The South Florida Aquatic Plant Management Society
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Volume 25 Issue 2
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Highlights A Guide to Living with Alligators The Applictor’s Survival Kit Do Aquatic Herbicides Cause Sores on Fish Spray Coverage Vs. Spray Coverage Aquatic Herbicide Applications Landscape Best Management Practices
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President’s Message
Board Members - 2021 Officers 2021
Hello everyone, Looks like we have turned the corner and hopefully we will back to “normal” shortly. As we all know, invasive aquatic vegetation doesn’t care who is vaccinated. This is the reason what
Andy Fuhrman, President (954) 382-9766 afuhrman@allstatemanagement.com Dail Laughinghouse, Vice President (954) 577-6382 hlaughinghouse@ufl.edu Colleen Sullivan, Secretary/Treasurer (954) 382-9766 csullivan@allstatemanagement.com Hughie Cucurullo, Immediate Past President (561) 845-5525 hcucurullo@avcaquatic.com
we do is vital for our environment.
Board Members 2021
SFAPMS will also be back to regular meetings
Keith Andreu (239) 694-2174
shortly. The current plan is to have our first live meeting in September in Lee County. Before that we will be having another Zoom presentation on June 24th. Details on both meetings will be coming in the near future. Until then, everybody stay safe and we will
Rose Bechard-Butman (954) 519-0317 rbechardbutman@broward.org James Boggs (352) 521-3538
ngcassinari@alligare.com
Lyn Gettys, Ph.D. (954) 577-6331
lgettys@ufl.edu
Scott Jackson (561) 402-0682
Andy Fuhrman
Rory Roten, Ph.D. (321) 890-4367
South Florida Aquatic Plant Management Society
boggsj@helenachemical.com
Norma Cassinari (334) 741-9393
hopefully see everyone in person September.
President
andreu@lchcd.org
Dharmen Setaram (407) 670-4094
scott.jackson@syngenta.com roryr@sepro.com dsetaram@landolakes.com
Steven Weinsier (954) 382-9766 sweinsier@allstatemanagement.com
The Francis E. “Chil” Rossbach Scholarship Fund
Cover Photo by Allstate Resource Management
Funds from the scholarship are used to help defray costs for students taking classes related to the study of aquatic environmental sciences or related areas. The scholarship is open to anyone, and all are encouraged to apply. Applications will be accepted throughout the year and the scholarship awarded when a suitable candidate is found. Money raised by the Society during the year partially goes to fund this scholarship, the intent of which is to promote the study of aquatics. For an application, please go to www.sfapms.org.
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THE APPLICATOR’S SURVIVAL KIT By: Stephen Montgomery | Allstate Resource Management Inc.
Let’s face it. Being an applicator is a multi-task job. It requires us to be part biologist, part salesperson, part public relations person, part chemist, and part handyman/mechanic. With so many responsibilities, things don’t always run as smoothly as we’d like. There are a lot of delays we have no control over like weather, traffic, or dealing with homeowners. All too often the most time consuming and costly delays are things that could be easily rectified with a little preparation. Equipment failure is an eventuality that we all deal with sooner or later. There’s nothing more aggravating than having an operation brought to a screeching halt, half way through the day and realizing you don’t have the means to correct it. Even though it’s impossible to prepare for every possible eventuality, a well stocked “survival kit” can head off many of the headaches that would ruin a productive day. Think about equipment problems you and other colleagues have encountered in the past and try to build up an inventory of tools, spare parts, and other items. The time spent stocking up is a lot better than the time spent in the middle of a lake in a boat with a dead motor, with a leaking spray system, on a hot summer day, two hours before quitting time.
Each applicator’s kit is obviously tailored for his or her specific needs (spare parts particularly) but here are a few items that some of my fellow applicators carry: • Spare spark plugs • Duct tape • Basic tool kit • Extra hose • 2x4 pieces • Spare Prop
• Spray tips and stabilizers • Spare motor recoil • Trailer hub and bearings • Lubricants (WD-40, grease) • Spare winch cable • Extra cotter pins
• Extra O-rings • Hose clamps • Winch crank • Spare valves • Wire ties • Flashlight
• Lug wrench • Extra fuses • Tow strap • Spare trailer tire • Rope • Rubber gloves
Florida Grouper Sandwich with New Potato Salad Recipe from Fresh From Florida
Ingredients Florida Grouper Sandwich 8 (3-ounce) Florida grouper fillets, sliced thin 2 Florida tomatoes, sliced 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning 8 small rolls 1 small head romaine lettuce, shredded 1 red onion, sliced thin 1 tablespoon oil for cooking ⅓ cup mayonnaise ½ lemon, juiced 1 teaspoon paprika Cayenne pepper, sea salt, ground pepper to taste
Florida New Potato Salad 6 cups Florida new potatoes, quartered, cooked and cooled 2 tablespoons rice vinegar 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 tablespoons mayonnaise ½ cup assorted color Florida bell peppers, diced ½ cup red onion, diced 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
Preparation Florida Grouper Sandwich Preheat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Lightly season the grouper fillets with Cajun seasoning, salt and pepper. Put the cooking oil in the preheated pan and carefully add the seasoned fish fillets to the pan. Cook fillets for about 2 minutes on each side depending on thickness until golden brown and cooked throughout. Place fillets on cut, open rolls. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, lemon juice, paprika and cayenne. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Assemble sliders using lemon mayo, lettuce, tomato and red onion. Use a bamboo skewer if needed to keep sliders standing. Serve with potato salad. Florida New Potato Salad Combine all ingredients into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Stir ingredients to completely combine. Taste potato salad and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve cold.
