Abstract Summary
The coastal bays and coral reefs of Biscayne support diverse natural resources, and lucrative tourism and fishing industries that generate billions of dollars in regional economic activity. Biscayne, the nation’s largest marine National Park, is visited by more than 250,000 persons annually due to its proximity to south Florida’s burgeoning 6 million-person population. A host of consumptive and sport fisheries target fish and shellfish across the seascape, most intensively the snapper-grouper complex. Other directed commercial fisheries capture primary prey species (pink shrimp, baitfish) that deleteriously affects food availability for reef fishes and elite sportsfishes like tarpon, bonefish, and permit. Overfishing, prey reduction, and habitat degradation are principal threats. Ecological persistence and economic sustainability is a key conservation concern as resource demand continues to escalate. “Sustainability” in this context is the ability of an exploited fish population to produce goods and services (including yields) at suitable levels in the short-term, while maintaining sufficient stock reproductive capacity to continue providing these goods and services at similar levels into the indefinite future. This talk explores fishery sustainability risks and provides strategic advice to enhance reef restoration activities that will improve management decision-making capacity for the National Parks and State of Florida.
