research and conservation topics, including the urgent need to improve water quality and wastewater treatment infrastructure in Florida, and to protect and restore threatened habitats throughout the range of bonefish, tarpon, and permit in this hemisphere. We also invite you to attend the fishing panel discussions featuring top anglers and guides, who will share their winning strategies for success on the flats. And don’t

miss the spin and fly casting clinics, fly tying clinics, and the popular Art + Film Festival

The fishing and boating industries play an essential role in conservation and provide vital support to BTT’s mission. We’re proud to count many of the leading brands among our closest partners. Industry representatives will be on hand at the expanded Flats Expo to showcase their latest products and share stories of their corporate commitment to conservation.

The capstone of the 7th International Symposium will be an evening celebration honoring Circle of Honor inductees Matt Connolly, Sandy Moret, Chico Fernandez, Dr. Andy Danylchuk and Dr. Gordy Hill for their many contributions to the conservation of our shared flats fishery.

We hope you will find these two days informative, fun and inspiring, and return to the flats with even greater resolve to protect and conserve our fisheries. On behalf of the BTT Board and staff, we appreciate your interest and support of our mission.

Carl Navarre | Chairman of the Board Jim McDuffie | President and CEO

Dr. Addiel Perez, BTT’s Belize-Mexico Program Manager (second from left), and volunteers capture bonefish for tagging to track spawning migrations. Photo: Patrick Williams

Sponsors

Individual Sponsors

Grand Sponsor

Adolphus Busch

J.C. Kennedy Foundation Inc. Russ Fisher

Silver King Sponsor

Dan Berger

Dale Clift

Carl Navarre

S. Kent Rockwell Foundation Stringert Family Charitable Fund

Permit Patron

First Light Charitable Fund Jeff Harkavy Bill Henagan John Hilton Christopher Jordan Rich Kracum Wayne Meland David Nichols

Bill Stroh

Conservation Leader’s Circle

Rich Andrews

Mona Brewer Harold Brewer Nancy Buck Peter Buck Michael Corbat Hugh Durham Jan Forszpaniak

John Gill

Johnny Igoe

John Johns Jim Konkel

W. Thorpe McKenzie John Megrue Geni Newman John Newman Patrick O’Sullivan Bill Sullivan Mark Vallely

Concerned about bonefish decline in the Florida Keys, Tom Davidson and a small band of Founding Members commit funds to research bonefish behavior and begin a tagging program. Bonefish and Tarpon Unlimited (BTU) holds its first meeting with 70 founding members. New projects are launched, including tarpon satellite tagging to gather migration pattern information along with further bonefish tagging to understand size, growth, and range of movement.

BTU hosts its first Bonefish and Tarpon Research Symposium, sponsored by Bass Pro Shops and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), which brings together 20 collaborating scientists.

25 YEARS OF CONSERVATION

Standing L – R: Joel Shepherd, Billy Pate, Raleigh Werking, Stu Apte, Jeff Storm Harkavy, Doug Hannon, Robert Humston, Chico Fernandez, Jack Curlett Seated L – R: George Hommell, Jeff Wilson, Tom Davidson

Bonefish and Tarpon Unlimited becomes Bonefish & Tarpon Trust and welcomes Matt Connelly to the board as President.

BTT broadens its geographic scope, expanding programs to the Bahamas, Belize, Cuba and Mexico. A new bonefish dart-tagging program in the Bahamas begins while BTT also successfully advocates for catch-and-release protections for bonefish, tarpon, and permit in Belize.

Early BTT projects included satellite tagging to learn more about seasonal migration patterns.

Photo: Dr. Aaron Adams

A dart-tagged bonefish released near the East End of Grand Bahama. Photo: Dr. Aaron Adams

1997 2000

Pirates of the Flats, which later becomes Buccaneers & Bones, debuts on television and airs for 8 seasons, exposing new audiences to BTT’s mission and work.

Collaborating with FWC and the angling community, BTT helps to establish catchand-release regulations for tarpon and bonefish in Florida.

With BTT’s input and the support of anglers appearing in a series of public meetings, FWC establishes the Special Permit Zone and separates permit and pompano in fishery management. Costa Sunglasses sponsors the new Project Permit.

BTT holds its first NYC Dinner and Award Ceremony, where Lefty Kreh and Tom Brokaw are honored for their contributions to flats fishery conservation.

BTT maps critical flats fishing areas in the Florida Keys that help to guide management strategies of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and Everglades National Park.

By providing data on bonefish spawning sites and home ranges, BTT plays an important role in securing the establishment of five new national parks in the Bahamas, and expanding a sixth.

BTT launches the collaborative Juvenile Tarpon Habitat Initiative to identify, protect and restore juvenile tarpon habitat in Florida.

BTT collaborating scientist Dr. Jake Brownscombe releases an acoustically tagged permit in the Florida Keys.

Photo: Jordan Carter

Jim McDuffie is named BTT’s first Executive Director, later President and CEO.

The cast and crew of Pirates of the Flats, which became Bucanneers & Bones. Photo: Dorsey Pictures

Honorees Lefty Kreh and Tom Brokaw

Photo: Rick Bannerot

A tarpon caught and released in the Florida Keys. Photo: Pat Ford

2010 2011

2013 2014 2015

With a grant of $1.5 million from the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), BTT undertakes the largest study ever commissioned in bonefish reproductive science. In the same year, and with funding from Maverick Boat Group, BTT launches the Tarpon Acoustic Tagging Project—a five-year study that will rewrite the book of what’s known about tarpon movements and habitat uses.

2016 2017

As a founding member of the Now or Neverglades (NoN) coalition, BTT advocates for Senate Bill 10, which authorizes the southern reservoir to store, filter and move water south to Florida Bay. BTT meets with legislators, mobilizes support from its members, and contributes time, effort and funds to the coalition.

BTT hosts its 6th International Science Symposium & Flats Expo, which is a now a major event attracting 1,000 participants.

Following Hurricane Irma, BTT raises more than $500,000 to assist Keys guides in partnership with the Guides Trust Foundation.

2018

Data from BTT’s Project Permit drives an extension of the spawning season closure in Florida’s Special Permit Zone to include the month of April.

BTT restores August Creek in East Grand Bahama—the first such project by the organization and a demonstration site that will guide future creek restorations.

In collaboration with Southwest Florida Water Management District and other partners, BTT completes its first tarpon nursery habitat restoration project at Coral Creek Preserve in Southwest Florida, designing the restoration and conducting pre-and-post-restoration monitoring.

A long running project to genetically analyze thousands of bonefish fin clips concludes, providing scientific evidence of bonefish population connectivity across the Caribbean.

With Now or Neverglades partners, BTT secures federal authorization of the Everglades Reservoir to provide 240,000 acres of dynamic water storage, reducing harmful discharges and sending an average of 370,000 acre-feet of clean freshwater south from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades and Florida Bay.

The August Creek restoration project removed a decades old causeway that had blocked tidal flow and fish passage. Photo: Nick Roberts

A juvenile tarpon is released after being tagged as part of the Coral Creek habitat restoration project in Southwest Florida. Photo: John Rohan

A three-day old bonefish larvae spawned at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute as part of the Bonefish Reproduction Research Project. Photo: Dr. Jon Shenker

BTT documents the first complete track of a bonefish spawning aggregation, logging a dive to a depth of 450 feet—a first not only for bonefish, but a first for science, by recording a shallow water species diving to 13 times the atmospheric pressure the fish experience on the flats to spawn.

BTT collaborates with partners to raises $400,000 to assist Bahamian guides and lodges in the wake of Category 5 Hurricane Dorian, the worst natural disaster in Bahamas history.

BTT maps 274 juvenile tarpon habitat locations from information submitted by anglers. Scientists groundtruth sites in 11 Florida counties, finding that 62 percent of reported nursery habitats have some level of degradation requiring conservation action.

Scientists achieve the world’s first spawn of captive bonefish, producing new knowledge that will greatly enhance efforts to conserve bonefish in the wild.

With data from its Tarpon Acoustic Tagging Project, BTT successfully advocates for a new regulation in North Carolina making tarpon catch-and-release in state waters.

BTT launches the Bahamas Mangrove Restoration Project to plant 100,000 mangroves in a 69-square-mile area impacted by Hurricane Dorian, making it the largest effort of its kind in Bahamas history.

Joining with partners, BTT advocates for Federal support of coastal and estuarine systems, sustained Everglades restoration, and passage of the 2020 Water Resources Development Act, turning back efforts to slow EAA Reservoir construction.

BTT opposes unwise coastal development in Belize, oil drilling in the Bahamas, and tarpon kill tournaments in the US.

A bonefish pre-spawning aggregation (PSA) in the Bahamas. Photo: Robbie Roemer

200 tarpon have been outfitted with acoustic tags as part of BTT’s Tarpon Acoustic Tagging Project. Photo: Silver Kings

To date, more than 20,000 mangroves have been planted in the Bahamas by BTT and partners. Photo: Nick Roberts

A permit spawning aggregation in the Florida Keys. Photo: Dr. Jiangang Luo

As a capstone achievement in Project Permit, BTT successfully advocates with partners for a seasonal closure of Western Dry Rocks, identified by BTT scientists as the most important spawning site for flats permit in the Lower Florida Keys. Subsequent research identified unsustainable loss of angled permit at the site. The closure spans the months of April through July, the heart of spawning season for permit and mutton snapper.

BTT completes tagging in the Tarpon Acoustic Tagging Project with 200 transmitters. To date, BTT researchers have recorded more than 500,000 tarpon track detections across 7 states—valuable information that will help improve fishery management and conserve habitat.

BTT completes an economic impact assessment of Mexico’s flats fishery, determining that the resource generates $55.9 million (USD) annually and supports more than 1,600 jobs. The study will help make the case for improved fishery management along Mexico’s Caribbean coast.

BTT supports Everglades restoration and the recommendation by Governor DeSantis to spend $660 million in the next budget to continue critical projects.

BTT is awarded a $250,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, which is matched by funding from the State of Florida, to begin planning two coastal habitat restoration projects in Rookery Bay on Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Juvenile fish habitat in the vicinity of Shell Island Road that will benefit from the restoration project. Photo: Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve

A tarpon tagged with an acoustic transmitter before release, Photo: Wyler Gins

2021

A three-year study by BTT and Florida International University (FIU) discovers pharmaceutical contaminants in the blood and tissues of bonefish in Biscayne Bay and across the Florida Keys. The findings underscore the urgent need for Florida to expand and modernize wastewater treatment facilities and sewage infrastructure statewide. Results are announced in multiple venues in Tallahassee

In collaboration with leading fishing guides and lodges, BTT launches a campaign to educate anglers on the optimal way to handle bonefish to help increase survival rates and conserve healthy populations.

The landmark bonefish reproduction study funded by NFWF and members concludes. Volumes of new knowledge are acquired on bonefish spawning behavior and reproduction as well as the early stages of larval development.

BTT commits $600,000 to fund a multi-year monitoring program at Western Dry Rocks and three other critical permit spawning sites in the Lower Florida Keys over the next three years. The project will ensure that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has sufficient data for evaluating the effectiveness of the April-July permit spawning season closure enacted in 2021.

As part of the bonefish catch-and-release campaign, BTT-branded dehookers were sent to leading guides, fly shops, and lodges in Florida, the Bahamas, Belize, and Mexico.

A permit tagged with an acoustic transmitter in the Florida Keys as part of Project Permit. Photo: Dr. Jake Brownscombe

A Content Keys bonefish ready for release. Photo Dr. Aaron Adams

What’s Happening

Friday, November 4

Reception & Art Gallery 6:00 – 10:00 PM British Foyer

This evening begins with a cocktail an Hors D’Oeuvres recep tion showcasing art and photography from some of the most recognized talents in the industry.

Featured Artists include: Casey Anderson Tim Borski David Danforth Eric Estrada Pat Ford John Kobald Paul Puckett Kelly Reark Cody Richardson Mel Smothers Adam Welsch David Wirth

Saltwater Film Festival 8:00 – 9:00 PM British Ballroom

The festival will also include a selection of micro-films from the world of fishing and Conservation including :

Mighty Waters

Presented by Costa, Simms and the American Museum of Fly Fishing. In this Cold Collaborative film, filmmaker Shannon Vandivier sets forth with a clear and concise objective: To de pict the life and philosophy of living legend, Ansil Saunders.

Protecting Our Saltwater Flats

Narrated by actor Michael Keaton, “Protecting Our Saltwa ter Flats” overviews the results of BTT’s Bonefish Phar maceutical Contaminants Study and highlights the urgent need to modernize South Florida’s outdated wastewater treatment systems.

Project Permit

Presented by Costa

Paradise Under Threat

Presented by Bonefish & Tarpon Trust and Blue Bonefish Lodge

And MORE!

Fly Tyers Row

November 4-5

PGA Ballroom

Reed Champion William Chochran Douglas McKnight Dave Schmezer Steve Silvirio

Clinics

Friday, November 4

9:00 – 10:00 AM

Costa VIP Lounge – Muirfield

Choosing and fitting Sunglasses Joe Gugino Sponsored by Costa

9:00 – 10:00 AM

Congressional

Fly Fishing Techniques for Saltwater Flats Fishing Lori-Ann Murphy Sponsored by SIMMS

10:45 – 11:45 AM

Congressional Fish Photography 101 Pat Ford Sponsored by Fender Pointe

12:45 – 1:45 PM

Congressional Light Tackle Techniques for the Flats Chico Fernandez Sponsored by Hell’s Bay Boatworks

2:30 – 3:30 PM

Congressional

Fish Fighting Seminar: How to catch & release the right way Andy Mill Sponsored by Hardy Fishing

3:45 – 4:45 PM

Congressional

The Next Generation of Conservationists: Cultivating Stewardship Through Technology

Tim Rood Sponsored by Outguided

Saturday, November 5

8:30 – 9:00 AM

PGA Foyer

Ladies Meet & Greet Sponsored by El Pescador

9:00 – 10:00 AM

Congressional Casting Primer Dave White Sponsored by Hawks Cay Resort

10:30 – 11:30 AM

Congressional Developing Advocates for State, Regional & Federal Fisheries Policy

Tony Friedrich Presented by American Saltwater Guides Association

1:00 – 2:00 PM

Congressional Fishing Clinic Steve and Dustin Huff Sponsored by Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida

2:30 – 3:30 PM

Congressional

New & Best International Flats Fishing Lodges & Travel Tips During Covid Mike Fitzgerald Sponsored by Frontiers

4:00 – 5:00 PM

Congressional Mangrove Restoration

Kyle Rossin Sponsored by MANG

Circle of Honor Inductions

popular fishing show, Buccaneers & Bones , to television.

Connolly has also served on three corporate boards and on the board of the federal Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation. He is the recipient of the Chevron/Times Mirror National Conservation Award and the U.S Forest Service Chief’s Conservation Leadership Award.

Sandy Moret

Lefty Kreh Award for Lifetime Achievement in Conservation

Matt Connolly

Lefty Kreh Award for Lifetime Achievement in Conservation

The positive impact of Matt Connolly’s 30-plus-year conservation career is felt by anglers and hunters across the United States every day.

Connolly began his career as the state ornithologist of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, where he later served as assistant commissioner of natural resources, director of conservation services, director of coastal zone management, and director of fisheries and wildlife. Connolly went on to hold leadership positions at Ducks Unlimited (DU), serving as its first director of development and then as executive vice-president. At this time, Connolly also served as the first COO of Wetlands America Trust as well as chairman of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan Implementation Committee. Soon after, he was appointed to the newly created North American Wetlands Council by the Bush and Clinton administrations and elected by the council as its first chairman.

Following his retirement from DU in 1999, Connolly served as the first president and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP), a coalition dedicated to expanding fishing/hunting access, protecting habitat and advocating for increased conservation funding.

In 2005, he joined the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust Board of Directors, where he went on to serve as board president for 10 years.

“Matt Connolly shaped the cause of conservation in our nation,” said BTT President and CEO Jim McDuffie. “His efforts positioned BTT to become an effective conservation organization in Florida and across the range of flats species in this hemisphere.” During Connolly’s tenure, the organization began applying research results to fisheries policy, and witnessed significant growth in membership, revenue, and visibility, the latter including his collaborative role in helping to bring the

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Sandy Moret moved in 1972 to South Florida, where he quickly became enamored with the pursuit of bonefish, tarpon, snook, redfish and later, permit on fly. Soon he was participating in tournaments, which gave him the opportunity to learn and share knowledge with many of saltwater fly-fishing’s most talented practitioners. Moret won the Keys’ most prestigious fly tournaments—the Gold Cup Tarpon Tournament and the Islamorada Invitational Bonefish Fly Championship—eight times.

Moret’s prowess on the flats led to his frequent appearances on outdoor television programs, including Walker’s Cay Chronicles , The Reel Guys , and Andy Mill’s Sportsman’s Adventures . In 1989, Moret invited some of his angling friends to join him in a new endeavor—The Florida Keys Fly Fishing School—to provide advanced instruction for flats anglers. Since opening in 1989, the school and its esteemed instructors have helped thousands of men and women to become better anglers. He went on to establish Florida Keys Outfitters in Islamorada in 1992.

Moret has been a passionate advocate for Everglades restoration and fishery and water conservation. He served as President of the Everglades Protection Association and as a member of the East Everglades/Everglades National Park Advisory Board at the appointment of Governor Bob Graham. A founding member of Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, Moret reaffirmed his commitment to these causes beginning in 2016 as the convener of the Now or Neverglades coalition, which secured state authorization of a new southern reservoir to store, treat and send water south to Florida Bay. In 2018, Moret was named Fly Fisherman magazine’s Conservationist of the Year and presented with The Orvis Company Lifetime Achievement Award for his work with the Now or Neverglades campaign.

Dr. Andy Danylchuk Flats Stewardship Award

Dr. Andy Danylchuk is Professor of Fish Conservation at University of Massachusetts Amherst and also serves as Director of the Five College Coastal and Marine Sciences Program. He has authored or co-authored more than 45 scientific publications focusing on flats species.

Photo Dan Diaz

Throughout his life, Dr. Danylchuk has been crusading to ensure that fish species survive for future generations, a passion that led him to pursue his doctoral degree. Soon after moving to Turks & Caicos in 2000, Dr. Danylchuk began conducting research on bonefish for BTT. Upon moving to Eleuthera in the Bahamas, he helped conceptualize, build, and run the Cape Eleuthera Institute. His work here included research on the catch-and-release of bonefish and the first study revealing that bonefish formed large pre-spawning aggregations and then moved offshore to spawn.

Named a BTT Research Fellow in 2014, Dr. Danylchuk has led several BTT-supported projects, including comprehensive studies on the movement patterns of tarpon in the southeastern United States and permit in the Florida Keys. Beyond his scientific work, Dr. Danylchuk has been a tireless advocate for fish conservation. He’s a member of the Science and Policy Committee for the American Fly Fishing Trade Association; member of the International Game Fish Association Scientific Advisory Panel; and board member for Indifly. Dr. Danylchuk has also received a distinguished teaching award at UMass Amherst and an award for Excellence in Public Outreach from the American Fisheries Society.

Chico Fernandez Curt Gowdy Memorial Media Award

Born in Havana, Cuba in 1939, Chico Fernandez grew up fishing with his father. By age six, he was bottom-fishing for snapper and, during his teens, he began to fly-fish, often targeting snook and baby tarpon in the creek mouths near the city. Fernandez relocated to Miami in 1959, and pursued a degree at University of Miami. He soon fell in with other young anglers—including Flip Pallot, Norman Duncan, and John Emery—and began exploring the region’s fishing. He accepted a corporate job after graduation, but continued fishing and experimenting with fly tackle. In 1974 he left his day job to make a life centered around saltwater fly-fishing. Since that time, Fernandez has made his mark. His writing and photography have been featured in more than 700 articles, appearing in major outdoor publications in the U.S. and beyond.