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DO AQUATIC HERBICIDES CAUSE SORES ON FISH? By: Dr. Benjamin P. Sperry, Research Assistant Scientist, UF/IFAS Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants What is that!?! The fish I caught has sores! People around the state have been increasingly reporting fish with abnormalities or sores on social media. These fish sores appear concerning and are often thought to be a sign of poor resource management. In particular, many stakeholders have formed unfounded conclusions that fish sores are caused by aquatic herbicide use. While there is no doubt fish often contain sores or abnormalities, they are likely not related to herbicide use. Fish sores are commonly due to infection by microorganisms. Additionally, these infections often occur after fish have been stressed or experience some event that interferes with the protective “slime” coat on their scales. In fact, when fish spawn, they often develop sores due to infection caused by biting and rubbing on each other or on the sediment during the construction of nests. Fish sores and abnormalities are also common after confinement stress. This stress is a major issue in aquaculture production; however, catch and release fishing where live wells are used can also stress fish.
Red sore disease is one of the most common fish abnormalities which can be caused by either a protozoan or a bacterium. Fish infections also become more prevalent after warm weather and high nutrient levels. Similar to how some people are more prone to becoming ill, fish populations also contain some individuals that are more sensitive to infection regardless of stressful events. In 2020, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission conducted fish surveys across over 30 lakes in the state to document the frequency of largemouth bass with abnormalities. In most lakes, abnormality rates ranged from 0 to 20%.
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DO AQUATIC HERBICIDES CAUSE SORES ON FISH? By: Dr. Benjamin P. Sperry, Research Assistant Scientist, UF/IFAS Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants
Furthermore, lakes with greater historical herbicide use did not result in increased abnormality rate. In order for herbicides to receive a Federal registration for aquatic use, extensive ecotoxicology or potential for environmental harm testing must be completed and accepted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Also, herbicide registration costs are commonly to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. Therefore, registrants would not attempt this process with a product that would cause environmental harm and result in removal from the market as registration costs could not be recouped. One herbicide in particular blamed for most of the fish abnormalities is diquat. It is unclear why this particular herbicide has received more backlash than others but we decided look into its toxicology closer. Upon a literature search, we actually found published data (Darwish and Mitchell 2009) demonstrating the use of diquat to lower channel catfish mortality rates from bacteria in aquaculture. So, not only does the herbicide suspected of causing fish sores not hurt fish, it actually has been used to protect fish from infection in production settings. All photos were taken by Jason Dotson, Daniel Nelson, and Ted Lange of FWRI section of FWC.
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Spray Coverage Vs. Spray Coverage Aquatic Herbicide Applications Insufficient herbicide spray coverage can result in poor weed control requiring repeated applications and increased management costs. All too often we hear you need “good coverage” when spraying herbicides for the control of invasive plants. While this suggestion is generally true in any application, it is important to understand there are two different types of spray coverage to consider. The difference between the two are simply dependent on the scale of concern. Think of this as the magnification setting of your microscope whether you are wanting to see the number of leaves on a plant or the number cells in a leaf.
Spray Coverage Type I The first spray coverage type is similar to counting the number of cells per leaf in the microscope analogy. This coverage is focused on a small scale (square inches or centimeters) looking at the proportion of target plant surface area that received spray droplets and compared to surface area not in contact with a spray droplet. Small scale spray coverage is what is optimized in an agronomic pesticide application and does not necessarily need to be 100%. In fact, recent research at the UF/IFAS CAIP suggests some herbicides perform similarly, if not more effectively, when application parameters are adjusted. This performance results in small scale spray coverage of 30 to 60% compared to 100%. However, that is a discussion for another time.
By: Dr. Benjamin P. Sperry, Research Assistant Scientist, UF/IFAS Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants
Spray Coverage Type II The second type of spray coverage is on a large scale (square feet or acres), similar to counting the number of leaves per plant in the microscope analogy. This is also the type of spray coverage most applicators are concerned about. Large scale spray coverage can be defined as the proportion of the target area that received herbicide verses the proportion of the target area that was missed. In every application this type of coverage should always be 100%. Any deviation from 100% large scale spray coverage results in plants that are left untreated and therefore unmanaged. Large scale spray coverage is not usually considered in most terrestrial applications utilizing broadcast booms, as 100% of the target area is covered by the application. However, most foliar aquatic applications utilize a single-nozzle handgun which relies on the applicator to oscillate the spray pattern back and forth by hand. Consequently, relying on human mechanics compared to mechanized systems can result in inconsistencies in large scale spray coverage. These applications are commonly conducted by airboat without the use of rate controllers, GPS, or nice straight rows of crops to keep us on track.
