Explanation of Indicator
Commercial and recreational marine fishing in Florida, in combination with coastal and offshore pollution, may have a profound impact on the resources of Florida's waters. It is critical that the status of Florida's marine fisheries be examined on a regu
lar basis. Accordingly, the state of Florida has required that all sales of seafood products from Florida waters be reported to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) by sales transaction on a monthly basis.
This indicator may be a reflection of the public's demand and preference for specific types of seafood. However, landing trends may also record human pressures on coastal resources. For the purpose of this indicator, data are combined into three groups: finfish; invertebrates, excluding shrimp; and shrimp.
Data also concentrate on certain key species important to Florida's fishing industry, including bluefish, blue crab, stone crab, spiny lobster, king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, black mullet, reef fish, spotted seatrout, shark, and shrimp. All of these sp ecies or species groups are important members of marine food webs, either as apex predators like the shark, or as scavengers and prey like the blue crab. Some species, like the blue crab and spotted seatrout, inhabit nearshore grass flats and estuarine a reas, whereas reef fish and lobsters are found mainly on offshore reefs. King and Spanish mackerel are near shore pelagic (ocean going) species, while sharks are found from inshore areas to the open ocean. Bluefish are a pelagic species that come into b each areas to feed. Many of the species listed here are important to the commercial fishing industry, although bluefish and spotted seatrout, which are very important species recreationally, are less important commercially.
This indicator reflects the best available information on most commercially important fish species and the pressure commercial fishing may be placing on the resource. This indicator includes only commercial landings and value.
Data Characteristics
SOURCE
The Fisheries Statistics Section of the Florida Marine Research Institute (FMRI) collects and analyzes this information. Landings data are stored in FMRI’s Marine Fisheries Information System and are available at 100 8th Avenue, S.E., St. Petersburg, Fl
orida 33701-5095, or at (813) 896-8626 or SUNCOM 523-1011.
ACQUISITION
The data are available in hard copy format at no cost.
COLLECTION
Commercial landings data are computerized from trip ticket information submitted to DEP by Florida wholesale and retail dealers, and the figures are compiled into annual reports providing summaries for each species by coast, county, and month. Florida's
Marine Fisheries Trip Ticket Program is funded primarily through license fees paid by commercial fishermen.
Data Limitations
This indicator shows the indirect impacts that commercial fisheries have on the marine environment and on local economies. It should be noted that recreational fisheries also have a substantial impact on Florida's marine resources. This indicator does n
ot reflect this impact.
Data Analysis
From 1986 to 1994 the landings of finfish experienced a decrease of approximately 20%. During this same time period, invertebrates landings increased from 25,585 to 39,745, an increase of about 55 percent. Shrimp landings experienced a decrease of appro
ximately nine percent.
Year Finfish Invertebrates Shrimp 1986 121,624 25,585 28,244 1987 124,403 45,409 25,575 1988 118,200 42,004 22,473 1989 138,672 35,884 25,202 1990 127,508 30,931 23,106 1991 113,115 26,590 19,014 1992 113,006 32,216 21,141 1993 105,979 35,230 23,716 1994 97,438 39,745 25,591
The dollar value of commercial marine fisheries has generally increased for finfish and invertebrates; however, the value of shrimp has experienced a slight decrease. The value of finfish increased by approximately six percent from 1986 to 1994 and the v alue of invertebrates increased by 70 percent for this same time period. The value of shrimp has experienced a decrease of approximately six percent.
Year Finfish Invertebrates Shrimp 1986 $70,707,097 $43,934,835 $55,639,393 1987 $77,958,450 $73,317,200 $48,328,857 1988 $82,365,756 $70,939,078 $54,121,004 1989 $96,596,497 $65,785,012 $44,549,284 1990 $93,938,052 $63,600,153 $42,048,577 1991 $76,763,217 $59,896,757 $42,649,559 1992 $80,887,975 $53,984,652 $39,267,521 1993* $83,736,416 $61,654,768 $44,409,232 1994* $74,971,207 $74,700,363 $52,365,580 * These are preliminary numbers that will be revised when all the 1993 and 1994 data are compiled.
The following analysis pertains to the charts and graphs below:
The data on pounds caught per trip can be deceptive. For example, data on pounds of shark species caught per trip show an increase continuing through 1994, when actually the total pounds of shark caught has decreased after 1990. The data on total pounds of key species caught show an overall declining trend for all species except blue crab, spiny lobster, and shark. As previously stated, bluefish is primarily a recreationally important species with commercial landings accounting for about half the annua l total. The data for blue crab show fluctuations in commercial landings, but no clear trend is apparent. Sharks have exhibited a marked increase in landings due to increased marketing efforts, acceptance of shark meat by consumers, and, to a greater de gree, the high prices offered by the Asian market for dried shark fins.
Species that have shown decline include bluefish, king and Spanish mackerel, black mullet, and spotted seatrout. The reduced landings for king mackerel may be the result of overfishing; landing limits were imposed on this species in the fall of 1989. Sp anish mackerel fisheries have also been restricted by landing limits, but the decline is also attributable to the fact that there are only a few dealers to account for the majority of landings at the height of the season. A decreasing trend for total bla ck mullet landings has been observed since 1990, due in part to new regulations on the harvesting of mullet. Also, in 1989 entry of fishermen into mullet harvesting was restricted. Spotted seatrout has historically accounted for a small portion of the t otal landings in Florida, but decreases in landings have occurred since November, 1989 when limits were placed on harvesting of this species.
Species 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993* 1994* Bluefish 115 142 141 106 93 120 89 103 92 Blue Crab (Hard) 343 433 329 279 292 244 319 245 229 Spiny Lobster 171 167 198 194 148 155 143 163 217 King Mackerel 302 236 374 229 235 154 190 249 152 Spanish Mackerel 486 404 427 527 272 352 340 450 356 Black Mullet 394 393 376 400 365 354 335 367 314 Spotted Seatrout 32 34 35 31 26 30 29 25 33 Shark 332 456 550 699 672 693 752 843 932
Species 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993* 1994* Bluefish 1,623 1,993 2,024 1,511 1,464 1,860 1,407 1,309 1,171 Blue Crab (Hard) 11,238 18,406 15,257 12,974 14,096 9,961 15,027 12,538 13,877 Spiny Lobster 5,029 6,092 6,799 7,814 5,997 7,023 5,337 5,382 7,104 King Mackerel 4,128 3,115 3,011 2,054 2,794 2,035 2,544 3,682 2,440 Spanish Mackerel 6,329 6,162 5,209 5,845 4,364 6,248 5,625 6,443 5,517 Black Mullet 22,787 23,005 23,623 26,895 26,014 22,190 20,625 20,351 14,943 Spotted Seatrout 1,568 1,665 1,679 1,364 1,005 1,052 923 772 890 Shark 2,628 4,817 5,518 6,991 7,288 6,293 5,775 3,579 4,834