His books— The FisHair Saltwater Tying Guide , Fly-Fishing for Bonefish and Fly-Fishing for Redfish —are essentials in any angling library. He has appeared on numerous TV fishing

programs, and has produced five videos. The movie, Chico and the Kids , won the Outdoor Writers’ Association of America’s Award in 1980.

A founding member of Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, Fernandez has used his platform to advocate for flats conservation and BTT’s science-based programs.

He is also a charter member of the Federation of Fly Fishers Board of Governors, advisor to The Snook Foundation; and a representative of the International Game Fish Association (IGFA). He has set several IGFA world records, and was inducted into the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame in 2016. A much sought-after consultant for fishing brands, he continues to teach at the Florida Keys Fly Fishing School, as he has for more than 30 years.

Dr. Gordy Hill Flats Stewardship Award

Gordy Hill first picked up a fly rod in the 1930s, when silk fly lines and gut leaders were the order of the day. His father and grandfather were both avid anglers and pioneers in saltwater fly fishing, plying the waters of Long Island Sound for striped bass and weakfish. Dr. Hill would follow in their footsteps.

After completing medical school with a specialty in orthopedic surgery, Dr. Hill moved to Big Pine Key, Florida and helped usher in the golden era of tarpon fishing. Dr. Hill was the first angler to explore the waters behind Big Pine Key, and has gone on to fish around the world, landing many species on the fly, including swordfish and marlin. He still holds the IGFA World Record for bonefish on 12-pound tippet (15 lb 4 oz), landed off Big Pine Key.

Over the decades, Dr. Hill witnessed firsthand the decline of the Keys tarpon fishery and the threats faced by the species. He has used his platform to advocate for improved water quality and to raise awareness of the issues impacting the fishery, including overharvest of Gulf and Atlantic menhaden and increased pollution in the Keys commensurate with population growth. He has also advocated for improved tarpon handling practices and keeping the fight time as short as possible to ensure a healthy release.

Dr. Hill is as renowned for his casting prowess as for his catching skills. An International Federation of Fly Fishers Master Certified casting instructor, he has mentored some 340 instructors in 17 countries through IFFF’s Master Study Group. In 2012, he received IFFF’s Lifetime Achievement in Fly Casting Award.

Though a fearsome figure to any sport fish he encountered, Dr. Hill has had an equally storied career in the medical theater. He was among the first surgeons to perform hip replacement surgeries; at one point, he had performed more than any other surgeon. Working with Dr. Roger Haugen, he helped to pioneer a novel process for processing a patient’s own blood for use in infusions. This accomplishment earned Dr. Hill a nomination for the Nobel Prize in Medicine.

Panel Discussions

SCIENCE PANEL DISCUSSIONS

Juvenile Habitats, Future and Fishery

Sponsored by: Waypoint Communications

Friday 10:45 – 11:45 am Canterbury Room

Habitat loss and degradation are among the top threats to coastal fisheries worldwide, and this is especially true for species that are catch-and-release or subject to harvest but are well managed. Of particular concern are habitats that support juvenile life stages, with coastal habitats such as wetlands among the most endangered. Although the importance of juvenile habitats to successful fisheries conservation and management has long been realized, thus far juvenile habitats have not generally been included in fisheries management actions. Typically, fisheries management and habitat conservation occur independently. This session will include presentations that share new information on the importance of these habitats with potential application to fisheries management. The panel will discuss the numerous strategies that might be used to shift the management paradigm so that these important habitats are appropriately included in fisheries management.

Moderator

Dr. Aaron Adams, Bonefish & Tarpon Trust

Panelists

Steve Gornak, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Kris Kaufman, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration

Matt Kenworthy, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

JoEllen Wilson, Bonefish & Tarpon Trust

Dr. Ron Baker, University of South Alabama, Dauphin Island Sea Lab

Conservation Engagement

Sponsored by: S. Kent Rockwell Foundation

Friday 10:45 – 11:45 am Canterbury Room

Flats ecosystems and the fish species that support recreational flats fisheries are under increasing threat. User groups, rightsholders, and stakeholders can be important advocates, stewards, and agents of change, however differences in motivations and barriers to communication can impede engagement and collective action. Although engagement of flats anglers and other user groups that depend on healthy flats ecosystems has been increasing, more innovative ways are needed so that such efforts lead to positive changes in both policy and angler behavior/social norms to meet conservation objectives. This session will include presentations on the many aspects of angler engagement in conservation. The panel discussion will focus on tools for effective engagement that can empower user

groups, rightsholders, and stakeholders to advocate for and participate in conservation.

Moderator

Dr. Andy Danylchuk, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Panelists

Tony Freidrich, American Saltwater Guides Association

Sascha Clark Danylchuk, KeepFishWet

Israel Umpierre, Pesca, Playa y Ambiente

Jon Reynolds, South Atlantic Fishing Environmentalists

Eric Carey, Bahamas National Trust

Spatial Management

Sponsored by: Soul Fly Lodge

Friday 2:00 – 3:00 pm

Canterbury Room

The scales of fisheries management and the biology of managed species are mismatched for coastal fisheries. Fisheries management is based on jurisdictional boundaries, whereas life cycles of all flats species and most coastal species cross jurisdictional boundaries via migrations and larval transport, both within and between nations. Similarly, the spatial dimensions of fish movements, and habitat use both within and between jurisdictional boundaries are not incorporated into management.

An intact, unfragmented, coastal habitat mosaic with good water quality is required for the sustainability of coastal fish species, yet this receives insufficient attention in fisheries management.

As information further delineating the habitat mosaic and crossjurisdictional boundary connections come to light, it is essential that this guides management revisions that take a broader spatial approach to flats fisheries management. This is especially urgent giving the ongoing and accelerating impacts of climate change.

This session will include presentations that focus on flats fish movement, habitat use, and connectivity at the local and regional scale. The panel will focus on sharing real-world examples of spatial management, what works and what doesn’t, and ideas for improving spatial management approaches.

Moderator

Dr. Steve Cooke, Carleton University

Panelists

Dr. Jorge Angulo-Valdes, Eckerd College

Falon Cartright, Bahamas National Trust

Eworth Garbutt, Guide, Belize Alejandro Vega, Guide, Mexico

Fabian Pina-Amargos, Avalon, Cuba Virginia Burns Perez, Belize Co-manager

FISHING PANEL DISCUSSIONS

Bonefish Panel

Sponsored by: Guides Trust Foundation

Friday 9:00 – 10:30 am

British Ballroom

Moderator

Russ Fisher Panelists

Dr. Ross Boucek

Bob Branham

Brandon Cyr Percy Darville

Travel Panel

Tim Klein Justin Lewis Ansil Saunders

Sponsored by: Fly Fishing Costa Rica

Friday 12:45 – 2:15 pm

British Ballroom

Moderator Meredith McCord

Panelists

Steve Brown Ian Davis Mike Fitzgerald Pat Ford

Tarpon Panel

Jeremy Kehrein Lori-Ann Murphy Marcelo Perez Rodrigo Salles

Sponsored by: Maverick Boats

Friday 3:45 – 5:15 pm

British Ballroom

Moderator

Bill Horn

Panelists

Dr. Luke Griffin

Adam Hudson Dustin Huff Gary Merriman

Andy Mill Jay Robertson Newman Weaver

Industry Perspectives Panel

Sponsored by: Copal Tree Lodge

Saturday 8:45 – 10:15 am

British Ballroom

Moderator

Bill Klyn Panelists

Lucas Bissett – Executive Director, AFFTA Nicholas Blixt – Activist for Wild Fish and Clean Water, Patagonia

Andrew Cox – Marketing Manager, Shimano

Jake Drees – Fish Marketing Manager, Yeti

Joe Gugino – Conservation and Community Partnership Manager, Costa

Gary Jennings – South Atlantic Regional Expert, ASA

John O’Keefe – Yamaha

Chris Peterson – Hell’s Bay Boatworks

Legends Panel

Sponsored by: Casa Vieja Lodge

Saturday 10:30 am – 12:00 pm

British Ballroom

Moderator

Jeff Harkavy

Panelists

Stu Apte Bob Branham Chico Fernandez

Dr. Gordy Hill Steve Huff

Youth Panel

Andy Mill Sandy Moret Rick Ruoff

Ansil Saunders Bouncer Smith

Sponsored by: Fish For Change & Fly Fish Guanaja

Saturday 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm

British Ballroom

A panel highlighting the next generation of fly anglers and conservation stewards presented by Fish for Change and Fly Fish Costa Rica. The discussion will be focused on the future of the sport and inspiring youth.

Moderator

Heather Harkavy

Panelists

Dale Arden  Logan Dickson Alejandro Hernandez Delaney Hutch  Nick Leon  Marco Maza

Permit Panel

Sponsored by: Fay Ranches

Saturday 3:30 – 5:00 pm

British Ballroom

Moderator

Jon Olch

Panelists

Omar Arceo Carl Ball

Will Benson Bob Branham Dr. Jake Brownscombe

Jack Millar  Catalin Olortegui Kailey Price  Hayden Price  Nathan Setzer Diana Tristan

Brandon Cyr Joe Skrumbellos Jose Ucan Briceno Mike Ward

Photo Dan Decibel

Science Abstracts

Juvenile Habitats –The Future of the Fishery

Presented by Benjamin F. Edwards & Co.

Habitat loss and degradation are among the top threats to coastal fisheries worldwide, and this is especially true to species that are catch-and-release or harvested but well managed. Of particular concern are habitats that support juvenile life stages, with coastal habitats such as wetlands among the most endangered. Although the importance of juvenile habitats to successful fisheries conservation and management has long been realized, thus far juvenile habitats have not generally been included in fisheries management actions. This session will include presentations that share new information on the importance of these habitats. The panel will discuss the numerous strategies that might be used to shift the management paradigm so that these important habitats are appropriately included in fisheries management.

Nov 4, 8:45 - 9:15 AM

Actionable science for juvenile habitat conservation

JoEllen Wilson

JoEllen Wilson

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, 2937 SW 27 Avenue, Suite 203, Miami, FL 33133, USA jwilson@bonefishtarpontrust.org

Coastal habitats are in decline due to development, altered water flows, excess nutrients, and contaminants impacting our waterways. These coastal habitats are essential to the juvenile life stage of flats species. Ultimately, without healthy coastal habitats, we don’t have healthy fisheries.

Unfortunately, traditional fisheries management still lacks habitat as a component of the management approach. This is no longer acceptable given the overwhelming evidence that degraded and depleted habitat has resounding impacts on our fisheries. BTT has begun to implement a framework, focusing on juvenile snook and tarpon, that can be used by fisheries management to include habitat.

The first task is to identify productive vulnerable habitats followed by protecting locations that are natural and restoring locations that are degraded.

Working with our colleagues at FWC in southwest FL, we’ve identified that snook can be used as an umbrella species not only for other vulnerable prey species, but for specific productive habitats –mangrove tidal creeks. We’ve also worked with FWC to monitor juvenile sportfish populations and their prey species before and after habitat restoration, and preliminary results show that appropriately designed habitat restoration is a viable means to increase habitat function and juvenile sportfish productivity. By creating and implementing this framework, Florida can revolutionize the way fisheries and habitat are managed.

Nov 4, 9:15 - 9:30 AM

Identifying juvenile snook habitat to help prioritize mangrove conservation and restoration

David Blewett

Philip Stevens

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, 100 8th Ave SE, St. Petersburg, FL 33701

JoEllen Wilson

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, 2937 SW 27th Avenue, #203, Miami, FL 33133, USA

David Blewett

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, 585 Prineville St, Port Charlotte, FL 33953

Rich Paperno

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, 1220 Prospect Ave, Ste 285, Melbourne, FL 39201

Coastal wetlands such as mangroves are especially vulnerable to the impacts of urban development and have already suffered substantial degradation and loss. Here we assess whether an estuarine sport fish, common snook, which are obligate users of mangrove tributaries and other transitional habitats as juveniles, can be used to promote habitat conservation. In southwestern Florida, we examined data spanning 16 years across 27 mangrove creeks and show that habitat conservation for juvenile snook also protects ecologically important fish assemblages (>55 native species), some of which are important in the transfer of energy from upland watersheds to the open estuary. In southeastern Florida, we used newly available fisheries-independent monitoring data to create maps that identify areas used by fishes that can be easily overlaid as layers in GIS to prioritize hydrologic and habitat restoration projects being planned. A stretch of river (St Lucie North Fork) located 23-45 km from the river mouth that was comprised of braided river channels and mangrove backwaters was found to be a hot spot for juvenile common snook. The same river stretch supported a suite of tropical species that contributes uniqueness to the region including opossum pipefish, fat snook, and bigmouth sleeper. Because snook support a recreational fishery comprised of anglers with increasing interests in conservation, snook can serve as a flagship that can bring much needed support to habitat conservation.

Nov 4, 9:30 - 9:45 AM

Navigating the gauntlet – juvenile tarpon emigration from coastal ponds in Southwest Florida M. Bunting

Bunting, M.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Charlotte Harbor Field Lab, 585 Prineville St., Port Charlotte, Florida 33954

University of Florida, School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatic Sciences, 136 Newins-Ziegler Hall, PO Box 110410 Gainesville, FL 32611-0410

P. Stevens

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, 100 8th Ave SE, St. Petersburg, FL 33701

D. Blewett

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Charlotte Harbor Field Lab, 585 Prineville St., Port Charlotte, Florida 33954

C. Saari

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research

Institute, Charlotte Harbor Field Lab, 585 Prineville St., Port Charlotte, Florida 33954

Coastal wetlands worldwide are threatened by disrupted hydrology, urbanization, and sea level rise. In southwest Florida, coastal wetlands include tidal creeks, many of which terminate into a series of coastal ponds that are the primary habitat used by juvenile tarpon, an important sport fish. Such coastal ponds occur at the interface with uplands and are ephemerally connected to the open estuary creating conditions of variable dissolved oxygen (0.5–7 mg/L) and salinity (0–40 psu). Tarpon are known to tolerate these conditions, but little is known about how they leave the remote nursery habitats, which often requires them to cross mangrove forests and salt pans to reach the open estuary. An acoustic telemetry study accompanied with the use of water level loggers was initiated in coastal ponds on the Cape Haze peninsula of Charlotte Harbor, Florida to characterize the climatic events and water levels that are needed to allow for juvenile tarpon emigration. To date, 56 tarpon (ca. 360–660 mm TL; 1.5–2 years old) have been surgically implanted with acoustic tags. The tag life expired for 18 tarpon before emigration occurred and fates were undetermined.9 tagged tarpon are currently active in the ponds. The remaining 29 tarpon that carried tags were found to emigrate from ponds during summer king tides in some ponds, while tropical storm or hurricane conditions were needed to allow for emigration from ponds further up in the landscape. After leaving coastal ponds, most of the tagged tarpon were detected in arrays located at the mouths of large rivers 30 km up-estuary. The characterizations of water levels and understanding the event criteria needed for successful tarpon nurseries make it possible to create new habitat by incorporating coastal ponds in restoration designs and potentially through modification of stormwater ponds in urbanized settings.

Nov 4, 9:45 - 10 AM

Testing for overlap in juvenile tarpon and snook resource use: the role of hydrological connectivity and nutrients

Rolando O. Santos

Rolando O. Santos, Rolando O Santos, Cody Eggenberger, Ryan J Rezek, Jennifer S Rehage

Institute of Environment, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA, rsantosc@fiu.edu

Chris Madden

South Florida Water Management District, West Palm Beach, FL 33411, USA

Freshwater inflows from terrestrial into coastal ecosystems are an important driver of many ecosystem processes. Freshwater inflows influence salinity, nutrient fluxes, and physio-chemical regimes, leading to changes in habitat quality and resource availability. Globally, anthropogenic land use, freshwater management, and climate change are altering the connectivity of freshwater inflows into coastal ecosystems, and this is especially the case in South Florida. Our understanding on the effects of altered freshwater inflows on ecological processes such as food web function and energy flow is limited. We assessed the trophic niche size and overlap of Snook and juvenile Tarpon in two adjacent lake systems in the Coastal Everglades with different levels of freshwater inflow. In both systems, Snook had larger trophic niches than juvenile Tarpon. The trophic niche size was larger for both Snook and juvenile Tarpon in the more disturbed, hydrologically disconnected eutrophic lake system compared to the mesotrophic system with more hydrologic connectivity. Trophic niche overlap between Snook and Tarpon was

low in both systems. Our results suggest that decreasing hydrologic connectivity through altered freshwater inflows increases the variability of resource use likely due to the decreased ability for consumers to focus on preferred resources.

Nov 4, 10 - 10:15 AM

Development of a Collaborative Regional Approach to Identify, Monitor, and Restore Juvenile Snook and Tarpon Habitat in Southwest Florida

Corey Anderson

Corey Anderson

Division of Habitat and Species Conservation, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 585 Prineville Street, Port Charlotte, FL 33954 corey.anderson@myfwc.com

Philip Stevens

Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 100 8th Avenue SE, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.

David Blewett, Courtney Saari

Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 585 Prineville Street, Port Charlotte, FL 33954.

Juvenile habitats of Common Snook Centropomus undecimalis and Tarpon Megalops atlanticus often occur in remote areas of the coastal landscape. They are typically comprised of headwater creeks and ponds among coastal wetlands with restricted tidal connectivity to the open estuary. Such habitats lie at the interface with urbanization and are vulnerable either directly through habitat loss or indirectly through hydrological changes (e.g., fish passage barriers, channelization).

Moving toward ecosystem-based fishery management that includes these species requires an integration of habitat and stressor data with fish metrics. To address that need, a novel collaborative approach was developed to integrate the research and management conducted by multiple agencies, universities, and NGOs in Southwest Florida to specifically address snook and tarpon habitat. Multiple methods including mapping, elevation surveys, hydrologic analyses, and fishery-independent monitoring are being used to 1) prioritize lands and waters for conservation and restoration, 2) tailor restoration designs to accommodate snook and tarpon life history requirements, and 3) adaptively manage those projects to function as nurseries. Public information and mapping efforts help to identify juvenile habitats in the landscape. Characterization of tidal inundation regimes and marsh surface elevations in natural habitats facilitates communication between biologists and engineers to inform habitat restoration designs. Follow-up fisheries-independent monitoring creates feedback loops that inform how to conserve natural systems and adaptively manage restoration projects for greatest nursery function. To date, several large-scale, collaborative habitat-restoration projects with elements focused on snook and tarpon nursery habitat are in the construction, monitoring, or research phase in Southwest Florida.

Nov 4, 10:15 - 10:30 AM

Connected nursery habitats are critical for sustaining sportfish stocks

Ronald Baker Ronald Baker

Assistant Professor, School of Marine and Environmental Sciences, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, and Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Dauphin Island AL. rbaker@disl.org

Many fish species, including prized sportfish such as tarpon and snook, use and connect multiple ecosystems throughout their lives. Adults spawn in the open ocean after migrations of tens or hundreds of miles, juveniles occupy seasonally-connected wetlands in the coastal landscape, while subadults and adults form the basis of important sport fisheries in nearshore coastal waters. Juvenile life stages are particularly important for population sustainability; small changes in juvenile survival can have large effects on cohort strength. The nursery habitats they occupy play critical roles in regulating growth and survival, and hence play a key role in regulating population size and sustainability.

Protecting and conserving functional nursery habitats and connectivity to complete the life cycle is essential for the effective management of sportfish stocks. Using case-studies from shrimp and red drum in the northern Gulf of Mexico, to giant snappers in the tropical streams of Papua New Guinea, this presentation will highlight the importance of maintaining connectivity for the effective management of sportfish species. Connectivity is more than the physical access that allows individuals to move between habitats and ecosystems to complete their life cycles, it includes critical food web connections, the input of nutrients and pollutants that impact habitat and water quality, and the timing of such connections in the life cycle of the target species. The protection or restoration of connectivity in addition to individual habitat quality can greatly enhance the management of coastal landscapes for the benefit of sport fish and other marine species.