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FWC: CONSERVATION REMAINS PRIORITY IN GOVERNOR’S BUDGET By: Susan Neel | Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Today, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Executive Director Eric Sutton applauded Governor Ron DeSantis for his Florida Leads budget recommendations to the Legislature for Fiscal Year 20212022. The budget will continue to support high priority conservation items, such as red tide research and invasive species management. “Governor DeSantis’ leadership continues to pave the way for healthy ecosystems that create and maintain fish and wildlife resources for current and future generations,” said Executive Director Eric Sutton. “Governor DeSantis’ support will help keep Florida as the Boating and Fishing Capital of the World,” said FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto. “We will provide even more access and opportunities for residents and visitors to enjoy the outdoors.
Budget Highlights: • $600 thousand for Artificial Reef Construction Programs • $400 thousand for Coral Reef Recovery • $1.1 million for Apalachicola Bay Oyster Restoration Efforts • $4.5 million for Land Acquisitions to Support Conservation Efforts • $6.8 million for Increased Boating Access and Safety • $8.9 million to Combat Invasive Species • $4.2 million for continued Red Tide Research To learn more about the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, visit MyFWC.com
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LAKE MANAGEMENT AND HURRICANE SEASON By: Stephen Montgomery / Senior Biologist / Allstate Resource Management Many South Florida homeowners are not aware of the critical role community lakes play in managing stormwater and mitigating local area flooding. With the start of this year’s hurricane season around the corner, now is the time to make sure that our lakes and waterways are ready to deal with whatever nature throws at us. The problem of flooding is a real issue here because our homes are built on relatively flat, low-lying ground. The thin layer of soil under our feet can become saturated quickly, and sits on a cap of coral rock that only allows for a slow flow of water down to the aquifers below. This, combined with the possibility of large amounts of precipitation in short periods of time creates conditions for major flooding in our urban areas. When developers create residential communities and commercial areas, they need to take into account how much water needs to be stored or moved in order to prevent the project from flooding during major rain events.
Through careful planning and design, they route stormwater away from our homes and into a system of lakes and canals. The size and number of lakes in our communities are a result of those calculations. Lakes are dug to create a storage area for water runoff from storms. The fill dug from the lakes is then used to raise the elevation of the homes around them. Using a system of drains and pipes the water is directed from the developed areas down into the lakes. Some community lakes use weirs or culverts to connect them to the municipal canal system. This allows them to move excess water off the property once they reach a certain level. The system works well but requires regular maintenance in order to ensure that it works properly when needed. Scheduled inspections of storm drains and weirs is important to keep the water moving off our streets and properties efficiently.
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LAKE MANAGEMENT AND HURRICANE SEASON By: Stephen Montgomery / Senior Biologist / Allstate Resource Management These structures accumulate silt and debris, and will occasionally need to be cleaned out. The lakes themselves also need to be regularly inspected and maintained. Even though they are primarily man-made storm water basins, they do evolve and become living ecosystems like naturally occurring waterbodies. Aquatic vegetation begins to grow in all lakes eventually, and much like our lawns, require regular attention in order to avoid become overgrown. Exotic species such as hydrilla, hygrophila, and rotala grow quickly and can spread throughout acres of lake in a matter of months or less. Such infestations are not only unsightly, but all those weeds are filling up the lake and taking up space meant to hold stormwater runoff. Floating weeds such as water lettuce and water hyacinth can rapidly cover a lake surface, clogging and even damaging weirs and other outflows. Excessive growth of vegetation near culverts and drain pipes can slow the flow of stormwater both into and out of the lake, causing backups of the system. The longer these plants are left to grow unmanaged, the harder the problem is to get under control and the longer it will take. Large scale infestations need to be treated in stages with regulated wait times between treatments. This is done in order to not deplete the dissolved oxygen in the whole lake. The other problem with established infestations is that the plants have had time to mature and grow extensive roots systems. These root systems allow the plants to re-grow quickly after initial treatments and quite frequently require multiple follow up treatments to bring under control.
Even once treated, the herbicides take time to work and the plants take time to decompose and settle to the bottom. Unfortunately, tropical storm events do not wait until conditions are best suited to deal with the results. The best way to make sure your community is protected is to be proactive and maintain your system regularly. Regular scheduled maintenance ensures that aquatic vegetation is kept at levels that don’t compromise your stormwater system and can potentially avoid costly repairs to its components. Hurricane season corresponds with the time of year when these plants grow and spread the fastest due to the long, sunny days. We have learned that being prepared for hurricane season means taking precautions before the storm arrives. That wisdom should also definitely apply to our first line of defense against flood damage in our communities.
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WEBSITES PRINT MARKETING Jodi Miller jodi@interactivedesignandmedia.com www.interactivedesignandmedia.com 561.843.1376
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