The Marine life fishery in Florida, 1990-98

Marine Fisheries Review, Wntr, 2003 by Sherry L. Larkin, Charles M. Adams

Summary and Conclusions

The marine life collection industry in Florida has grown during the past decade as the number of licensed collectors (i.e. fishermen with MLE's) increased from 159 to 743. As a result, the volume and/or value of landings of the top 10 fish and invertebrate species groups increased. The growth is particularly evident in the collection of invertebrate animals (i.e. excluding plants, live rock, and live sand). The harvest of live rock and live sand also increased dramatically during the 1990-95 period, but declined due to a moratorium on the collection of naturally occurring rock and sand in state and Federal waters.

Although the number of harvesting participants increased dramatically during the 1990-98 period, the implementation of a temporary moratorium on marine life endorsements has limited further entry into the industry until 2005. Regulations have also been imposed on certain species (e.g. size limits, bag limits, and trip limits), but most regulations apply to the industry as a whole (e.g. allowable harvest methods). The implementation of these regulations reflects concern regarding the sustainability of marine life resources in Florida.

The information presented in this paper includes data collected by FMRI since the initiation of the marine life trip ticket program in 1990. The reported regional, seasonal, and trip-level analysis (along with trends in landings, prices, and/or total values) provides some insight into the harvest pressure being exerted on wild stocks of ornamental finfish and invertebrate animals. Although no stock assessments exist for any of the individual species targeted by the marine life collection industry, such information (particularly for the predominant species) could be useful to resource managers as they develop effective management measures for this growing industry.