Conservation Engagement

Presented by Blue Bonefish Lodge

Stakeholder engagement is essential to conserve ecosystems, associated biodiversity, and the fisheries that depend upon healthy ecosystems. Outdoor recreation specialists, such as flats anglers, represent a stakeholder group that have unique incentives to contribute to conservation and stewardship. Although engagement of flats anglers and others who depend on healthy coastal ecosystems is important and has been increasing, it has not yet scaled up sufficiently to influence policy and angler behavior (ethics) at meaningful levels. This session will include presentations on the many aspects of angler engagement in conservation. The panel will discuss ways to be more effective and efficient in engagement that empowers stakeholders to become conservation advocates.

Nov 4, 12:45 - 1 PM

Power to the People: How Informed Advocacy Can Fuel Grassroots Conservation Efforts for Flats Fisheries

Andy J. Danylchuk

Andy J. Danylchuk and Steven J. Cooke

Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA 01003-9485 USA danylchuk@eco. umass.edu

Keep Fish Wet, 11 Kingman Road, Amherst, MA, 01002

Sascha Clark Danylchuk

Keep Fish Wet, 11 Kingman Road, Amherst, MA, 01002

Steven J. Cooke

Keep Fish Wet, 11 Kingman Road, Amherst, MA, 01002

Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1S 5B6

Flats are at the intersection of land and sea, and home to many species we like to target as recreational anglers, including bonefish, tarpon, and permit. Unfortunately, these regions of the coastline are also subjected to a wide range of human disturbances, ranging from uncontrolled development, habitat disturbance, and even our own actions as anglers. Brining science to the fight can help lobby for changes in ‘top-down’ policy and management, but this process can be slow and ineffective. Over the last 30 years, grassroots movements driven by stakeholders and resource users have grown immensely to not only help bolster top-down lobby, but to also foster bottom-up voluntary change. For our talk, we provide several case studies where grassroots voluntary efforts founded on hard scientific evidence have resulted in enhanced conservation of flats fishes and their habitats. We also highlight important caveats for effective grassroots efforts, including the need for direct collaborations with scientists, building coalitions of scientifically-literate stakeholders, and creating platforms for consistent and persistent outreach that is accessible to a wide array of stakeholders.

Money to Burn? Why Science-based Best Practices for Catch-and-Release Matter

Sascha Clark Danylchuk

Sascha Clark Danylchuk

Keep Fish Wet, 11 Kingman Rd. Amherst, MA 01002 USA sascha@keepfishwet. org

Steven J. Cooke

Keep Fish Wet, 11 Kingman Rd. Amherst, MA 01002 USA sascha@keepfishwet. org

Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1S 5B

Andy J. Danylchuk

Keep Fish Wet, 11 Kingman Rd. Amherst, MA 01002 USA sascha@keepfishwet. org

Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA 01003-9485 USA

In the three years since the last BTT symposium, there have been only a few new studies conducted on how bonefish, tarpon, and permit respond to catch-and-release, including the first ever such study on permit. Considering the popularity of these sportfish and the promotion of catch-and-release as a conservation tool, this does not seem like a huge amount of progress. True, there are myriad issues facing bonefish, tarpon, and permit, so why does studying the impacts of catch-and-release matter? Let’s use bonefish in The Bahamas as an example. Flats fishing in The Bahamas is worth over $100 million USD annually, with much of this attributed to bonefish. Based on estimated catch rates of recreational anglers, this means that each bonefish caught is worth hundreds of dollars. There are several studies that have examined the post-release mortality (specifically from predation by sharks and barracuda) of bonefish in The Bahamas that indicate that mortality rates range between 0% and 39% depending on location and predator burden. If we assume a mortality rate somewhere in the middle, that means that around $10 million USD in bonefish are lost from the fishery every year due to post-release predation. However, if we can decrease mortality rates of bonefish by even 1% — something that is very feasible when anglers use science-based best practices for fish handling — that would mean that upwards of $1 million USD in bonefish remain in the fishery, swimming, spawning, and ready to be caught again year after year. Without studies on the impacts of catch-and-release, and perhaps even more importantly, translating those studies into easily digestible, science-based best practices that anglers can use when they practice catch-and-release, we are unnecessarily losing millions of dollars in bonefish, and diminishing the health and resilience of our fisheries. Can we really afford to be so cavalier with our fish and fisheries, especially when they are also facing issues such as habitat loss and climate change?

Nov 4, 1:15 - 1:30 PM

Catch-and-Release Science for Fish on the Flats S.J. Cooke

S.J. Cooke

Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1S 5B6

S. Clark Danylchuk

Keep Fish Wet, 11 Kingman Rd. Amherst, MA 01002 USA

A.J. Danylchuk

Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts

Amherst, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA 01003-9485 USA

Most fish that are caught on the flats by anglers are released. It is therefore important to ensure that angled fish have a strong likelihood of survival after release. Angler behavior has a dramatic impact on the outcome of catch-and-release angling events such that it is necessary to ensure that angler behavior is informed by best practices. Here we review the latest science on the catch-and-release of flats fishes including bonefish, tarpon and permit. Where possible we rely on evidence specific to these species but also draw upon other research on various taxa to inform our synthesis. We will touch on topics such as use of gear selection, dehooking tools, post-release predation. This presentation will be of interest to fisheries managers and conservation-minded anglers and guides, alike.

Nov 4, 1:30 - 1:45 PM

Are fish more valuable alive or dead?

Tamara Figueredo-Martín

Tamara Figueredo-Martín

Avalon, Paz 213, Entre San Bernardino y Zapotes, Santo Suarez, 10 de Octubre, Habana, tammyfim@gmail.com

Fabián Pina-Amargós

Avalon, Paz 213, Entre San Bernardino y Zapotes, Santo Suarez, 10 de Octubre, Habana, fabianpina1972@gmail.com

Gamefish such as tarpon, bonefish and permit earn higher importance for catch and release recreational fisheries, particularly inside marine protected areas. Jardines de la Reina National Park is well known worldwide because of the quality of its catch and release fly fishing. Studies conducted to characterize recreational fishing show that anglers preferred tarpon (47 %), bonefish (31 %) and permit (22 %). Although visitation to the area is very limited (average of 600 anglers per year between 2012 and 2016), this activity contributes with important revenues. Taking into account incomes of fly fishing, tarpon generate per year up to US$ 1,225,903, bonefish up to US$ 808,574 and permit up to US$ 573,827. All these figures are among the highest when compared with other fly fishing destinations around the world. Total benefits from tourism activities with those species reach US$ 2,608,305 while benefits from commercial fisheries of these species in the nearby area account for US$ 64,224, less than 3 % of those from tourism in an area eight times larger. These findings suggested the need of a more comprehensive approach for economic uses of biological diversity in order to maximize benefits from the goods and services nature provides.

Nov 4, 1:45 - 2 PM

Hammering the Silver King: Quantifying depredation and spatial overlap of Atlantic tarpon by hammerhead sharks in a Florida angling hotspot

Grace A. Casselberry

Grace A. Casselberry, Lucas P. Griffin, Alex Filous, Joseph Dello Russo & Andy J. Danylchuk

Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA (gcasselberry@umass.edu)

Gregory B. Skomal, Steven J. Cooke

Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, New Bedford, MA, USA

Jacob W. Brownscombe

Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Jeff Kneebone

Anderson Cabot Research Center, Boston, MA, USA

Aaron J. Adams

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, Coral Gables, FL, USA

Human activities, like recreational angling, are capable of altering the behavior of individual fish within populations and facilitate predation events, causing shifts in predator-prey dynamics and posing management challenges. The Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) fishery in Florida is primarily catch-and-release, but fishing guides in the Florida Keys are increasingly reporting the loss of hooked tarpon to depredation, particularly by great hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna mokarran). Such interactions have the potential to impact both tarpon and hammerhead populations. Previous research of tarpon and hammerhead movements in the Florida Keys revealed that the Bahia Honda channel is an area of significant spatiotemporal overlap between the two species. To better understand depredation in Bahia Honda, we used visual surveys to quantify depredation rates of tarpon by sharks and acoustic telemetry to examine spatial overlap between predator and prey. Seventeen great hammerheads were tagged with acoustic transmitters and color-coded cattle tags to aid in visual identification of individuals, and 200 tarpon were implanted with acoustic transmitters. Results from standardized visual observations of fishing activity in spring 2019 indicate ~15% of hooked tarpon suffer depredation mortality by great hammerhead sharks, and that water current direction and angling intensity contribute to depredation susceptibility. Moreover, analyses of movement patterns of both species indicate that hammerheads modify their space use in Bahia Honda channel with increasing tarpon presence. Movement data coupled with the visual survey data, will be the foundation for solutions to reduce depredation events, increasing tarpon survival and decreasing the potential for angler-shark conflict.

Nov 4, 2 - 2:15 PM

Testing a bite-shortened hook to minimize fish handling in a recreational fishery

Holden Harris

Micheal Allen

Nature Coast Biological Station, Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences, University of Florida, CedarKey, Florida, USA

Holden Harris

Nature Coast Biological Station, Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences, University of Florida, Cedar Key, Florida, USA holdenharris@ufl.edu.

Brian Whalen

Wildlife Services, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, U.S. Department

of Agriculture, Tallahassee, Florida, USA.

Andrew Gude

Lower Suwannee and Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuges, National Wildlife Refuge System, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Chiefland, FL, USA Andrew. Gude@fws.gov.

School of Forest, Fisheries and Geomatic Sciences, Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA msal@ufl.edu. Discard mortality can make fishing unsustainable even in catchand-release or highly regulated fisheries. However, fishing practices and gears that minimize hook injury, handling, and air exposure can considerably improve fitness and survival in released fish. This study tested whether modified hooks could allow anglers to successfully land and then release fish in the water and without handling. Standard, barbless, and bite-shortened hooks were used to catch Spotted Seatrout Cynoscion nebulosus (n > 75 per hook type), and logistic models assessed differences in landing success and hook self-release success by hook type and categorical fish size. Average landing success was >90% with all three hook types. Bite-shortened hooks were able to successfully self-release 87% of landed fish, compared to success rates of 47% using barbless hooks and 20% using standard hooks. Small fish had higher rates of both unintentional release during reel-in and intentional handling-free release boatside. Size selectivity by hook type was not observed.

Continued gear testing of bite-shortened hooks appears warranted with other lure types, fish species, and a diversity of anglers. With further validation, self-releasing hooks could allow for recreational fishing opportunities in sensitive fisheries or areas, e.g., no-take aquatic reserves, with minimal discard effects.

Nov 4, 3:45 - 4 PM

Spawning Induction of Bonefish to improve knowledge of their reproduction and developmental biology

Paul S. Wills

Paul S. Wills, Sahar Mejri, Christopher Robinson, Anthony Cianciotto, Zack Nilles, Victoria Uribe Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Florida Atlantic University, 5600 US-1, Fort Pierce, FL 34946 pwills2@fau.edu ; smejri@fau.edu

Aaron Adams Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Florida Atlantic University, 5600 US-1, Fort Pierce, FL 34946

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, 2937 SW 27th Avenue, Suite 203, Miami, FL 33133

Jonathan Shenker, Ashley Yarbrough

Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, 150 West University Boulevard, Melbourne, FL 32901

Bonefish are the foundation of an economically important flats fishery. However, their life history is still not well understood. Induced spawning of Bonefish Albula vulpes and A. goreensis that are held long term in the hatchery can provide a tool for sustained, year-round production of larval bonefish to investigate the reproductive and developmental biology of this group of species. Bonefish larvae in the wild, especially during the early periods of development, are very difficult to attain due to an insufficient understanding of where they are spawned and how their larvae are dispersed by ocean currents. Access to a consistent supply of early larval stages will allow the Bonefish Restoration Research Project (BRRP) to understand factors such as growth rates, developmental progression, larval behavior, and nutritional requirements. Over the past several years, we have developed a protocol to acquire fertile eggs from wild bonefish. Briefly, females with eggs over 800 microns and running males from

pre-spawning aggregations are selected, injected with reproductive hormone, and finally strip spawned. Methods for hormonal induction of spawning developed with spawning-ready wild Bonefish are being applied to the captive adult broodstock to induce spawning and thus successful fertilization. Progress to date of year-round attempts and success at induced spawning in the captive fish will be reported.Embryos resulting from bonefish spawned in our field and captive research were incubated in specialized Kreisel tanks. Samples were preserved and photographed at hourly intervals throughout embryonic development, and additional samples taken for biochemical analysis of endogenous nutrients. A deeper understanding of the early developmental characteristics of Bonefish is necessary to contribute to the species’ conservation. Future research directions included the development of optimal larval feeds based on this analysis in order to gain more insight into the nutritional needs and requirements during the critical leptocephalus larval stages. As we learn more about bonefish from raising their eggs into larvae and then juveniles, we will be better armed to conserve bonefish in the future.

Nov 4, 4 - 4:15 PM

Assessing physical qualities and fatty acid profiles of earlystage bonefish (Albula goreensis) leptocephalus larvae reared in captivity to better understand early life history traits and inform conservation methods

Sahar Mejri

Paul S. Wills, Christopher Robinson, Sahar Mejri

Florida Atlantic Univeristy - Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute (FAU-HBOI) 5600 US 1 North Fort Pierce, FL 34946

Aaron J. Adams

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, 2937 SW 27th Avenue, Suite 203, Miami, FL 33133

Florida Atlantic University - Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute (FAU-HBOI) 5600 US 1 North Fort Pierce, FL 34946

Bonefish are members of one of the oldest extant teleost superorders, Elopomorpha, which also includes eels, tarpon, and ladyfish. All share a common larval stage called the leptocephalus or “glass eel” stage. Though bonefish serve an important role in Caribbean ecosystems and fisheries, little is known about their life history and reproductive process. In order to observe and better describe bonefish spawning characteristics, wild bonefish (Albula goreensis) were collected off of Stuart, Florida. The group was transported to Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute and acclimated to captive habitats where they underwent monthly hormonal manipulation to induce spawning. Spawning events occurred on October 4, 2020, and October 6, 2020. For both spawns, eggs were collected in an egg collector and transferred to Kreisel tanks to hatch. Samples of eggs were collected prior to hatching to determine biometrics such as size, fertilization success, and hatching success. Leptocephalus larvae were collected daily for up to 3 days post-hatch and biometric data was recorded for a subsample of larvae. Total fatty acids (polar and neutral) were also extracted from egg and larvae samples and analyzed using GC-MS detection methods. Larvae samples showed a general decrease in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) coinciding with growth after hatching, supporting the notion that PUFAs are utilized for growth and metabolic processes. This project is part of a multi-year effort to successfully spawn bonefish in captivity and can be utilized as a baseline in future studies intended to inform conservation methods for wild populations

Nov 4, 4:15 - 4:30 PM

The Biscayne Bay commercial shrimp harvest and its potential ecological impacts on recreational fish species W. Ryan James

W. Ryan James, Ryan J. Rezek, W. Ryan James, and Jennifer S. Rehage Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, Florida, 33199 wjames@fiu.edu

Ian C. Zink

Independent Consultant/Biscayne Bay pink shrimp expert

The Biscayne Bay pink shrimp live bait and human consumption commercial fishery represents the Bay’s most important fishery product. Although, it represents a small component of Florida’s overall pink shrimp landings and ex-vessel value. Despite concerns regarding high levels of bycatch often observed in Florida’s live bait pink shrimp fishery, studies of potential gear impacts to seagrass ecosystems and associated fisheries are surprisingly limited. Our study describes the Biscayne Bay pink shrimp fishery trends and statistics through a literature review of the University of Miami RSMAS library’s Biscayne Bay Collection, peer-reviewed publications, and analyses of fishery-dependent and independent data originating from regulatory agencies (FWC/NOAA). This research describes the ecological and economic effects of the commercial pink shrimp harvest in Biscayne Bay, and important information for assessing the feasibility, costs, and potential ecological and economic impacts of a buy-back program targeting these fisheries.

Nov 4, 4:30 - 4:45 PM

Molecular Characterization of the M. atlanticus heart Frank L. Conlon

Haley A. Davies

Integrative Program for Biological & Genome Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC Jessen Bredeson and Daniel Rokhsar

Matthew E. Kimball

Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC; Aaron J. Adams

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, Miami, FL Florida Atlantic University, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Fort Pierce, FL

Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, University of California, Berkley Angel P. Scialdone, Kerry M. Dorr and Frank L. Conlon

Integrative Program for Biological & Genome Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC

McAllister Heart Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC;

Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC

Though much is known about teleost heart development and function, there remains many unanswered questions as how hearts adapt to low oxygen levels. Critically, we do not understand how the heart is altered in its physiology or function in environments of low oxygen M. atlanticus are one of few fish to have an obligatory requirement to breathe atmospheric oxygen for at least some portion of their lifespan. To understand the pathophysiology of M. atlanticus’s cardiovascular system, we sequenced the genome of M.atlanticus, and generated a high-resolution de novo chromosomeassigned genome assembly using a long-range sequencing and chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C). Using our resources, we

have undertaken an extensive transcriptomic and proteomic analysis of the juvenile and juvenile heart tissue. Here, we report the full genome of M. atlanticus and our findings from transcriptomic and proteomic based approaches to identify gene and protein. Results from our transcriptomic analysis (RNA-seq) led to the sequencing of over 600,000 transcripts and the identification of over 25,000 M. atlanticus genes. In parallel, from the same samples, we have for the first time directly sequenced M. atlanticus proteins by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). We report the sequence of over 50,000 peptides and over 10,000 M. atlanticus proteins. By using our resources, we have been able to construct protein interaction networks and protein pathways of juvenile M. atlanticus and their cardiac tissue. We have verified key components in cardiac tissue and verified a subset of these through immunehistochemistry. Collectively, these studies have uncovered teleost specific, as well as species-specific, enriched proteins. Thus, integrating these findings with our deep sequencing of the M. atlanticus genome will lead to a detailed molecular understanding of the biology of unique adaptations of M. atlanticus.

Nov 4, 4:45 - 5 PM

Juvenile permit swimming mechanics

James C. Liao

James C. Liao

Department of Biology, Whitney Lab for Marine Biosciences, University of Florida, 9505 Oceanshore Blvd, St. Augustine FL 32080 jliao@whitney.ufl.edu

Ashley Peterson

Department of Biology, Whitney Lab for Marine Biosciences, University of Florida, 9505 Oceanshore Blvd, St. Augustine FL 32080

Department of Ecology and Evolution, UC Irvine, Irvine CA 92697

Otar Akanyeti

Department of Biology, Whitney Lab for Marine Biosciences, University of Florida, 9505 Oceanshore Blvd, St. Augustine FL 32080

Department of Computer Science, Aberystwyth University,Aberystwyth, Ceredigion SY23 3DB, UK.

Trachinotus spp. in the family Carangidae include the Permit and Pompano, which are recreationally and economically important fishes in tropical waters. Juveniles are commonly found on exposed beaches with strong longshore currents, but no quantitative measurements of their swimming capabilities has been documented to date. Here, we swam 7 juvenile Trachinotus in a custom-milled flow tank with a variable speed motor. Juveniles were challenged to swim across several flow velocities while being recorded with high speed video (250 frames per second), and the following kinematic variables were calculated; tailbeat frequency, tailbeat amplitude, body wavelength, wavespeed and head angle. Our results indicate that juveniles can swim against strong currents and play a role in active dispersal during migration.

