- Marine Stewardship Council says heat waves could be impacting marine life around the world.
- Despite the concern, anglers in Wakulla County say the fish are plentiful.
- Watch the video to see what temperatures are like near Panacea and what action groups are taking to help.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
"The fishing is greater than ever."
Captain Joel Weir runs a fishing charter that goes around the world and in these waters off Panacea. "The fish we have the grouper the snapper fishing everything is phenomenal."
He says business is good, but the Marine Stewardship Council tells me they're concerned about the future of fishing in our oceans.
"They're experiencing water temperatures that are higher than normal."
Nicole Condon is the U.S. Program Director for the Marine Stewardship Council. That's a global nonprofit dedicated to keeping species of fish around the world healthy and available to fishermen like Weir.
Condon tells me marine heat waves are a big concern right now. "It can have really big impacts on the surrounding area the environment and the fish."
I asked her how warmer water temperatures could impact a fishing community like Panacea. "It impacts where we find fish and impacts the fisheries as well, because they might be moving out of state management areas into different states or even into different countries."
With that in mind, I wanted to see where water temperatures stand right now. Check out this map from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It shows sea surface temperature anomalies.
Areas of warmer than average water are those yellow, orange, reds. Cooler than average shows up as blue and purple. Water closer to shore in the Big Bend is running below average. I asked Captain Weir about that.
"I mean the water temps are fine like I said some years the water might be a little bit warmer and some years it might be a little bit cooler."
He says he hasn't noticed a difference in the amount of fish here.
Still, Condo reminds everyone to think about the future. "Maybe it means that you need to stop operations during a specific period of time to give fish a chance to rebound working with state and federal management agencies"
And for all the other anglers out there, Weir says, "all in all the conditions are are perfect."
Preserving those fish populations is a big deal in our state. Florida Fish and Wildlife says Saltwater recreational fishing alone added $9.2 billion to the state's economy in 2020.