Spatial Management

Presented by Campeche Tarpon

The scales of fisheries management and the biology of managed species are mismatched for coastal fisheries. Fisheries management is based on jurisdictional boundaries, whereas life cycles of all flats species and most coastal species cross jurisdictional boundaries via migrations and larval transport, both within and between nations. Similarly, the spatial dimensions of fish movements, ontogeny, and habitat use both within and between jurisdictional boundaries are not incorporated into management. An intact, unfragmented, coastal habitat mosaic with good water quality is required for the sustainability of coastal fish species, yet this receives insufficient attention in fisheries management. As information further delineating the habitat mosaic and cross-jurisdictional boundary connections come to light, it is essential that this guides management revisions that take a broader spatial approach to flats fisheries management. This session will include presentations that focus on flats fish movement, habitat use, and connectivity at the local and regional scale. The panel will propose and discuss management policy revisions to include spatial information in flats fishery management.

Nov 5, 8:30 - 8:45 AM

Science to Guide Local Spatial Management for Flats Fisheries: Bahamas Case Study

Justin Lewis

Justin Lewis

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, 2937 SW 27th Avenue, Suite 203, Miami, FL 33133, USA, justin@bonefishtarpontrust.org

Aaron Adams Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, 2937 SW 27th Avenue, Suite 203, Miami, FL 33133, USA

The Bahamian archipelago spans 470,000 km² making up 17% of Caribbean region. The vast majority of which encompasses a variety of marine habitats that are all utilized by humans for a multitude of recreational and commercial purposes. Such a large archipelagic spatial area brings unique conservation management challenges especially at the local level (island by island). This case study will focus on conservation efforts in the flats marine environment, which supports a lucrative recreational catch & release fishery for bonefish (Abula vulpes). Bonefish & Tarpon Trusts scientific and outreach & education work in The Bahamas will highlight the challenges and effectiveness of conservation management at the local level, and how it can contribute to big picture regional conservation efforts.

Nov 5, 8:45 - 9 AM

Mapping Hurricane Dorian’s impact on the mangrove forests of Grand Bahama and Abaco

Jordan R. Cissell

Jordan R. Cissell

Department of Geography and Sociology, Samford University, 800 Lakeshore Drive, Birmingham, AL 35229 jcissel1@samford.edu

Michael K. Steinberg Department of Geography, University of Alabama, Box 870322, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0322 mksteinberg@ua.edu

Hurricane Dorian struck the Bahamas in September 2019, causing

extensive destruction to the mangrove forests of Grand Bahama Island and the Abaco Islands. Among other important ecological and economic functions, the islands’ mangrove forests are essential parts of coastal habitat mosaics that support the islands’ recreational bonefish (Albula vulpes) fisheries. Therefore, it is imperative that we understand where and how much mangrove destruction occurred. In this study, we combined field surveys and satellite imagery analysis to map and quantify the impact of Hurricane Dorian on the mangrove forests of Grand Bahama and Abaco. We found that more than 70% and 40% of the mangrove forests of Grand Bahama and Abaco, respectively, were damaged or destroyed. Mangrove destruction was most prevalent on the north coast and east end of Grand Bahama Island, the west coast of Great Abaco Island, and in the Marls. These results will help identify priority areas for mangrove restoration initiatives, and they will provide a spatially explicit baseline for monitoring mangrove restoration and recovery.

Nov 5, 9 - 9:15 AM

Shallow water gamefish connectivity on southern Cuba

Fabián Pina Amargós

Fabián Pina Amargós, Tamara Figueredo Martín Avalon, Paz 213, Entre San Bernardino y Zapotes, Santo Suarez, 10 de Octubre, Habana tammyfim@gmail.com, fabianpina1972@gmail.com

Information on movement patterns of fish is critical for sound fisheries, tourism and conservation. Since 2010 (with a covid related gap in 2021), Avalon tourism company is carrying out a tagging program on southern Cuba using conventional external tags. Tarpon (Megalops atlanticus), bonefish (Albula vulpes), permit (Trachinotus falcatus) and snook (Centropomus undecimalis) have been tagged on Isla de la Juventud, Cayo Largo, Jardines de la Reina and surroundings. There have been tagged almost 7,000 individuals with more than 300 recaptures. On Isla de la Juventud-Cayo Largo, bonefish have moved from 0 to 28.5 nautical miles, tarpon from 0 to 45.4 nautical miles and permit from 0 to 15.5 nautical miles. On Jardines de la Reina, bonefish have moved from 0 to 44.2 nautical miles, presumably crossing Golfo de Ana María, a 25 m deep interior sea between Jardines de la Reina and Cuba. Those facts relevant for management of fisheries, tourism and conservation.

Nov 5, 9:15 - 9:30 AM

A Stakeholder-Engaged Approach to Evaluating Spawning Aggregation Management as a Strategy for Conserving Bonefish (Albula vulpes) in Cuba

Martin Ostrega

Martin Ostrega

Marine Affairs Program, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada martin.ostrega@dal.ca

Megan Bailey

Marine Affairs Program, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada

Aaron J. Adams

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, 2937 SW 27th Avenue, #203, Miami, FL 33133, USA.

Florida Atlantic University Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, 5600 US 1, Fort Pierce, FL 33946, USA

Fabián Pina-Amargós

Blue Sanctuary, Avalon. Jardines de la Reina, Cuba

Steven J. Cooke

Department of Biology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Dr., Ottawa, ON,

K1S 5B6, Canada

Animals that congregate in large numbers to reproduce in spatially and temporally distinct locations are susceptible to overexploitation. Many fishes form spawning aggregations that are intentionally targeted given high catch rates. Bonefish (Albula spp.) species aggregate to spawn, and are culturally and economically important, but generally lack management such as spawning area protections to ensure that fisheries are sustainable. Here, we use Cuba as a case study to develop an improved management strategy for bonefish. Recommendations for the management of bonefish pre-spawning aggregations were based on international experiences, which have been adapted to the Cuban context from results of surveys and interviews with Cuban fisheries professionals and fishing guides. The achievability and feasibility of recommendations were further reviewed by additional experts in the field of fisheries, management, and Cuban policy. The process revealed extensive data-limitations for bonefish fisheries and underscored the importance of including fishing guides, local ecological knowledge, and the context of marine protected areas in Cuba for bonefish management. Recommendations include: 1) initiating information exchange between Cuban management agencies and third-party institutions related to bonefish management; 2) utilizing local ecological knowledge to gather information, formulate management strategies, and enforce regulations; 3) implementing spatial and temporal management measures for bonefish spawning sites; 4) using what is already in place, by protecting spawning sites in the context of existing marine protected areas; 5) collaborating with all stakeholders to manage bonefish spawning sites; and 6) reducing the commercial harvest of the species.

Nov 5, 9:30 - 10 AM

Everything we have learned from BTT’s Permit Tracking Project

Jacob W. Brownscombe

Jacob W. Brownscombe and Steven J. Cooke

Department of Biology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1S 5B6

Lucas P. Griffin and Andy J. Danylchuk

Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA USA 01003

Danielle Morley, Alejandro Acosta, John Hunt

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 2796 Overseas Highway, Suite 119, Marathon, Florida, USA 33050

Susan K. Lowerre-Barbieri

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, 100 8th Avenue Southeast, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA

Fisheries and Aquatic Science Program, School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, 7922 Northwest 71st Street, Gainesville, FL, 32653-3071, USA

Aaron J. Adams

Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, 2937 SW 27th Ave, Suite 203, Miami, FL 33133

Florida Atlantic University Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, 5600 North Highway A1A, Fort Pierce, FL, USA

For the past five years we have been conducting extensive studies on Permit in the Florida Keys to gain key insights into their biology and inform conservation actions for this valuable species. Using study methods including advanced tracking technologies, chemical markers in their tissues, and catch-and-release survival studies, we have learned a lot about how Permit make a living in coastal areas of

the Keys and their conservation threats. In this talk I will attempt to summarise everything that we have learned about Permit from these studies, including their movements between flats and reef habitats, key spawning locations, the conditions that drive their habitat use, long term population trends, and the impacts of catch-and-release fishing methods. This information has many important conservation implications, and BTT has already been successful in using it to support valuable management actions in Florida, with more to come.

Nov 5, 10 - 10:15 AM

Stress, predators, and survival: Permit catch-and-release fishing mortality in the Florida Keys

Peter E. Holder

Peter E. Holder, Steven J. Cooke

Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Lab, Department of Biology and Institute of Environmental and Interdisciplinary Science, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1S 5B6

Lucas P. Griffin, Andy J. Danylchuk

Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA, USA 01003\

Aaron J. Adams

Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, 135 San Lorenzo Ave., Suite 860, Coral Gables, FL, USA 33146

Jacob W. Brownscombea

Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Lab, Department of Biology and Institute of Environmental and Interdisciplinary Science, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1S 5B6

Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, 1355 Oxford Street, Halifax, NS, Canada, B4H 4R2

Catch-and-release fishing (C&R) is an important conservation strategy for permit in South Florida and beyond. It is therefore important to understand the impacts of C&R and develop best practices to ensure the fishery is sustainable. To address this, we conducted an extensive assessment of the impacts on C&R on permit in diverse habitats in the Florida Keys, including the flats, nearshore and offshore reefs and shipwrecks. Permit were generally robust to the impacts of C&R, but depredation by large sharks prior to landing was prevalent at certain locations, some of which are known or suspected spawning locations. I will discuss the specific findings of this study, and the importance of addressing permit depredation issues for the sustainability of permit fisheries in South Florida.

Nov 5, 10:30 - 10:45 AM

Seedlings of Hope: Kickstarting Mangrove Recovery In The Northern Bahamas After Hurricane Dorian

Nina Sanchez

Justin Lewis, Nina Sanchez

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust. 2937 SW 27th Ave, Suite 203, Miami, FL 33133 USA

Kyle Rossin, Keith Rossin

MANG, West Palm Beach, FL USA

Olivia Patterson Maura, Falon Cartwright

Friends of the Environment, GWMQ+3P4, Marsh Harbour, Bahamas

Hurricane Dorian was the most powerful and destructive hurricane to ever hit The Bahamas. Fishing communities were devastated by the storm where recreational bonefishing and commercial fishing are cornerstones of East Grand Bahamas’ and Abaco’s economy.

Initial surveys suggested that the underwater habitat on the flats were intact, and bonefish populations were healthy. Results from

remote sensing surveys showed that on Abaco an area of 40.12% (21,000 acres) of mangroves were damaged or destroyed, and on Grand Bahama an area of 73.77% (22,000 acres) of mangroves were damaged or destroyed. These high levels of damage and mortality indicated that restoration efforts were needed to kickstart mangrove recovery on Grand Bahama and Abaco. The Northern Bahamas Restoration Project is a multi-year effort with the goal to help kickstart mangrove recovery in areas that suffered severe damage or total loss due to Hurricane Dorian, to maintain the ecological function of flats and coastal habitats essential to the economic health of The Bahamas. It’s essential that this work is conducted now since erosion of sediments as dead mangroves decay would make areas unsuitable for mangrove recolonization. The project includes an education and outreach component that will involve schools, community groups and fishing guides. Red Mangroves (Rhizophora mangle) is the focus of this project, with black mangroves (Avicennia germinans) and white mangroves (Laguncularia racemose) being planted in appropriate areas. Propagules are being collected from around The Bahamas where they are being grown in nurseries to sapling size. BTT and our partners Bahamas National Trust, Friends of the Environment, and MANG have been focusing restoration planting in two types of areas: those that lost mature seed-bearing mangrove trees, so that mangroves planted there will grow to adult size and produce propagules that will re-seed the surrounding area; and areas that would be prone to erosion over time if mangroves don’t become re-established.

Nov 5, 10:45 - 11 AM

Requesting YOUR input: development of a new tool that estimates larval transport for supporting resource management of flats fisheries

Jennifer Warrillow

Jennifer Warrillow Fathom Science, 514 Daniels Street, #349, Raleigh, NC 27605 USA jwarrillow@ fathomscience.com

Creating recreational fishing regulations are necessary to maintain healthy populations of highly desired sport fish like tarpon, bonefish, and permit. Resource managers often don’t have enough information on size and structure of these populations, so in some instances they manage these fisheries using strategic habitat protection. This requires detailed information on population distributions using expensive satellite tracking, acoustic tracking, or mark-recapture. While that data is useful, connectivity between populations remains largely unknown for many species. We offer a new tool that estimates larval drift paths from spawning to settlement, providing an easy and cost-effective way to evaluate connectivity. This allows managers to prioritize spawning and recruitment habitats for protection. In this talk, we present our new web-based, interactive larval tracking system designed for resource managers. In development by Fathom Science, this tool is the first of its kind for users to input known spawning information and download larval dispersal information. We used this system to investigate larval dispersal of tarpon in the larger Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea area. We then expand on how the results can be used for guiding current management decisions of tarpon, bonefish, and permit populations. We seek input from fisheries and resource managers on the refinement of this new tool.

- 11:15 AM

An extreme climate event and extensive habitat alterations cause a non-linear and persistent decline to a wellmanaged estuarine fishery R.E. Boucek

Boucek, R.E.

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, 2937 SW 27th Ave, Suite 203, Miami, FL 33133, USA Allen, M., S.

Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Program, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Nature Coast Biological Station, University of Florida, Cedar Key, Florida, United States of America Ellis, R. D.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA

Estes, J.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Department of Marine Fisheries Management, Tallahassee, FL, 32301, USA

Lowerre-Barbieri S.

Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Program, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Nature Coast Biological Station, University of Florida, Cedar Key, Florida, United States of America

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA

Adams, A. J.

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, 2937 SW 27th Ave, Suite 203, Miami, FL, USA

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Department of Marine Fisheries Management, Tallahassee, FL, 32301, USA

Theoretical, field-based, and experimental research all suggest that animal populations remain relatively stable under increasing habitat alteration until a critical threshold is reached, after which small changes to habitats result in large negative responses. However, few empirical examples exist showing if marine fishes respond non-linearly to habitat alteration, preventing fisheries managers from adopting corresponding population models into management strategies. Here, we synthesized long-term (25+ year) fisheries and habitat datasets across four estuaries in Florida (USA) to examine the combined effects of an extreme climate event and fish kill, as well as habitat alterations on populations of an estuarine fish, Common Snook (Centropomus undecimalis). In Florida, Common Snook support an important recreational fishery where harvest is well-managed. Common Snook populations in three estuaries with less severe habitat alterations recovered to pre-disturbance levels within four years of the cold kill. However, in the estuary with extensive habitat alteration – including 75% loss of mangrove habitats, a 65,000 acre seagrass die-off, and eutrophication – the Common Snook population has yet to recover eight years after the cold kill. Using a life-stage explicit approach, habitat alterations affecting juvenile survival or larval settlement may be responsible for decreased resilience. This study highlights the need for fisheries management to consider habitat loss along with harvest in stock assessment and management processes, and to adopt policies to protect and restore habitats to maintain productive fisheries, mitigating non-linear and costly declines to fisheries.

Nov 5, 11:15 - 11:30 AM

The case for regional management of flats fisheries Addiel U. Perez

Addiel U, Perez, Aaron J Adams, JoEllen K. Wilson, Justin Lewis & Ross Boucek Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, 2937 SW 27th Avenue, Suite 203, Miami, FL 33133 addiel@bonefishtarpontrust.org

Bonefish, tarpon and permit have both local and regional connectivity within the entire Western Atlantic Region via larval dispersal and adult migrations, which have interjurisdictional implications. For example, adult bonefish from Belize and Mexico make a seasonal spawning migration to a confirmed pre-spawning location in northern Belize. Internationally, oceanic larval dispersal of bonefish, tarpon, and permit link populations in the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and western North Atlantic Ocean. Moreover, travel by anglers and guides links the US and the Caribbean, creating an exchange of economies and culture. Conservation work by BTT in the BelizeMexico region since 2010 shows the top threats to the flats fishery are habitat loss and degradation, overharvest, and lack of enforcement of existing fisheries and protected areas regulations. The life cycles of bonefish, tarpon, and permit depend upon diverse habitats, and their environmental requirements (such as water quality) make them especially vulnerable to these threats. Important to the regional health of the flats fishery is the aforementioned connectivity – as flats fish populations and habitats decline in one location, the impacts are felt in other locations throughout the region. For example, larvae from bonefish and permit spawned in Belize and Mexico reach the Florida Keys, where they contribute to local fish populations, so as bonefish populations in Belize and Mexico decline, the Keys population likely suffers as well. Because fish populations in Belize and Mexico are connected to fisheries in the Caribbean and Western Atlantic, the conservation and socioeconomic implications will be regional.

Nov 5, 11:30 AM - 12 PM

Crossing the Line: how multi-year trends in the movement patterns of Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) indicate the need for cooperative management in the Southeastern USA and Gulf of Mexico

Lucas P. Griffin

Lucas P. Griffin, Alex Filous, Andy J. Danylchuk Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA 01003, USA lucaspgriffin@gmail. com

Jacob Brownscombe, Peter E. Holder, Steven J. Cooke Department of Biology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1S 5B6

JoEllen K. Wilson

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, 135 San Lorenzo Avenue, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA

Peter E. Holder

Florida Atlantic University, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, 5600 US 1 North, Fort Pierce, FL 34946, USA.

Aaron J. Adams

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, 2937 SW 27th Ave, Suite 203, Miami, FL 33133, USA

Florida Atlantic University, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, 5600 US 1 North, Fort Pierce, FL 34946, USA.

Within the Gulf of Mexico and southeastern USA, Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) are emblematic of the mismatch between the spatial ecology and the management of migratory species.

Relatively little is known about this purely recreational species that contributes to a fishery worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Here, relying on an extensive collaboration of institutional, state, federal, non-government organizations, and hundreds of recreational guides and anglers, we report on an ongoing tarpon acoustic telemetry project spanning the Gulf of Mexico and southeastern USA that began in 2016. To date, nearly 200 tarpon have been surgically implanted with small acoustic transmitters with the objective to quantify the spatial ecology of tarpon for a wide size range of individuals and for multiple years. All mature tarpon with adequate tracking durations and detection histories displayed some level of migratory movements with distance varying among individuals, and individual tarpon used a wide range of habitats (e.g., rivers and estuaries, mangroves, open ocean) within a single year. In warmer months, many tarpon moved north to productive estuarine systems that represent putative foraging grounds (for mullet, menhaden, crustaceans), and then move southward when water temperatures begin to decrease. Further, many tarpon return southward to the Florida Keys during the early spring months likely to spawn. We report novel findings surrounding the seasonal occupancy patterns within the Florida Keys, including the timing of arrival and departure. Ultimately, even some relatively small tarpon make considerable migrations (> 1000 km), providing critical insights related to habitat connectivity and the need for interstate cooperation on fishing regulations. Inter-season repeatability of movement patterns among individual tarpon indicates a level of site fidelity to spawning, foraging, and overwintering grounds, that needs to be incorporated in management strategies. Integrating movement data into management should help to reduce risks placed on tarpon stock from impacts such as habitat destruction, depredation, harvest, and declines in important foraging prey stocks.

Nov 5, 1 - 1:15 PM

Biophysical modeling of bonefish (Albula vulpes) larval transport from observed spawning events in Abaco, The Bahamas.

Steven Lombardo

Steven Lombardo, Laurent Chérubin, Matthew Ajemian Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University, 5600 US 1 N, Fort Pierce, FL 34946 slombardo2018@fau.edu

Aaron Adams Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University, 5600 US 1 N, Fort Pierce, FL 34946

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, 2937 SW 27th Ave Suite 203, Miami, FL 33133

Andy Danylchuk

Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA 01003.

Biophysical models are a powerful tool for assessing population connectivity of marine organisms that broadcast spawn. Bonefish (Albula vulpes) are an economically and culturally important sportfish species found throughout the Caribbean and have been shown to exhibit genetic connectivity among geographically distant populations. We created ontogenetically accurate biophysical models for bonefish larval transport based upon the only complete and partially observed spawning events in Abaco, The Bahamas in 2019, 2018, and 2013. Biological parameterizations for the simulations were informed through active acoustic telemetry, captive larval rearing, and field collections of related Albulids and Anguillids. Ocean

conditions were derived from the Regional Navy Coastal Ocean Model American Seas (NCOM AMSEAS) dataset. For each spawning event, 10000 particles were released at observed and putative spawning locations throughout the water column to simulate the observed spawning rush behavior. Particles were allowed to disperse for the full 71-day bonefish pelagic larval duration (PLD) and settlement densities in defined settlement zones were assessed along with interactions with ephemeral currents and gyres. Bonefish spawned in Abaco show dispersal throughout the northern Bahamas, exhibiting connectivity with Grand Bahama Island (GBI), the Berry Islands, and self-recruitment to lower and upper Abaco. Ephemeral gyres between Abaco and GBI, south of Abaco, and north of GBI play important roles in larval retention to the Bahamian archipelago. Further observation of spawning events and the creation of biophysical models will help to maximize bonefish spawning habitat protection efforts and may help to predict year-class strength for bonefish stocks throughout the Caribbean.

Nov 5, 1:15 - 1:30 PM

Temporal variability of bonefish larval supply in the backreef of Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System during winter season

Elva Leyva-Cruz

Elva Leyva-Cruz

Orientación Conservación de la Biodiversidad, Departamento de Posgrado, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Av. Centenario km 5.5 s/n, Col. Pacto Obrero Campesino. Zip Code 77014

Laura Carrillo

Departamento Observación y Estudio de la Tierra, la Atmósfera y el Océano, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur Lourdes Vásquez Yeomas

Departamento Sistemática y Ecología Acuática, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur. Bonefishes are a valuable resource in the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (MBRS), they are part of target species of recreational fishing. Nevertheless there is a lack of knowledge for their ecological requirements especially in the Early Life Stages (ELS). The first research with ELS of bonefish in the MBRS report a larval supply of 1665 organisms in two nights and posterior molecular analisys reveal a complex of three cryptic species (Albula vulpes, A. goreensis and A. cf. vulpes). Consequently, in the present work it was proposed to survey larval supply of bonefish using light traps. The monitoring was performed in 6 years (2004-2007, 2016 y 2019), placing the traps in months of the winter season (December-March) during the nights around new moon. 10,757 larvae were capturated in 72 nights, being 2005 the year more abundant. The results show peaks in larval recruitment in December (2005), January (2004 and 2007) and March (2005 and 2016) and a decline in larval arrival was observed for 2019.

Nov 5, 1:30 - 1:45 PM

Unveiling the secrets of Atlantic tarpon migrations

Jerald S. Ault

Jerald S. Ault & Jiangang Luo

University of Miami, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149 USA

For centuries, the mechanisms surrounding spatially complex ocean animal migrations have intrigued scientists and the public. Migrations of large charismatic tropical and subtropical marine fishes (e.g.,

Atlantic tarpon, bluefin & yellowfin tuna, blue marlin, sailfish, etc.) are especially important because they support world-class multibillion dollar sportfishing and tourism industries. Notably, in today’s economy marine sport fishing in Florida generates more annual revenues than the historically dominant citrus industry. From 2001 through 2018, we deployed 292 satellite telemetry tags on Atlantic tarpon to better understand large-scale seasonal migratory behaviors, critical habitats, spawning locations and important oceanographic features (e.g., fronts and eddies) that concentrate, retain and enhance the productivity of living resources across the south-eastern United States, Gulf of Mexico and northern Caribbean Sea. The effort was focused on providing critical information for determining the natural processes and anthropogenic stressors that influence population dynamics, and for developing effective conservation plans. Consequently, animal telemetry collects additional environmental, behavioral and physiological data, that when transmitted to satellites, provide unique insights into ocean regions difficult and expensive to monitor. Our innovative analytical methods for satellite telemetry data led us to discover that ocean heat content (OHC), a key physical metric fundamental to hurricane intensity forecasting, is also a key mechanism that guides the migration of tarpon. This novel discovery of explicit association with these prominent oceanographic features has been a revolutionizing force in the migration ecology of coastal and pelagic fishes. We highlight the OHC method that provides a new quantitative tool for studying dynamic use of ocean habitats, migration processes and responses to environmental changes by fishes, and further, improves ocean animal tracking and extends satellite-based animal tracking data for other potential physical, ecological, and fisheries applications critical to sustaining populations and ecosystem services. Our findings will provide critical input to these important efforts and assist the multinational community in the development of a first stock-wide management information system to support informed decision-making for sustaining Atlantic tarpon fisheries.

Nov 5, 1:45 - 2 PM

Cascading Effects of Climate Change on Nearshore Coastal Flats and their Recreational Fisheries

Andy J. Danylchuk

Andy J. Danylchuk

Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA 01003, USA

Lucas P. Griffin

Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA 01003, USA

Jake W. Brownscombe

Department of Biology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1S 5B6

Jonathan Shenker

Department of Marine Biology, Fisheries, Aquaculture, Florida Institute of Technology, 150 W University Blvd, Melbourne, FL 32901, USA

JoEllen Wilson

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, 2937 27th Ave, #203, Miami, FL 33133, USA

Michael S. Allen

Nature Coast Biological Station, Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences, University of Florida, Cedar Key, Florida, USA

School of Forest, Fisheries and Geomatic Sciences, Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

Robert Aherns

Fisheries Research and Monitoring Division, NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, 1845 Wasp Blvd., Bldg 176, Honolulu, HI 96818, USA

Tony Goldberg

School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1656 Linden Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA

Jennifer Rehage

Institute of Environment, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA ncast169@fiu.edu

Rolando Santos

Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA

Sascha Clark Danylchuk

Keep Fish Wet, 11 Kingman Rd. Amherst, MA 01002, USA

Grace Casselberry

Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA 01003, USA

Ross Boucek

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, 2937 27th Ave, #203, Miami, FL 33133, USA

Addiel Perez

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, 2937 27th Ave, #203, Miami, FL 33133, USA

Alex Filous

Aaron J. Adams

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, 2937 27th Ave, #203, Miami, FL 33133, USA

Florida Atlantic University, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, 5600 US 1 North, Fort Pierce, FL 34946, USA

Steven J. Cooke

Department of Biology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1S 5B6

Coastal flats are relatively shallow regions of the marine environment that are at the intersection of the land and sea. These coastal regions provide myriad of ecological goods and services, that, in turn, attract the attention of human societies and related economies, including for recreational fisheries focused on species that spend all or most of their time inhabiting coastal flats. Unfortunately, the cascading effects of climate change have the potential to negatively impact coastal flats across the globe, and particularly for those species that rely heavily on the for their life histories. In this talk, we review how the combined effects of climate change, including extremes in temperature and precipitation regimes, sea level rise, and changes in nutrient dynamics, are causing rapid and potentially permanent changes in the structure and function of flats habitats. We then use the available science on recreationally targeted species to reveal how these changes can cascade through layers of biological organization, from individuals, to populations, and communities, and ultimately feedback to impact the human societies and coastal communities that depend on them. Through this process, we identify critical gaps in knowledge related to the extent and severity of effects, and how such gaps influence the effectiveness conservation, management, policy, and grassroots efforts needed to curb the threats of climate change on coastal flats and the recreational targeted fish species that inhabit them.

Water Quality and Infrastructure

Presented by Untamed Angling

The most important habitat to our fishery is water, yet water quality, and the infrastructure that effects water quality, is rarely considered in fisheries management. This is especially concerning for coastal fisheries. Water infrastructure mismanagement includes alteration of freshwater flows into coastal waters, excess nutrients, contaminants, insufficient wastewater treatment, insufficient stormwater treatment, excess use of fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides. The impacts of some of these issues on our fisheries and habitats have long been known, others are coming to light. Recent and ongoing coastal ecological collapses highlight the urgency of this issue for flats fishery conservation. This session will include presentations that focus on the occurrence of pharmaceuticals and other contaminants in bonefish and their prey in the Florida Keys and the wider Caribbean Sea, and the presence of bonefish diseases in these areas. The panel discussion will focus on needed infrastructure changes to address these issues with urgency.

Nov 5, 3:15 - 3:30 PM

Effects of pharmaceuticals in aquatic environments –bridging the gap between lab and field Tomas Brodin

Tomas Brodin, Gustav Hellström

Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden.

Jerker Fick

Department of Chemistry, Umeå University, Sweden

Jonatan Klaminder

Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, Sweden. Humans consume more pharmaceuticals than ever and consumption is set to rise. As a consequence, increasing amounts of pharmaceuticals are released into waterways worldwide with virtually no knowledge of how they might affect aquatic ecosystems. Some conspicuous effects of these emerging contaminants are already evident including the feminization of fish by contraceptive residue. However, recent work suggests that important effects of pharmaceuticals in aquatic environments are much more widespread than currently believed, and that these effects may result in major changes in species interactions, population survival and ecosystem functioning. In several earlier laboratory studies, we have shown that concentrations of pharmaceuticals presently found in waterways alter important behavioural traits in both aquatic macroinvertebrates and fish, and that this in turn affects both feeding efficiency and predation risk. These results suggest that pharmaceutical contamination of aquatic environments may change species interactions, in particular predator-prey interactions, with severe ecosystem effects as potential consequence. Recently our research focus has turned towards realistic large-scale studies in lakes and rivers using acoustic telemetry to test if findings from the lab also hold in natural settings. The overall finding of the studies suggests that effects of pharmaceutical contamination of natural systems might be more

widespread than we predict based on conventional ecotoxicological tests. Our results highlight the importance of validating lab-results with field-studies, since the increased complexity of real ecosystems can produce unexpected effects of contamination.

Nov 5, 3:30 - 3:45 PM

Drugs in our flats: examining the threat of pharmaceuticals to our valuable bonefish fishery

Jennifer S Rehage

Jennifer S Rehage, Rolando O Santos, Nicholas A Castillo, Lauren Padron, W. Ryan James, Ryan J Rezek, Institute of Environment, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA rehagej@fiu.edu

Jerker Fick, Department of Chemistry, Umeå University,  Umeå, Sweden

Gustav Hellstrom, Tomas Brodin

Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies Department, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden

Coastal fisheries are increasingly facing threats associated with human-based contaminants. Pharmaceuticals are one of the contaminants of emerging concern, and commonly include antibiotics, antidepressants, pain relievers and hormones. These contaminants originate most often from human wastewater, remain unregulated, and are not removed by conventional water treatment. They are also active at low doses, can be released constantly, and exposure can affect all aspects of the behavior of fish, with important consequences for their reproduction and survival. In this study, we examine the potential threat of pharmaceuticals to our flats fishery, particularly bonefish. Pharmaceuticals are an important dimension of water quality issues, that until now have received little attention yet are an important threat to our fisheries.

Nov 5, 3:45 - 4 PM

Drugs in our flats: exposure of South Florida and Caribbean bonefish to pharmaceuticals

Nicholas A. Castillo

Nicholas A. Castillo, Ryan J. Rezek, W. Ryan James, Lauren Padron, Jennifer S. Rehage

Institute of Environment, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA ncast169@fiu.edu

Rolando O. Santos

Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA

Jerker Fick

Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umea, Sweden

Gustav Hellstrom

Department of Chemistry, Umea University, Umea, Sweden

Tomas Brodin

Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umea, Sweden

Department of Chemistry, Umea University, Umea, Sweden

In recent years, pharmaceutical contaminants have been recognized as an increasingly important class of emerging contaminants; however, very little is known about the presence and threats of pharmaceutical contaminants on large spatial scales in marine environments. In order to determine the potential exposure and threat of pharmaceutical contaminants to flats fisheries, we sampled

bonefish throughout South Florida from Biscayne Bay through the Dry Tortugas, and the Caribbean including the Bahamas, Mexico, Belize, and Puerto Rico. We tested for the presence of 100 different pharmaceuticals in ~120 bonefish and found pharmaceutical prevalence to be widespread. Throughout South Florida and the Caribbean, bonefish are exposed to a diverse suite of pharmaceuticals from different drug classes; a cocktail of drugs that can affect important behaviors in survival and population stability. Understanding the problem is the first step in formulating a solution, and in this study we establish the extent to which bonefish are exposed to pharmaceutical contaminants, elucidate spatial patterns in exposure, and explore potential causes of pharmaceutical exposure to bonefish in South Florida and the Caribbean.

Nov 5, 4 - 4:15 PM

Health and Disease in Bonefish: Can Infection with Viruses Explain Bonefish Declines?

Tony L Goldberg

Tony L Goldberg, Lewis J Campbell, Christopher D Dunn

School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1656 Linden Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706

Addiel Perez

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, 2937 SW 27th Avenue, Suite 203, Miami, FL 33133

Jacobo Schmitter-Soto

El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, A.P. 424, MX-77000 Chetumal, Q.R., Mexico

Nicholas Castillo, Rolando Santos Corujo, Jennifer Rehage, Department of Earth and Environment, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, OE 148, Miami, Florida, 33199

Aaron J Adams

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, 2937 SW 27th Avenue, Suite 203, Miami, FL 33133

Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Florida Atlantic University, 5600 N US Highway 1, Fort Pierce, Florida, 34946

Emerging infections can have profound effects on society, as the COVID-19 pandemic has amply demonstrated. Emerging infectious also affect wildlife populatuions, including marine fishes. Here, we describe an investigation of the potential role of viruses in bonefish (Albula vulpes) population declines in Florida and the Florida Keys. We test the hypothesis that unknown viruses exist in bonefish, and that their presence is associated with populations in the Florida Keys that have experienced declines. We collected blood samples non-lethally from bonefish in the Florida Keys, The Bahamas, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Belize. We applied “virus hunting” methods based on next-generation DNA sequencing to characterize the bonefish “virome” (the community of viruses). We identified four previously unknown viruses in A. vulpes, each of which is a distant relative of viruses found in other marine fish across the world. The number of viruses and the intensity of infection of those viruses was markedly higher in the Florida Keys than in the other locations studied. The viruses may be pathogens (i.e. they may cause disease directly), or they may be indirect indicators of immunological stress caused by other factors, such as pollution or habitat degradation. Our efforts will inform conservation and management efforts by, for example, enabling surveillance for new and emerging pathogens and informing recommendations for keeping bonefish populations “disease-free” or “healthy” through evidence-based management. Future studies will examine the sources of these viruses and whether they cause disease or reflect ill health.

Nov 5, 4:15 - 4:30 PM

What can gill microbiomes tell us about bonefish (Albula vulpes) health and population connectivity in the Western Atlantic?

Lewis J Campbell

Lewis J Campbell, Christopher D Dunn, Tony L Goldberg

School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1656 Linden Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA

Addiel Perez

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, 2937 SW 27th Avenue, Suite 203, Miami, FL 33133, USA

Juan Jacobo Schmitter-Soto

El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, A.P. 424, MX-77000 Chetumal, Q.R., Mexico

Nicholas Castillo, Rolando Santos Corujo, Jennifer Rehage

Department of Earth and Environment, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, OE 148, Miami, Florida, 33199, USA

Steven Cooke

Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada

Andy Danylchuk,

Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA 01003, USA

Aaron J Adams

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, 2937 SW 27th Avenue, Suite 203, Miami, FL 33133, USA

Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Florida Atlantic University, Fort Pierce, Florida, 34946, USA

Floridian populations of bonefish (Albula vulpes) have undergone significant declines in recent decades. Although several possible explanations for these declines have been investigated, the roles of infectious disease, invasive microbes, and disturbed microbiomes remain little explored. The term “microbiome” here refers to the collection of bacterial species that reside on/in a particular tissue or organ system. Research from other systems has shown that microbiomes play a crucial role in core biological processes, such as digestion, immunity, and even behavior. As a result, disruptions of normally stable microbiomes by factors such as physiological stress, pollution, or disease can significantly impact health at the individual and population level.Here, we present results of a study characterizing and comparing A. vulpes gill microbiomes from fish sampled throughout the Western Atlantic region. Using powerful, next-generation DNA sequencing technologies, we analyzed gill microbiomes of over 200 wild-caught A. vulpes. By comparing bacterial species compositions of these gill microbiomes, we were able to demonstrate the presence of potentially diseasecausing bacteria in fish from populations that have undergone historic declines. Additionally, we were able to show that the composition of microbiomes of bonefish gills are geographically distinct (e.g. between the Florida Keys and The Bahamas) Futher, we found that this geographical distinction provides opportunity for the development of non-invasive tools for the assessment of connectivityamong bonefish populations.

Nov 5, 4:30 - 4:45 PM

Jennifer Rehage

Jennifer Rehage, Andy Distrubell, Shakira Trabelsi, Nicholas Castillo, Ryan James

Institute of Environment, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199

Ryan Rezek

Department of Marine Science, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC 29528

Daniel Cerveny

Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Science, Umeå, Sweden

Jerker Fick

Department of Chemistry, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

Ross Boucek, Aaron Adams

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, Coral Gables, FL 33146

Chris Malinowski

Ocean First Institute, Boulder, CO 80301

Tomas Brodin

Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Science, Umeå, Sweden

Department of Chemistry, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

Pharmaceuticals are an emerging contaminant in the marine environment. While most studies have examined pharmaceutical contamination in rivers and streams, recent work is raising awareness about the extent of pharmaceutical contamination in coastal and marine environments. Our previous work has detected extensive and concerning exposure in South Florida and Caribbean Bonefish (Albula vulpes). But, is this exposure restricted to bonefish or is it widespread to other fisheries and estuaries outside South Florida? This study addresses this unknown by investigating the exposure of pharmaceutical contaminants to Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) throughout Florida to: 1) analyze the extent to which marine fish species are exposed to pharmaceuticals throughout Florida, and 2) assess the relative threat of pharmaceutical exposure to humans via consumption of contaminated fish since Red Drum are a common fish consumed by recreational fisherman. We collected 15 Red Drum from 9 estuaries throughout Florida with 3 estuaries on the east coast, 5 estuaries on the west coast, and 1 estuary in South Florida.  Blood and muscle samples were collected and then analyzed for the presence of 104 commonly-prescribed pharmaceuticals. The concentrations of pharmaceuticals in the blood inform the extent to which Red Drum are burdened by pharmaceutical contaminants, while detected concentrations in the muscle tissue allow for assessment of pharmaceutical exposure to humans via fish consumption. This study serves as the first large scale investigation of pharmaceutical contaminants in Florida estuaries. Our results help identify needed improvements in wastewater treatment infrastructure, and inform the public of the relative threat of exposure to pharmaceutical contaminants from consumption of recreational fish species.

Nov 5, 4:45 - 5 PM

Possible solutions to pharmaceutical pollution - Effects of full-scale ozonation of treated effluent Jerker Fick

Jerker Fick

Department of Chemistry, Umeå University, Sweden.2 Tomas Brodin

Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, Sweden. Joakim Larsson

Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Leif Norrgren

Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural  Sciences, Sweden.

Berndt Björnelius

Division of Industrial Biotechnology, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden

One class of new emerging contaminants that have received a lot of attention lately are the pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceuticals are a diverse group of chemicals used in large quantities and are, in contrast to most chemicals used in society, designed to cause a specific pharmacological effect in biological systems. Pharmaceuticals have been found in aquatic systems globally, due to a combination of worldwide usage and low removal efficiency in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), or a complete lack of WWTPs. Concentrations of pharmaceuticals usually range from low µg l-1 to low ng l-1 with the higher values close to point sources and the lower in receiving rivers or marine environments. Concentrations correlate to human population density in the drainage area, volume of the receiving water body and technologies used in WWTPs. Several techniques are being investigated that would increase the removal of pharmaceuticals in WWTPs, so called tertiary treatment steps, with advanced oxidation processes and adsorption being the two most studied so far.

In this presentation we will present an overview of the problem of pharmaceutical pollution and present the most used tertiary treatment options today. We will also present a study where we used ozonation as an additional tertiary treatment step and also investigated the environmental impact on the receiving river. Several methods to evaluate the impact of ozonation were used; including impact on microbial community composition, presence of antibiotic resistance genes as well as studies to detect endocrine, reproductive and behavioral effects in fish and its progeny.

A statewide survey of pharmaceutical exposure: Red Drum across Florida estuaries

Science Posters

Five years of collaborative research partnership: preliminary results and future steps

Jorge Angulo-Valdés

Jorge Angulo-Valdés1, Zenaida María Navarro-Martínez2, Leandro Rodriguez-Viera2, Laura Lopez-Castaneda2, Dorka Cobian-Rojas3, Lazaro Vinola-Valdes4, Lazaro Cotayo-Cedeno4, Gabriel Cotayo-Ojeda5, Edy GarciaAlfonso6, William Szelistowski1, Aaron Adams7

1Galbraith Marine Science Laboratory, Eckerd College, 4200 54th Ave S, Saint Petersburg, Florida 33711, United States of America (anguloj@eckerd.edu).

2Centro de Investigaciones Marinas, Universidad de la Habana, Havana, Cuba (CIM-UH), Calle 16 # 114 e/ 1ra y 3ra, Miramar, Playa, CP 11300, Habana, Cuba.

3Parque Nacional Guanahacabibes, La Bajada, C.P. 24160, Pinar del Río, Cuba.

4Parque Nacional Ciénaga de Zapata, 894W+PHX, Col Pescadores de Langostas, Cuba

5Facultad de Biología, Universidad de la Habana, Cuba.

6Empresa Provincial Flora y Fauna, Villa Clara, Cuba.

7Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, 2937 SW 27th Ave, Suite 203, Miami, FL 33133, United States of America.

Cuba’s coastal environments are fairly well-preserved, but fish populations are heavily exploited and presumed threatened by both commercial and sport fisheries. Given Cuba’s extensive juvenile and adult habitat and multiple spawning sites for flats fishery species, along with its potentially high connectivity to other locations in the Caribbean region, BTT, Eckerd College, and several Cuban institutions embarked on a collaborative research partnership. This program aims at assessing the status of flats-species populations, important attributes of their habitats and ecology, and how they connect to other countries in the region. After five years of collaboration, several projects (tarpon nursery habitats, migration patterns of juvenile tarpon, bonefish health, and habitat characterization) are underway and others are planned to begin soon. This poster presents preliminary results and future steps of this partnership, highlighting the importance of international collaboration to address regional issues of shared resources.

Landings, Effort and CPUE for the Tarpon Megalops atlanticus fisheries in Delta of Parnaiba, Northeastern Brazil

Alan C. de S. Araujo

Alan C. de S. Araujo, Rafael L. Pereira, Cezar A. F. Fernandes, Carlos E. L. dos S. Silva, Werlanne M. de S. Magalhães, Maria A. do P. Gondolo, Daniel M. P. Castro, Guilherme F. Gondolo and Francisca E. de A. Cunha

1Universidade Federal do Delta do Parnaíba, Curso de Eng. de Pesca, PI 64049 550 Parnaíba, Brazil

2Instituto Tartarugas do Delta, SESC Praia, PI, 64220 000 Luís Correia, Brazil

3Universidade Estadual do Piauí, Curso de Zootecnia, PI 64002 150 Teresina, Brazil

4Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação e Biodiversidade, Complexo Administrativo, Bloco C, Setor Sudoeste, DF 70670 350 Brasília, Brazil

5Secretaria da Agricultura Familiar, CERAQUA, Rua João Cabral, 2319, Pirajá, Teresina, PI 64.002 150, Brazil

Artisanal fishing is an important source of income and protein for the fishing communities that live in the Delta of Parnaiba and the adjacent marine region. One of the target species of this activity is the Tarpon (Megalops atlanticus), due to its economic importance. This research focused on the Tarpon artisanal fishery with hand line to measure fishery productivity through CPUE (catch per unit of effort) and fishing effort. The study was carried out on Pedra do Sal beach, in the Environmental Protection Area in the Parnaiba Delta, from September 2018 to May 2020, as part of the Project Rotas da Conservação. The data were obtained by observing the landing of tarpon in relation to the number of individuals caught / day, and through Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) interviews. From the landings, 168 individuals were measured (length, total weight and the weight of the gonads), with higher values in the dry season. The total fishery production was 7,389 kg, with 3,826 kg in the dry season and 3,563 kg in the rainy season. The fishing effort was greater in the rainy season (mean 52.8 ± 24.9 SD), as was CPUE (28.3 ± 3.7) in relation to the weight of the fish and the number of hooks/day. Thus, the tarpon fishery has higher production, with larger and heavier individuals in the dry season, whereas effort and CPUE were greater in the rainy season.

Research financed by Shell Brasil. Resources from the research and development and innovation clause of the concession contracts of the National Petroleum Agency.

A new, non-lethal method to examine bonefish diet for catch and release fisheries Lewis J Campbell

Lewis J Campbell1, Nicholas Castillo2, Jonathan M Shenker3, Leah A Owens1, Christopher D Dunn1, Rolando Santos Corujo2, Jennifer Rehage2, Aaron J Adams4,5, Kate E Denton6, Tony L Goldberg1

1School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1656 Linden Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706

2Department of Earth and Environment, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, OE 148, Miami, Florida, 33199

3Department of Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, 150 W University Boulevard, Melbourne, Florida, 32901

4Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, 2937 SW 27th Avenue, Suite 203, Miami, FL 33133

5Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Florida Atlantic University, 5600 N US Highway 1, Fort Pierce, Florida, 34946

6NatureMetrics, 1 Occam Court, Surrey Research Park, Guildford, UK, GU2 7HJ

Understanding the dietary requirements of a species is key for

understanding its distribution and for predicting the impact of environmental perturbations on the viability of populations. In the context of fisheries, it is essential information for effective management. Traditionally, dietary analysis of fish has consisted of visual evaluation of partially digested stomach and intestinal contents, an approach that has several limitations. First and foremost, it is often lethal to the fish, making it inappropriate for catch-and-release fisheries and protected species. It is also time consuming, requires specialized expertise, and prey items can usually only be assigned to a broad taxonomic rank (e.g. “shrimp” or “crab”).

Here, we present a non-lethal method for dietary analysis in bonefish (Albula species) using DNA extracted from cloacal swabs. Fifteen fish were caught by hook and line in the Florida Keys. We compared the results of traditional stomach contents analysis with molecular analyses of stomach contents and cloacal swabs based on DNA barcoding. Our results suggest that our new approach has promise for full and accurate reconstruction of bonefish diet and enables the classification of prey items to finer taxonomic scales than possible by visual analysis. This method will be especially useful for studies of catch and release fisheries and protected species.

Engaging fishers in building local management plans for tarpon Megalops atlanticus fisheries in Delta of Parnaiba, Northeastern Brazil Daniel M. P. Castro

Daniel M. P. Castro, Cezar A. F. Fernandes, Francisca E. de A. Cunha, Carlos E. L. dos S. Silva, Alan C. de S. Araujo, Rafael L. Pereira, M. A. dos P. Gondolo, Aaron Adams, Guilherme F. Gondolo and Werlanne M. de S. Magalhães

1Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação e Biodiversidade, Complexo Administrativo, Bloco C, Setor Sudoeste, DF 70670 350 Brasília, Brazil2Universidade Federal do Delta do Parnaíba, Curso de Eng. de Pesca, PI 64049 550 Parnaíba, Brazil

3Universidade Estadual do Piauí, Curso de Zootecnia, PI 64002 150 Teresina, Brazil

4Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, 135 San Lorenzo Ave. Suite 860, Coral Gables, FL 331462937 SW 27th Ave, Suite 203, Miami, FL 33133, United States of America.

5Secretaria da Agricultura Familiar, CERAQUA, Rua João Cabral, 2319, Pirajá, Teresina, PI 64.002 150, Brazil

6Instituto Tartarugas do Delta, SESC Praia, PI, 64220 000 Luís Correia, Brazil

The Ordinance of the Ministry of the Environment of Brazil MMA 445/14, includes Tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) in the vulnerable category, prohibiting its capture, especially in protected areas.

Protected area management institutions are responsible for formulating recovery plans for the target species. A collaborative approach engaging fishers, community leaders, entities representing fisheries, NGOs, researchers and public authorities was used to formulate a Recovery Plan for the conservation and population recovery of tarpon. After local meetings were used to

break down barriers and exchange information, fishermen sent a letter to the managing institution (ICMBIO) requesting the tarpon recovery plan. A workshop and participatory methodologies –elaboration of spoken maps and targeted conversations were used to collect information on fishing locations, equipment, types of boats, fishers and seasonality of fishing. The resulting Recovery Plan for tarpon in the Environmental Protection Area in the Parnaiba Delta, established guidelines, measures and recommendations for the conservation and recovery of the species by integrating ecological and socioeconomic measures. Goals include reducing fishing mortality at multiple life stages to ensure successful reproduction and recruitment by instituting rules on minimum sizes, as well as limitations of fishing gear, areas and fishing seasons. In addition, the Plan calls for transferring landlocked tarpon to the estuary. The Plan also aims to reduce social inequalities and optimize the economic benefits from fishing, by eliminating the middlemen from the sales process, certification of products from a protected area, and improvement of product quality. Finally, the Plan requires monitoring to evaluate the proposed measures and actions.

The Guanahacabibes Peninsula Biosphere Reserve, a potential site for research, monitoring and management of recreational fishing Dorka Cobián-Rojas

Dorka Cobián-Rojas1, Zenaida M. Navarro-Martínez2, Leandro Rodríguez Viera2, Eddy García-Alfonso3, Pedro Reyes2, Aaron Adams4, Jorge AnguloValdés5

1Parque Nacional Guanahacabibes, Centro de Investigaciones y Servicios Ambientales, Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología y Medio Ambiente, La Bajada, 22100 Pinar del Río, Cuba. dorkacobianrojas79@gmail.com

2Centro de Investigaciones Marinas, Universidad de La Habana (CIM-UH), Cuba zenaida@cim.uh.cu; 53872776

3Refugio de Fauna Lanzanillo-Pajonal-Fragoso, Cuba manati@gmail.com 4Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, USA; Florida Atlantic University Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, USA aaron@bonefishtarpontrust.org 5Eckerd College, USA anguloj@eckerd.edu.

This work aims to illustrate the potential of the Guanahacabibes Peninsula Biosphere Reserve (GPBR) to develop recreational fishing activities in a sustainable way. The north coast of the GPBR is characterized by extensive areas of seagrass, mangroves and inland lagoons in good condition. These habitats have been isolated from human impacts for more than 45 years, making them among the healthiest in Cuba and the Caribbean region. Four species of importance for recreational fishing are recorded in its waters (tarpon, bonefish, permit and common snook). Researchers from the reserve work with the Center for Marine Research, Eckerd College, and the BTT on two projects: “Connectivity of Megalops atlanticus (Actinopterygii: Megalopidae) in Cuba, and its relationship with the Greater Caribbean” and “Evaluation of the health of the populations of Albula vulpes in Cuba”. We present the main lines of research of both studies, which will build the baseline

that will allow evaluating the conservation status and future changes caused by anthropic or natural factors in these species. Recreational fishing is very incipient in this area, which makes it easier to apply an effective management program based on successful experiences in other Caribbean countries. Given the economic importance and regional relevance, tarpon and bonefish have been listed in the GPBR Management Plan as priority conservation targets, for which research, monitoring and management actions are given priority aiming at guarantying the sustainable use of these species in the future.

Movement patterns of sub-adult Atlantic Tarpon in the coastal Everglades: how might ‘getting the water right’ impact Tarpon habitat use?

Cody Eggenberger

Cody Eggenberger1, Rolando Santos1, Ryan Rezek1, Ryan James1, Christopher Madden2, Jennifer Rehage1

1Institute of Environment, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, Florida, 33199

2South Florida Water Management District, West Palm Beach, FL 33411

Understanding how an animal’s habitat requirements shift across its lifetime can be critical to establishing successful conservation and management strategies. This is particularly true for the development of effective management strategies for economically important, long-lived species that use a diverse suit of habitats over its lifetime like the Atlantic Tarpon. While we are beginning to gain a better understanding of the habitat selection and movement patterns of adult Atlantic Tarpon, less is understood about the habitat selection and movement patterns of sub-adult Tarpon. In this study, we use acoustic telemetry tracking methods to examine the movement patterns of sub-adult Atlantic Tarpon in two adjacent systems of varying environmental conditions in the coastal Everglades. We investigated if movement patterns differed between the two subestuaries located on the northern rim of Florida Bay and determined which environmental drivers best explain their movement patterns. This research seeks to develop a predictive framework for how habitat use patterns track hydrological variation, restoration efforts, and climate change.

Preliminary satellite telemetry results on Atlantic tarpon Megalops atlanticus movements in the Parnaiba Delta, northeastern Brazil

Cezar A. F. Fernandes

Cezar A. F. Fernandes, Francisca E. de A. Cunha, Carlos E. L. dos S. Silva, Alan C. de S. Araújo, Rafael L. Pereira, Werllane M. de S. Magalhães, Maria A. do P. Gondolo, Daniel M. P. Castro, Jerald S. Ault, Jiangang Luo, and Guilherme F. Gondolo

1 Universidade Federal do Delta do Parnaíba, Curso de Eng. de Pesca, PI 64049 550 Parnaíba, Brazil

2 Instituto Tartarugas do Delta, SESC Praia, PI, 64220 000 Luís Correia,

Brazil

3 Universidade Estadual do Piauí, Curso de Zootecnia, PI 64002 150 Teresina, Brazil

4 Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação e Biodiversidade, Complexo Administrativo, Bloco C, Setor Sudoeste, DF 70670 350 Brasília, Brazil

5 Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149, USA

6 Secretaria da Agricultura Familiar, CERAQUA, Rua João Cabral, 2319, Pirajá, Teresina, PI 64.002 150, Brazil

The Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) exhibits highly migratory behaviors, ranging from long distances to quasiresident and/or resident. To better understand their migratory behaviors and habitat use in the Parnaiba Delta, northeastern Brazil, six specimens were tagged between October and November 2019 in Bitupitá Beach, State of Ceará - Fishing Corral number 41, with SPOT 6 satellite telemetry devices from Wildlife Computers. Tagged individuals ranged between 1.73 to 2.0 m FL, 77 and 113 cm dorsal girth, and 40 to 70 kg. Tag location data was obtained via the ARGOS satellite network using proprietary software on an online access basis. Only three tags provided signals that allowed accurate positions. One tag has been recovered to date. The data acquired indicated that tagged individuals followed the currents northwest towards Maranhão State. The total distance moved varied between 50.1 and 261.4 km, with average of 21.75 km daily, and time from tag application to last reception of the signal ranged between 5 and 12 days. During the observed period of study, individuals were never move far from the coastline, remaining particularly close to the estuarine-coastal complex that covers the Parnaíba Delta, between the regions of Piauí and Maranhão states. The smallest displacement between observed transmissions was about 5 km, which suggests a tendency to remain in specific locations for a number of days.

Research was financed by Shell Brasil. Resources from the research and development and innovation clause of the concession contracts of the National Petroleum Agency.

Lanzanillo-Pajonal-Fragoso Faunal Refuge (Cuba): potential area for conservation of recreational important species Eddy García-Alfonso

Eddy García-Alfonso1, Zenaida María Navarro-Martínez2, Leandro RodríguezViera2, Dorka Cobián-Rojas3, Emanuel Manso-Montero1, Juan Miguel González-Ríos1, Aaron Adams4, Jorge Angulo-Valdés5

1Empresa Provincial Flora y Fauna, Villa Clara, Cuba (manati@gmail.com).

2Centro de Investigaciones Marinas, Universidad de La Habana (CIMUH), Calle 16 # 114 e/ 1ra y 3ra, Miramar, Playa, CP 11300, Habana, Cuba (zenaida@cim.uh.cu; (leandro@cim.uh.cu).

3Parque Nacional Guanahacabibes, La Bajada, C.P. 24160, Pinar del Río, Cuba (dorkacobianrojas79@gmail.com). 4Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, 135 San Lorenzo Ave. Suite 860, Coral Gables, FL 33146, United States of America (aaron@bonefishtarpontrust.org).

5Galbraith Marine Science Laboratory, Eckerd College, 4200 54th Ave S,

Saint Petersburg, Florida 33711, United States of America (anguloj@eckerd. edu).

The Lanzanillo-Pajonal-Fragoso Faunal Refuge (LPFFR) is located along the north central Cuba coast, and was legally established in 2001. Fishing activities currently take place inside the faunal refuge mostly for human consumption. Despite a low price in the market, important recreational fish species such as tarpon, bonefish, common snook, and permit are captured. Catch and release fisheries have not been implemented inside the LPFFR but they exist in adjacent areas. Considering the scarce knowledge about recreational fish species in Cuba and the potential connectivity between LPFFR with areas where recreational fisheries occur, this work aims to analyze the presence and distribution of recreational fish species in LPFFR, with emphasis on their management and conservation. We present information since 2015, essentially fork length measurements and location of the 397 tarpon, 515 bonefish, 34 common snook and 34 permit, all caught within the LPFFR limits. They were mostly captured using gill nets and for human consumption. A large percentage of captured individuals were juveniles for all the species. Since 2019 a ban on gill net use was established inside LPFFR, which has decreased the capture of these species. The area has a high potential for study, management and conservation of recreational fishes. For instance, three bonefish pre-spawning areas have been identified by fishermen, and they all are subject to fisheries. Further studies of these pre-spawning aggregation sites are needed, as well as an assessment of fishery management actions is required.

Local Ecological Knowledge of Tarpon Megalops atlanticus fisheries in Delta of Parnaíba, Northestern Brazil M. A. do P. Gondolo

M. A. do P. Gondolo, Cezar A. F. Fernandes, Francisca E. de A. Cunha, Carlos E. L. dos S. Silva, Alan C. de S. Araújo, Rafael L. Pereira, Daniel M. P. Castro, Werllane M. de S. Magalhães, and Guilherme F. Gondolo

1 Universidade Estadual do Piauí, Curso de Zootecnia, PI 64002 150 Teresina, Brazil

2 Universidade Federal do Delta do Parnaíba, Curso de Eng. de Pesca, PI 64049 550 Parnaíba, Brazil

3 Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação e Biodiversidade, Complexo Administrativo, Bloco C, Setor Sudoeste, DF 70670 350 Brasília, Brazil

4 Instituto Tartarugas do Delta, SESC Praia, PI, 64220 000 Luís Correia, Brazil

5 Secretaria da Agricultura Familiar, CERAQUA, Rua João Cabral, 2319, Pirajá, Teresina, PI 64.002 150, Brazil

Artisanal fishermen have the knowledge of the environment and the natural resources they exploit, and this knowledge can help with information about the biology and ecology of species such as the Tarpon (Megalops atlanticus). The objective of this study is to describe, through the fishermen’s perception, the interactions between them and the tarpons in the Parnaíba

Delta area, in NE Brazil. From August 2018 to December 2019, 29 fishermen were interviewed from the communities inserted in the Environmental Protection Area in the Parnaiba Delta, as part of the Project Rotas da Conservação. The fishermen’s reports indicate an agglomeration of adult fish next to the coast, between the months of August and December, due to the reproductive period, adding commercial value to the fishery due to the commercialization of the ovaries. The fishermen were concerned about the retention of juveniles in the lagoons, which according to them, compromises the structure of the population. Regarding the food aspect, the fishermen demonstrated a similar knowledge to the information available in the scientific literature, indicating that adult tarpons have a diet with a large variety of food items. All interviewees describe a decline in catch over time and associate it with anthropic activities, mainly predatory fishing techniques, overfishing, pollution and destruction of natural habitats.

Research financed by Shell Brasil. Resources from the research and development and innovation clause of the concession contracts of the National Petroleum Agency.

Tell me more about you: earstones reveal bonefish nursery habitats and population connectivity across South Florida  Pedro Morais

Pedro Morais1, Natasha Viadero1, Rolando Santos1, Malte Willmes2, Michael Larkin3, Jennifer S Rehage1

1 Institute of Environment, Florida International University, Miami FL.

2 Institute of Marine Sciences, UC Santa Cruz

3 NOAA Fisheries, Southeast Regional Office, St Petersburg, FL.

Fishery conservation and management of migratory fish rely heavily on knowing where fish are at specific stages of their lives. Traditional and electronic tags provide limited spatial and temporal information about the movements of fish. However, much like a GPS tracking device, fishery ecologists have been using fish earstones to estimate the location of ecosystems used by each individual fish along its entire life, and the time spent in each one. Fish earstones, or otoliths, are calcium carbonate crystals located in the inner ear sacs of teleost fish. Otoliths grow continuously through the lifetime of fish, depositing daily layers that are commonly used in age and growth studies. As the fish grows, chemical elements from the surrounding water are incorporated into the growing surface of the otolith, creating a permanent chemical record of the habitats used by the fish across its lifetime. In this study, we assessed the usefulness of using bonefish otoliths to identify nursery areas in South Florida, examine their relative importance, as well as quantify the timing of movements of bonefish over their lives across regions. We found that a subset of the basins samples were regularly used

as a primary nursery area, and that the number of habitats recruits moved to within those basins varied greatly among individuals. These findings suggest high connectivity across South Florida populations and differential value of nursery habitats across South Florida.

Enhancing Atlantic Tarpon Knowledge in Cuba from the Península de Guanahacabibes Biosphere Reserve Zenaida M. Navarro-Martínez

Zenaida M. Navarro-Martínez1, Dorka Cobián-Rojas2, Jorge Angulo3, Pedro Reyes1, Lucas Griffin4, Ross Boucek4, Lázaro García1, Aaron Adams4

1Centro de Investigaciones Marinas (CIM-UH), Calle 16 no.114 entre 1ra y 3ra, Miramar, Playa, La Habana, Cuba. CP. 10300 (zenaida@cim.uh.cu).

2Parque Nacional Guanahacabibes, La Bajada, Sandino, Pinar del Río, Cuba. CP. 24160.

3Eckerd College, 4200 54th Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL 33711, United States of America.

4Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, 135 San Lorenzo Ave. Suite 860 Coral Gables, FL 33146, United States of America

Insufficient scientific information exists about the Atlantic tarpon in Cuba despite it is highly prized as recreational resource. As a regional attempt to improve the knowledge about it and the management strategies for its conservation, a project focused on Atlantic tarpon connectivity is being carried out in Cuba. As part of that project, we compared the habitat characteristics, and tarpon incidence and sizes between different habitats belonging to the near pristine Cuban area Península de Guanahacabibes Biosphere Reserve (PGBR). Abiotic characteristics (i.e. visibility, depth, salinity and dissolved oxygen) were recorded along ca. 12 sites, which include mangrove channels, open areas and temporally disconnected brackish systems. Water temperature was recorded through temperature loggers (HOBO) and it varied more between months (20°C – 34°C) than between sites. This variation among sites was mainly restricted to slight differences of the variation range between habitats. Ten acoustic receivers located along PGBR recorded information from 11 of out 13 tarpon tagged with acoustic transmitters (400 – 795 mm fork length) during a recording time of 15 months. Only one tarpon was recorded by more than one year, and its interrupted record shows the individual movement intensity. Overall 31,964 acoustic detections occurred, mostly in deep sites (5 to 6 m) during some of the coolest days. PGBR includes a well-connected habitat mosaic and offers a huge arrange of abiotic characteristics to different sizes juvenile tarpon, which are in permanent movement between internal locations of PGBR with incursions to external areas. Combining temperature records and tarpon incidence, we could speculate about the potential role of PGBR as thermal refuge for the Atlantic tarpon.

Spawning season, oocyte development and fecundity regulation of the Tarpon Megalops atlanticus in Delta of Parnaiba, Northeastern Brazil Rafael L. Pereira

Rafael L. Pereira, Alan C. de S. Araujo, Carlos E. L. dos S. Silva, Francisca E. de A. Cunha, Werllane M. de S. Magalhães, Maria A. do P. Gondolo, Daniel M. P. Castro, Guilherme F. Gondolo, and Cezar A. F. Fernandes

1 Universidade Federal do Delta do Parnaíba, Curso de Eng. de Pesca, PI 64049 550 Parnaíba, Brazi

2 Instituto Tartarugas do Delta, SESC Praia, PI, 64220 000 Luís Correia, Brazil

3 Universidade Estadual do Piauí, Curso de Zootecnia, PI 64002 150 Teresina, Brazil

4 Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação e Biodiversidade, Complexo Administrativo, Bloco C, Setor Sudoeste, DF 70670 350 Brasília, Brazil

5 Secretaria da Agricultura Familiar, CERAQUA, Rua João Cabral, 2319, Pirajá, Teresina, PI 64.002 150, Brazil

The Tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) is a species that is widely distributed in subtropical and tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean, which during reproduction migrates to areas with clear and saline waters along the continental shelf. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the reproductive characteristics of this species as a way of determining the reproductive period in the Delta do Parnaiba area. This study was carried out at Pedra do Sal beach, from September 2018 to May 2020 as part of the Project Rotas da Conservação. Data were obtained by monitoring fishery landings, in addition to obtaining gonads from individuals for histological analysis. 168 specimens were observed with length ranging from 123 to 228 cm LT, total weights from 18 to 80 kg and gonads weighing from 0.050 to 4,300 g. The GSI showed higher values from September to December (dry season) in the Buraco fishing spot (GSI > 6). The heaviest gonads were obtained at the full moon (mean 2.01 ± 1.35 SD) relative to other moon phases. The diameter of the oocytes varied between 46.05 and 895.53 μm, with oocytes at different stages of development present together, indicating asynchronous development of the oocytes and multiple spawning events.

Research financed by Shell Brazil. Resources from the research and development and innovation clause of the concession contracts of the National Petroleum Agency.

A Qualitative Baseline Study of the Recreational Bonefishing Industry in the Turks and Caicos Islands Courtney Pickett

Courtney Pickett1, James Brunelli2, Mary Crocket3, Fah Fair4, Tess Noone5

1 The School for Field Studies Center for Marine Resource Studies, South Caicos, Turks and Caicos Islands (cpickett@fieldstudies.org).

2 University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.

3 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.

4 Lafayette College, Easton, PA. 5 Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO.

Bonefish are a species of schooling fish found on flats in the subtropical and tropical regions of the world. Historically, bonefish have been fished for subsistence in many Caribbean nations. However, with the expansion of angling tourism, recreational bonefishing has grown significantly as a lucrative tourism industry. The impacts of bonefish tourism have been assessed in countries such as the Bahamas and Belize, however little is known about the industry in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI). The present study consists of a compilation of industry perceptions from relevant stakeholders in order to establish a qualitative baseline profile of the bonefishing industry in the TCI. A survey was distributed to recreational angling groups online and semi-structured interviews were conducted with guides, anglers, and others with applicable insight. Using NVivo analysis software, five primary themes were identified: value, general bonefish tourism, threats to the industry, TCI government involvement, and education. Many interviewees characterized the industry as needing a balance between the economic and cultural values of bonefish. Additionally, major threats identified included: illegal gillnetting, noise pollution from jet skis and airboats, and habitat degradation from both natural and anthropogenic stressors. A large portion of the interview data also focused on the growth of the industry, with many interviewees wanting to see more guides, education on the value of recreational bonefishing, and enforcement of fisheries protection regulations. We recommend that stock and habitat assessments are needed to better inform management.

Managing marine recreational fisheries in Cuba for sustainability and economic development with emphasis on tourism model

Fabián Pina Amargós

Jorge Angulo1, Fabián Pina Amargós2, Tamara Figueredo Martin2, Rod Fujita3, Sepp Haukebo3, Dan Whittle3, Valerie Miller3, Eduardo Boné3

1Eckerd College, 2Avalon fabianpina1972@gmail.com,

3Environmental Defense Fund

Recreational fisheries are capable of contributing substantially to economic development with relatively minimal impacts on stock productivity and ecosystem status if they are assessed and managed effectively. We briefly review principles for the governance of recreational fisheries, along with the general status of these fisheries in Cuba. Large gaps in governance may explain the mixed performance of recreational fisheries with respect to economic development and ecosystem protection goals. Because Cuba has the potential to develop a high value recreational fishing sector, we evaluate the existing governance system for Cuba’s recreational fisheries against good governance principles. Based on this analysis, we offer recommendations for filling gaps in the governance system to help ensure that Cuba’s recreational fisheries develop in a way that is consistent with national goals for improving food security, livelihoods, and ecosystem health.

Tracking Permit spawning site use and connectivity in relation to a newly established Marine Protected Area in the Florida Keys

Jessica A. Robichaud1*, Andy J. Danylchuk2, Steven J. Cooke1, Aaron J. Adams3 Lucas P. Griffin2, Jacob. W Brownscombe1

1 Department of Biology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1S 5B6

2 Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.

3Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, 2937 SW 27th Ave #203, Miami, FL 33133, USA.

*Contact: jessrobichaud@cmail.carleton.ca

Permit (Trachinotus falcatus) in the Florida Keys make use of offshore habitats on the Florida Reef Tract (FRT) for spawning. Previous BTT research has identified multiple likely spawning locations along the FRT. Western Dry Rocks (WDR) was identified as a highly important spawning site, where most (>70%) fish who occupy nearshore flats visit WDR for spawning. The importance of WDR in supporting the nearshore flats fishery was an important driver of the designation of the WDR Marine Protected Area (MPA) in 2021. All fishing at WDR MPA is now prohibited between April through July, a key step in the conservation of Permit, by allowing them to spawn without angling pressure or the subsequent threats of depredation. Current research supported by BTT is aimed at assessing permit spawning site occupancy in response to the establishment of the WDR MPA. Using acoustic telemetry, we are tracking permit space use and movement at four key spawning sites along the FRT. More specifically, we will characterize (1) the spatial extend of permit occupancy in the area surrounding the WDR MPA, and (2) the level of connectivity and site fidelity between WDR and other Permit spawning sites. By making use of a before-after study design using existing permit telemetry data, we will assess the efficacy of the new MPA and whether it becomes a more used spawning site due to reduced angling pressure relative to neighboring spawning site. This will allow us to plan for the future, and make recommendations as needed on the size and location of the MPA to ensure adequate protection is awarded to spawning permit.

Characterization and bonefish habitat uses in the Ciénaga de Zapata National Park, Cuba: A preliminary approach Leandro Rodríguez Viera

Leandro Rodríguez Viera1, Gabriel Cotayo Ojeda1,2,Lázaro Cotayo Cedeño3, Zenaida M. Navarro-Martínez1,Lázaro Viñola Valdez3, Yasiel Izquierdo Sánchez3, Dorka Cobián-Rojas4, Eddy García-Alfonso5, Aaron Adams6, Jorge Angulo-Valdés7

1Center for Marine Research, University of Havana, Havana, Cuba (CIMUH), Calle 16 # 114 e/ 1ra y 3ra, Miramar, Playa, CP 11300, Habana, Cuba (leandro@cim.uh.cu).

2Facultad de Biología, Universidad de La Habana, Calle 25, N° 455, e/ J e I, Vedado, La Habana, Cuba. C.P. 10400

3Peninsula of Zapata National Park, Playa Larga, Cuba

4Parque Nacional Guanahacabibes, La Bajada, C.P. 24160, Pinar del Río, Cuba.

5Refugio de Fauna Lanzanillo-Pajonal-Fragoso, Cuba.

6Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, USA; Florida Atlantic University Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, USA.

7Galbraith Marine Lab, Eckerd College 4200 54th Ave S, Saint Petersburg Florida 33713, USA

The Península de Zapata Biosphere Reserve is a RAMSAR site and is considered the largest and best-preserved wetland in the Caribbean. Within its limits, The Ciénaga de Zapata National Park (CZNP) stands up as one of the largest protected area in the Caribbean. Therefore, CZNP constitutes one of the most important areas in the region both for its biodiversity and for the ecosystem services that provides. Las Salinas de Brito (SB), located inside the CZNP, is one of the main destinations for recreational flat fisheries in Cuba. Unlike other areas in Cuba, daily catch recording is mandatory for the recreational fishery operating in SB, allowing a fairly efficient management regime for this economic activity and the natural resources under non-extractive exploitation. However, few studies have been conducted in the area to address the biology and distribution of some of the most relevant species, which undoubtedly included bonefish. The objective of this work is to characterize the main habitats as well as the distribution by size of bonefish in three areas within the CZNP, representing a first approach to the use of the area by this species. We found different size groups of bonefish per site, from bonefish larvae outside to juvenile and subadults individuals inside (range: 8-23 cm) SB. Juvenile and subadults bonefish were observed together in the widely distributed bonefish feeding aggregation. These results are important to draw future lines of research, the health of bonefish populations in the area, as well as possible effective management strategies that allow an adequate use of the area and management of recreational fisheries.

Robinson Preserve: Creating sport fish nursery habitat at the edge of urbanization Courtney Saari

Courtney Saari1, David Blewett1, Corey Anderson2, Philip Stevens3, Timothy MacDonald3, Damon Moore4

1Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 585 Prineville Street, Port Charlotte, FL 33954 (courtney.saari@ myfwc.com);

2Division of Habitat and Species Conservation, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 585 Prineville Street, Port Charlotte, FL 33954,

3Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 100 8th Avenue SE, St. Petersburg, FL 33701;

4Manatee County Parks and Natural Resources Department, 5502 33rd Avenue Drive West, Bradenton, FL 34209.

Coastal wetland restoration projects designed as fish

nursery habitat rarely incorporate the monitoring necessary to create feedback loops for adaptive management and evaluate success. At Robinson Preserve in Manatee County, FL, the design of wetland habitats specifically incorporated elements to address sport fish nursery habitat on the border of urbanization, mitigating both sea level rise and habitat loss. This project transformed agricultural lands into coastal wetlands, incorporating a mosaic of estuarine habitats and connection types, attempting to mimic natural sport fish nurseries. Within coastal salt marsh wetlands, many factors, such as flooding frequency, salinity, water depth, and degree of connectivity to open estuaries influence suitability as a sport fish nursery. Several key elements (limited hydrologic connections, water depths) were designed in consultation with fishery biologists specifically for Common Snook Centropomus undecimalis and Tarpon Megalops atlanticus. The final phase of the project will connect constructed ponds to the estuary through a series of restricted hydrological connections thus limiting flooding frequency and restricting access. Fisheries monitoring has revealed that even without a permanent tidal connection to the estuary, a newly created pond in Robinson Preserve is functioning as a sport fish nursery via a temporary stormwater culvert. This connection allows for limited estuarine water intrusion during above-normal high tide events, supporting juvenile Common Snook and an abundance of forage fishes. Knowledge gained from fisheries monitoring is being used to adaptively manage fish habitat within this preserve. This collaborative approach to restoration monitoring will help guide future Tarpon and Snook nursery restoration projects.

Assessment of Coastal Habitat Restoration Success in Tampa Bay Using the Presence and Condition of Juvenile Sportfish

Kailee Schulz & Alexis A. Trotter

Kailee Schulz1, Philip W. Stevens2, Jeffrey E. Hill3, Alexis A. Trotter2, Jared L. Ritch2, Kyle L. Williams2, Joshua T. Patterson1,4, Quenton M. Tuckett1,3

1Program in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, 7922 NW 71st Street, Gainesville, FL 32653.

2Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, 100 8th Ave SE, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.

3Tropical Aquaculture Laboratory, University of Florida, 1408 24th Street SE, Ruskin, FL 33570.

4Center for Conservation, The Florida Aquarium, 529 Estuary Shore Lane, Apollo Beach, FL 33572.

Increasing human populations and urban development have led to losses of estuarine habitats for fish and wildlife. Where resource managers are restoring coastal wetlands, in addition to meeting goals related to hydrologic connectivity, biodiversity, and recreational opportunities, efforts are being made to provide habitat that is suitable for juvenile sportfish. An 18-month study was conducted to compare juvenile sportfish use of natural, restored, and impacted sites along Tampa Bay,

Florida, shorelines. Juvenile sportfish densities at restored sites were broadly comparable to natural sites and greater than at impacted sites. However, site-specific differences in sportfish use did occur within site types. For example, one restored site had significantly higher densities of red drum Sciaenops ocellatus than any other site, while black drum Pogonias cromis were found exclusively at another restored site. To evaluate whether the restored sites are providing suitable habitat for juvenile fish, we assessed growth (estimated from counts of daily rings on otoliths) and condition (determined by lipid analyses) of juvenile common snook Centropomus undecimalis, an archetypal coastal wetland-dependent species. Growth (0.43–0.56 mm SL/day) and condition (4.6–6.1% lipid of dry weight) exhibited only site-specific differences and did not vary among natural, restored, and impacted site types. Although mortality rates of juvenile sportfish were not determined, use of a 40-m seine found that densities of potential piscine predators in these coastal wetlands were relatively low compared to published studies of open estuarine shorelines. The restoration and creation of coastal wetlands in Tampa Bay provides improved habitat for juvenile sportfish.

The economic impact of a recreational fishery provides leverage for conservation Michael Smith

Michael Smith1, Anthony J. Fedler2, Aaron J. Adams3,4

1University of Houston, 9839 Shell Rock Rd, La Porte, TX 77571, USA 29707 SW 55th Road, Gainesville, FL 32608, USA

3Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, 2937 SW 27th Avenue, #203, Miami, FL 33133, USA

4Florida Atlantic University Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, 5600 US 1, Fort Pierce, FL 33946, USA

Economic Impact Assessments have long been used to estimate the economic benefits of human activities. More recently, environmental economists have applied EIAs to demonstrate the benefits of conservation, including assessments of recreational fisheries. Here, we summarize findings of EIAs of the recreational catch and release flats fishery in The Bahamas, Belize, and the Florida Keys (USA). Results show high economic impact, often twice that of other tourism activities, for a mostly catch and release fishery with high post-release fish survival rates. The EIAs have already provided leverage for improved management, including spatial protections and catch and release designations. The EIAs, in combination with data on fish ecology, are useful for formulating effective conservation strategies and should be applied more widely.

Habitat Use and Movements of Atlantic Tarpon in the Western Gulf of Mexico Shane Stephens

Shane Stephens, Michael Dance, Richard Kline, Michelle Sluis-Zapp, Gregory Stunz, David Wells, Jay Rooker

Texas A&M University, Department of Marine Biology

Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) are capable of longdistance migrations (hundreds of kilometers) but also exhibit resident behaviors in estuarine and coastal habitats. The aim of this study was to characterize essential (high quality) habitat(s) and identify movement pathways of tarpon present in the western Gulf of Mexico (WGoM). Habitat use by tarpon was investigated using gill-net survey data collected by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) over the past four decades while their movement ecology was assessed with acoustic telemetry. Generalized additive models (GAMs) were used to determine that environmental factors such as temperature, salinity, and distance from backwater sources play a significant role in the presence of individuals. Gillnet data reveals that overall abundance has increased in each of the last four decades, with both Upper and Lower Laguna Madre as well as Matagorda Bay seeing the largest increases in juvenile tarpon. Adult tarpon were tagged using acoustic transmitters in the WGoM. Of those tagged individuals, a small subset were detected along the network of receivers placed from the Texas-Louisiana border to the Texas-Mexico border. Seasonal migration patterns were evident with tarpon moving to lower latitudes near the Texas-Mexico border in the fall and winter and then moving back into more northern regions of our array in the spring and summer. No individuals were detected east of Texas, unless tagged east of the Mississippi River Delta, suggesting that presence of a unique migratory contingent or subpopulation in the WGoM. An improved understanding of the habitat requirements and migratory patterns of tarpon inhabiting the WGoM is critically needed by resource managers to assess the western stock’s vulnerability to fishing pressure and guide multi-state and multi-national conservation efforts to rebuild and sustain tarpon populations.

Philip Stevens

Sarah Webb1, Erick Ault1, Shannon Moorhead1, Dayna Hunn1, Erin McDevitt2, Zachary Hughes3, Philip Stevens4

1Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Tequesta, FL 33469; 2Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Habitat and Species Conservation, Tequesta, FL 33469; 3Martin County Public Works, Ecosystem Restoration and Management, Stuart, FL 34996; 4Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, St. Petersburg, FL 33701; Contact email: Philip.Stevens@MyFWC.com

Juvenile tarpon depend on coastal wetlands. Their ribbonlike larvae allow them to reach remote water bodies, such as ponds in the high marsh, where they grow to a size of at least 250 mm TL. In natural settings, emigration from the nursery habitat occurs during flood events when high water allows juvenile tarpon to cross the marsh surface to more open estuarine waters. In the Indian River Lagoon, however, most coastal wetlands have been altered and are now located within mosquito impoundments that are connected to the estuary by culverts. At an impoundment in Jensen Beach, which has been found to contain juvenile tarpon, the culverts are being left open year-round as managers explore the best option for restoration. The objectives of this study are to determine 1) how juvenile tarpon use the impoundment (i.e., residency) considering they can move freely through culverts, and 2) under what conditions (e.g., environmental cue, tarpon size) does emigration from nursery habitat ultimately occur? To meet these objectives, juvenile tarpon are being tagged with acoustic transmitters (n=10; 309–515 mm TL) and tracked in an array of receivers that can detect their movements. Although restoration options currently focus on improving water conditions for mangroves that are prone to die-off, there is potential to greatly increase the amount and type of habitat available to juvenile tarpon (e.g., expansion of creek-like ditches). Also, any recommendations that enhance the contribution of impoundments to tarpon populations in the Indian River Lagoon (e.g., timing of culvert opening, breaches in impoundment dikes) can be considered.

Change Detection and Marine Management in South Water Caye Marine Reserve, Belize Sophie Williams

Sophie Williams, Michael Steinberg

Department of Geography, The University of Alabama, 503 University Boulevard, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487(scwilliams8@crimson.ua.edu)

The South Water Caye Marine Reserve (SWCMR) off Belize’s southern coast contains the largest unbroken stretch of the Belize Barrier Reef as well as many mangrove islands, patch reefs, and seagrass beds whose sensitive marine and terrestrial ecosystems sustain myriad threatened and recreational fisheries. The reserve is a destination for world class sport fishing for bonefish, tarpon, and permit, which in turn provide important economic opportunities for local communities. Despite its protected status, the complex environments int eh SWCMR have not yet been mapped in detail due to limits in remote sensing technology. This study fills this knowledge gap by using high resolution CubeSat imagery and Land Use Land Change (LULC) metrics to quantify ecological and anthropogenic changes in land and water cover in the SWCMR between 2010 and 2019. Results show long term changes in the seagrass, barren areas, and impervious surface cover types. While each type of land and water cover fluctuated some over the past decade, similar stable trends were measured in and outside the SWCMR. The overall amount of seagrass cover decreased by 0.74%, and the amount of barren and developed areas in the reserve increased by 0.16%. The developed areas also experienced significantly high rates of change: 15% per year. Understanding the changes occurring in this protected area will provide information for future management and conservation decisions that affect Belize’s valuable marine biodiversity.

Exchange of juvenile tarpon Megalops atlanticus between a mosquito impoundment and the Indian River Lagoon estuary

Presenter Bios

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust Symposium

November 4-5, 2022

Juvenile Habitats – The Future of the Fishery

Aaron Adams, Moderator, Bonefish & Tarpon Trust

Aaron is the Director of Science and Conservation, Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, and a Senior Scientist, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Florida Atlantic University. He received a bachelor’s degree from St. Mary’s College in Maryland, a Master’s degree from the College of William and Mary, and a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts Boston, and also holds a Coast Guard Captain’s License. He has lived, worked, and fished on both coasts of the US, and in the Caribbean, where he has been conducting fish research for more than 30 years. His pursuit of effective fish and habitat conservation are rooted in his years growing up near Chesapeake Bay, where he witnessed the decline of the Bay’s habitats and fisheries. As Director of Science and Conservation, Aaron is responsible for formulating, overseeing, and implementing BTT’s science and conservation plan, and applying scientific findings to conservation and management via interactions with resource management agencies and other non-governmental organizations. Aaron has been an avid angler since the age of five, and was even known to skip school in pursuit of fish. Also at a young age, the why and how of fish and their habitats became a passion. The career of fish conservation scientist is a perfect combination of these passions.

Ron Baker, University of South Alabama Ron is a life-long fishing fanatic, and has over 20 years experience researching the functioning of coastal ecosystems, particularly their role as nurseries for ecologically and economically important species. His research combines traditional field surveys, experimental approaches, and newer techniques including acoustic tracking of sportfish, and stable isotope and diet studies of food web dynamics. His overarching goal is to help provide a clearer understanding of the functioning of coastal ecosystems as nurseries, to underpin effective management, and help safeguard these amazing places and the fish they support so that future generations can continue to enjoy them. Ron joined the University of South Alabama in 2018 after completing a PhD at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia, and post-docs with NOAA Fisheries in Galveston TX, and the Smithsonian at Fort Pierce, Florida.

Steve Gornak, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Steven Gornak has a Bachelors degree from Old Dominion

University and Masters degree from the College of William and Mary. He began working with the Florida Department of Natural Resources in 1991 working on early life history of Bonefish and age and growth analysis of Tarpon in the Florida Keys. In 1992 he began working with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission managing fish populations on Lake Okeechobee. In 2001 he began doing Aquatic Habitat Restoration projects in the South Florida region including the Florida Keys. Projects consist of lake drawdowns, harvesting, hydrologic restoration, revegetation, riverbank stabilization, coastal wetland enhancements and Oxbow restorations. Currently Steve is working on enhancement/restoration activities that landscape benefits to altered systems. His Big Pine Key project is restoring the hydrology to a 152 acre slough that has been compromised by roadways and development infrastructure. This project will restore freshwater flow to 108 acres of freshwater wetlands that are continuous with 44 acres of coastal salt water wetlands.

Kris Kaufman, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration

Kris Kaufman works for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Habitat Conservation’s Restoration Center. Kris assists partners with developing and implementing habitat restoration projects throughout the state of Florida focused on protecting and sustaining managed and recreational fisheries. Prior to joining the NOAA Restoration Center in the Southeast Region, Kris was a Senior Environmental Scientist with the Southwest Florida Water Management Districts’ Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) Program. While at the SWIM Program, she led the nationally recognized seagrass mapping program for five coastal estuaries in Southwest Florida and the Springs Coast region of the Gulf of Mexico. As a technical expert in landscape-scale seagrass geospatial mapping, she established program standards and analyzed trends in seagrass distribution. Kris received her Masters of Science in Biology from the University of South Florida.

Matt Kenworthy, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Through Matt’s professional experiences as a marine ecologist and a lifelong resident of coastal communities in North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida, he has been exposed to many of the conservation and management challenges associated with regulating marine resources. Matt obtained a master’s degree in marine science from the University of South Alabama, and a doctorate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH). Matt’s research during this time focused on understanding how resource availability, habitat heterogeneity, and habitat quality affect fish and crustacean population dynamics, community structure, and ecosystem functioning. Matt joined the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Division of Marine Fisheries Management in the fall of 2021 as the division’s habitat coordinator. In this role Matt is coordinating with FWC research and habitat restoration staff along with agency partners and stakeholders to develop

a framework that incorporates aquatic habitat and associated metrics into management of Florida’s important marine recreational and commercial fisheries.

JoEllen K. Wilson, Bonefish & Tarpon Trust

JoEllen Wilson began working with Bonefish & Tarpon Trust in 2009 and has been the Juvenile Tarpon Habitat Program Manager for BTT since 2014. She completed her Master’s Degree in Fisheries at the University of Florida where her research focused on Juvenile Tarpon Habitat Use. Since working at BTT, her research has evolved from studying early life history estimates of juvenile tarpon using tagging and tracking to working with Florida’s state management agency to adopt a plan of action to include habitat in fisheries management. JoEllen’s current work includes overseeing multiple hydrologic restoration projects, creating a Vulnerability Index to identify nursery habitats that are imminently vulnerable to development, and acquiring funding for 10 potential nursery habitat restoration projects reported to BTT by anglers and guides.

Conservation Engagement

Andy Danylchuk, Moderator, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Equal parts scientist and fish bum, Andy is driven by an unrelenting desire to mitigate society’s impact on fish and their essential habitat. As a professor of fish conservation at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Andy’s research spans both marine and freshwater systems, and includes stress physiology, behavioral ecology, movement ecology, predatorprey interactions, and adaptations in life history traits as a response to natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Specific to flats fisheries, Andy has authored or co-authored nearly 50 scientific publications on flats species, three book chapters, including a foundational chapter on the conservation and management of bonefish in The Bahamas, and has given dozens of presentations at national and international conferences on flats fisheries, including being a regular participant in the BTT International Science Symposium. Currently, a large part of his research platform focuses on the development and implementation of best practices for handling and releasing fish. With one foot firmly planted in the research world and the other in wading boots, Andy works to bridge information gaps between the fishing industry, conservation organizations, the scientific community, and anglers. This focus has enabled Andy to take on roles such as Ambassador for Patagonia, Thomas & Thomas Fly Rods, and Sight Line Provisions, Research Fellow for Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, Fellow National of The Explores Club, board member for Indifly, member of the Scientific Advisory Panel for the International Game Fish Association, member of the Science and Policy Committee for the American Fly Fishing Trade Association, and Science Advisor for Keep Fish Wet Research. Andy has also received a Distinguished Teaching Award at UMass Amherst, the Excellence in Fisheries Education Award and the Award of Excellence in Public Outreach from the

American Fisheries Society, and the Flats Stewardship Award from Bonefish & Tarpon Trust.

Eric Carey, Bahamas National Trust

Eric has been the Executive Director of Bahamas National Trust since 2006, after serving for decades in Bahamas conservation work in the marine and wildlife realms. He transformed BNT from a small ten-person organization to a fully functioning organization with 75 employees. During his tenure, he has increased funding for national parks three-fold, engineered important improvements in key national parks, operationalized numerous other national parks, and led a strategy to redefine the BNT brand, resulting in BNT being recognized as the leading environmental organization in The Bahamas. He has also been appointed to important committees – he was chair of the National Wetlands Committee of The Bahamas, and is on the US Department of the Interior Kirkland’s Warbler Recovery Team. He is currently on the boards of BirdsCaribbean, Bahamas Public Parks and Beaches Authority, and was previously on the board of the Cape Eleuthera Foundation.

Sacha Clark Danylchuk, KeeFishWet

Sascha Clark Danylchuk is the Executive Director of Keep Fish Wet, a US-based nonprofit dedicated to helping anglers improve the outcome for each fish they release. Sascha has a M.S. in Aquatic Ecology from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and has focused much of her scientific work on recreational angling, specifically the science of catch-and-release. She has also worked for a number of nonprofit organizations in various capacities, and spent nearly a decade in the Bahamian Archipelago helping to establish the Cape Eleuthera Institute. It is the intersection between Sascha’s work as a scientist and her passion as an angler that led her to Keep Fish Wet. With a strong belief that recreational anglers have something to learn from fisheries scientists and that scientists need to make their work accessible to a wider audience, Sascha endeavors to develop a space in which effective communication and changing social norms can help create more resilient recreational fisheries around the world.

Tony Freidrich, American Saltwater Guides Association

Tony is a lifelong advocate for marine conservation. He has over twenty years of experience working on local, state, and federal marine issues. For almost ten years, he was the Executive Director for Coastal Conservation Association of Maryland. He holds a degree in Economics from the University of Maryland. Tony played a key role in major fisheries decisions in the Mid-Atlantic and across the country including striped bass conservation, forage fish protection, habitat restoration, clean water advocacy, federal fisheries law, and various legislative efforts. Currently, Tony is a fisheries consultant working on policy and resource issues in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Mid-Atlantic, and the North East. He lives on the Eastern Shore of Maryland with his wife and son and fishes every chance he gets.

Jon Reynolds, South Atlantic Fishing Environmentalists

Captain Jon Reynolds is a proud husband and father of three. His family moved to Miami when he was 8 years old and he immediately fell in love with fishing. His passion for fishing soon led to his first job at Burt’s Place Bait and Tackle at the age of 11. His professional career as a fisherman began in 2001. He traveled abroad tournament fishing for billfish (mainly marlin) for many years and is presently the owner and operator of Drop Back Charters in Islamorada, Florida. As he noticed changes and declines to the marine ecosystem through the years, his passion for conservation led him to begin South Atlantic Fishing Environmentalists. He founded S.A.F.E. in 2016, a non-profit 501(c) that is fights for sustainable fishery regulations . He currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Dolphin/Wahoo Advisory Panel as well as the Citizens Science Panel on the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

Israel Umpierre, Pesca, Playa y Ambiente Israel is a criminal prosecutor for the Puerto Rico Department of justice. He served for seven years as a civil trial lawyer for the Puerto Rico Department of Justice. He received a special designation from the Secretary of Justice to be part of the Civil Environmental Task Force with a special training in Environmental Crimes Investigation by NOAA and USCG. He also represented the government in some high-profile environmental cases, among them Clean Water Act (oil Spills) related issues. He has twice served as Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Puerto Rico’s Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, and was named to NOAA (Caribbean Fishery Advisory Management Council), District Advisory Panel and later appointed as Chairman to the Advisory Panel. He’s made several public appearances as special guest in Las Noticias, Univision TV in Puerto Rico, to discuss environmental and conservation related issues, and is a collaborator in the environmental, conservation and fishing column on “La Regata” a local Boating newspaper and “Nautica Puerto Rico Magazine’, and a podcaster on “Contra Viento y Marea”, in charge of environmental, fishing and conservation interviews. He has more than 40 years of recreational fishing experience. He is the founder of “Pescadores Recreativos Unidos”, a coalition between fishing clubs (fresh and saltwater”) and non-profit recreational and conservation fishing organizations, to advocate in our local Senate and House of Representatives against harmful bills of laws to the recreational fishing sector in our island. First time in our island that the recreational fishing sector has been united. He is also the founder of Pesca, Playa y Ambiente, inc., a 501 c (3) organization based in Puerto Rico, dedicated to natural resources conservation through education and field activities. Pesca, Playa y Ambiente has strong ties with the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, BTT and other nonprofits organization in the US. The group organized four Mega Clean Ups in around Puerto Rico with more than 800 volunteers coming from all part of the island and which was covered by local and US press. He was previously a Senior Advisor to the “Shark Friendly Marinas Initiative”, and was later named as the Executive Director of “SFMI”.

Spatial Management

Steven J. Cooke, Carleton University Cooke is a professor of applied fish ecology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. His work spans the natural and social sciences with a focus on generating solutions to problems facing aquatic ecosystems. He is a BTT Fellow and a Fellow of the American Fisheries Society. Cooke is also an avid angler.

Jorge Angulo-Valdes, Eckerd Colleges

Dr. Angulo-Valdes holds a double appointment between a Cuban and American institution; Member of the Scientific Council at the Center for Marine Research at the University of Havana, and Visiting Assistant Professor at Eckerd College. Former Director of the Center for Marine Research at the University of Havana (2009-2014). Dr. Angulo-Valdes received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Havana, a Master on Marine Management from Dalhousie University, Canada and a Ph.D. from Dalhousie University, Canada. Dr. Angulo-Valdes has made a significant contribution to expand and strength the collaboration between Cuban and American institutions. He has organized several successful exchange initiatives between the two countries. His research interest include recreational fisheries, management effectiveness of marine protected areas, community-based research, natural resources conservation and bio economics. He has published over 40 papers and several book chapters dealing with his research areas. Dr Angulo-Valdes has led several research projects funded by international agencies such as the International Development Research Institute, Canada; the Whitley Fund for Nature, England; Sea to Shore Alliance, USA; Environmental Defense Fund, USA. Dr Angulo-Valdes is working with Bonefish and Tarpon Trust (BTT) to implement a Cuba program to contribute to regional efforts to preserve bonefish, tarpon, permits and their habitats.

Virginia Burns-Perez Virginia is the Adaptive Management Program Director at the Turneffe Atoll Sustainability Association (TASA), co-manager of the Turneffe Atoll Marine Reserve (TAMR) in Belize. She is responsible for developing and implementing TASA’s Adaptive Management-Science program for TAMR, ensuring that quality data informs the management of the reserve. Virginia has been involved in Belize’s small-scale fishery for the past 14 years. Prior to joining TASA, Virginia worked with the Wildlife Conservation Society-Belize Marine Program for a decade where she was integral in the advancement of the marine program. During this time, she co-authored several papers and served on many national committees including the National Spawning Aggregation Working Group, the National Coral Reef Monitoring Network & the Replenishment Zone Expansion Technical Committee, among others. Virginia recently formed a Flats Fishery Working Group for the Turneffe Atoll Marine Reserve with the aim to guide the management of the recreational fishery.

Falon Cartwright, Bahamas National Trust

Falon is currently the Director of Science and Policy for The Bahamas National Trust and has worked in the conservation field in The Bahamas for over a decade. She is passionate about incorporating science into natural resource management and conservation initiatives in national parks and protected areas. She holds a Master of Science degree in Environmental Science, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology with experience in ecology, national park and botanical garden management, and project management.

Eworth Garbutt, Belize

Eworth is one of four brothers who have been guiding the waters in Southern Belize for decades. The brothers were raised in Punta Negra in southern Belize, as part of a well-known fishing family. Growing up as fishing as a way of life and income, using everything from handlines to gillnets, in the 1990s they found that their skills were prefect for becoming flats fishing guides. Their fishing waters run from Punta Gorda to Placencia, and though they pursue all of the flats species, their specialty is permit. Much of the water they fish is in protected areas, where development is curtailed and the type of fishing is tightly regulated. Eworth’s background, dependence on protected areas for his flats fishing livelihood, and heavy involvement in flats fishery conservation give him a unique perspective on marine spatial management for the flats fishery.

Fabian Pina-Amargos

Fabián Pina Amargós PhD is a professor of Protected Areas at the Center for Marine Research of the University of Havana and an environmental consultant with Avalon Diving operations in Cuba. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Biology (University of Havana), a Master’s degree in Marine Affairs (Dalhousie University, Canada), and his PhD in Biological Sciences at the University of Havana. His research interests include fish community structure, megafauna, marine protected areas (MPAs) design and performance, movement and MPA-spillover of fish, status of tropical ecosystems, integrated coastal zone management, hurricane impacts on tropical ecosystems, status of fisheries, environmental issues of recreational fishing and SCUBA diving, fish biodiversity, and environmental economics. He has published over 50 papers and book chapters in a variety of refereed scientific journals in ecology and economics. He has led many scientific projects in Cuba’s iconic marine protected area, the Jardines de la Reina National Park. He has been involved in the declaration of marine reserves and protected areas in Cuba. He is the recipient of numerous awards including a Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation (2012) and six Cuban Academy of Science Awards (2004, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2021).

Alejandro Vega, Mexico

Born on the Island of Holbox, situated just north of the Yucatan Peninsula, Alejandro lived until he was 6 in Cabo Catoche, where the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean meet. His grandfather and father were the lighthouse keepers there. He’s been in love with fishing since he was a small boy, and started to guide at the age of 19 on Cozumel and Isla Blanca, in Cancun. From there, he began guiding on Holbox and continues to do so currently. A lifetime of fishing and guiding has given him a wealth of knowledge on marine life. He’s observed significant climate change, as well as changes in species’ behavior in this time, during which he’s never ceased to advocate for the protection of his island’s ecosystem.

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