The Emerald Coast Open Lionfish Tournament May 20-21, 2023, at HarborWalk Village in Destin, FL, is gearing up to tackle a pressing ecological challenge while showcasing the power of sport to make a positive impact. This unique tournament, held along the picturesque shores of the Emerald Coast, focuses on combating the invasive lionfish population in the region’s waters.
Lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific region, have become a significant threat to the delicate balance of marine ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico. With their voracious appetite and rapid reproduction, these invasive species pose a grave danger to native marine life. The Emerald Coast Open Lionfish Tournament aims to address this issue by encouraging divers and fishermen to actively hunt and remove lionfish from the waters.
Participants in the tournament will compete to catch the most lionfish, utilizing their skills in underwater navigation, spearfishing, and conservation. Sponsors provide cash and prizes for multiple categories including most caught, largest and smallest lionfish. The event provides an exciting platform for experienced divers and newcomers alike to contribute to the preservation of the marine environment.
Beyond the ecological significance, the tournament also offers a thrilling experience for both participants and spectators. Divers equipped with their spears dive into the depths, searching for lionfish while showcasing their prowess and bravery. The tournament fosters a sense of camaraderie and shared purpose among the participants, creating a community dedicated to the cause of protecting marine ecosystems.
In addition to the competitive aspect, the Emerald Coast Open Lionfish Tournament promotes education and awareness about the invasive species. Participants and attendees have the opportunity to learn about the impact of lionfish on local marine life and explore sustainable solutions to combat the issue at the free Lionfish Awareness Festival from 10:00-5:00 each day. Sign up to volunteer at the event if you want to join the fun. The week prior to the tournament is dedicated to Lionfish restaurant week where local restaurants practice the “eat ‘um to beat ‘um” philosophy and cook up the tasty fish using a variety of innovative recipes.
The Emerald Coast Open Lionfish Tournament 2023 represents a unique fusion of sport, environmental conservation, and community engagement. By bringing together individuals passionate about marine conservation, this event serves as a powerful catalyst for change and a shining example of how sport can contribute to the preservation of our natural world. Learn more at https://emeraldcoastopen.com.
A Lionfish Removal and Awareness Day festival volunteer sorts lionfish for weighing. (L. Tiu)
The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission and UF/IFAS Extension – Florida Sea Grant have partnered to implement an innovative community-driven effort to restore scallop populations, and we need your help! “Scallop Sitter” volunteers are trained to assist in Bay, Gulf and Franklin Counties. The goal of the program is to increase scallop populations in our local bays. Scallop sitters help reintroduce scallops into suitable areas from which they have disappeared.
Volunteers manage predator exclusion cages of scallops, which are either placed in the bay or by a dock. The cages provide a safe environment for the scallops to live and reproduce, and in turn repopulate the bays. Volunteers make monthly visits from June until December to their assigned cages where they clean scallops (algal and barnacles can attach), check mortality rate and collect salinity data that helps us determine restoration goals and success in targeted areas.
1. Click on the “reserve a spot” to select the county you are participating in.*You must provide your name, contact information and date of birth to secure an FWC permit for your cage!
2. You will be sent a registration survey via email (closer to the scallops, cage & supply pickup date or you may fill out a survey onsite) , view the virtual training link: https://myfwc.com/research/saltwater/mollusc/bay-scallops/sign-up/
and you’ll receive an invite to our Panhandle Scallop Sitter Facebook Group.
DEADLINE for steps 1 & 2 are May 25th!
3. Pick up your scallops, cage & supplies!
Pickup Information (all times local)
St. George Sound Volunteers
Date: Thursday, June 1st
Time: 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Location: FSU Coastal & Marine Lab (across the canal – see road signage)
3618 US-98, St. Teresa, FL 32358
St. Joseph Bay Volunteers
Date: Thursday, June 8th
Time: 10:00 – 1:00 PM
Location: St. Joseph Bay State Buffer Preserve Lodge
3915 State Road 30-A, Port St. Joe, FL 32456
St. Andrew Bay Volunteers
Date: Thursday, June 16th
Time: 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
*We know issues happen from time to time with scallop populations. It’s a bummer. If you loose a significant amount of scallops early in this year’s program, we will do our best to accommodate our volunteers with a “second wave” scallop stocking event in August. Also, looking for other ways to help our program? We plan to offer cage building workshops in the fall, stay tuned!
What do ice cream, make-up, paint, plastic, air freshener, laundry detergent, cellophane, and rayon fabric have in common? They all have pine tree in them. There are hundreds of products that contain the cellulose or sap from the pine tree species native to Florida’s panhandle, particularly Longleaf and Slash pines.
Early foresters of the 1800’s discovered these pine species that grew tall and strong. In fact, Longleaf pines were so overharvested that there is only about 3% of the original forests remaining today. These trees not only provided a huge resource for lumber, they also supplied the fluids necessary to support the timber industry – turpentine. By “cat-facing” (cutting downward angled slashes) the trunk of pine trees, the sap would flow into collection cups placed on the trunks. It was collected and heated.
Pine tree sap- turpentine
Turpentine is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin harvested from pine trees. As a solvent, it is used for thinning oil-based paint, for producing varnishes, and as a raw material for the chemical industry. Add some beeswax and it becomes furniture wax. In the early years, turpentine mixed with coal oil and kerosene was used as a topical wound dressing and lice treatment. Add some animal fats to make primitive vapor rub.
Terpene is the scientific term coined in 1866 to denote all hydrocarbons with the formula C10H16. The word was a shortened form of “terpentine”, the obsolete spelling of “turpentine”. Terpenes are major biosynthetic building blocks for the oils in plants. For the plants, these oils play a critical role in defense against herbivory, build disease resistance, and aid in attracting pollinators. When the resin of pine trees (turpentine) is distilled, each of the terpenes can be separated. Based on there formulation, the terpenes are the base for fragrances and flavoring in numerous consumer products. With various heating treatments, many “fresh scented” cleaning products and antiseptics can be produced. Others terpenes will add “taste” to ice cream, chewing gum, and even beer. The cellulose separated from the turpentine is used to provide “structure” to cosmetics, fabrics, impact-resistant plastics, and modern digital display screens.
Who knew that you could get so many uses from pine trees. They are not just for making 2 x 4s anymore. In fact, the 1939 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to the scientist that sorted out the 55,000 terpene compounds from turpentine. You may never look at a pine tree (or your beer) the same way again.
It sounds like one of those Sci-Fi thrillers where there is a giant asteroid heading to Earth and we need a special team led by Bruce Willis to save the planet. But in this case it is not a large rock, but a large mass of seaweed. And the threat is not a huge impact that would form tidal waves and atmospheric black out but large masses of seaweed covering the beaches up to a foot or more. Once on the beach, the mass of seaweed would begin to break down releasing odors and attracting insects that would not be popular with tourists – just as we get into the peak of tourist season around the state.
Mats of Sargassum on a south Florida Beach.
Photo: University of Florida
It is not something new, this has been a problem in south Florida for a few years now, but this year scientists can see the massive blob of seaweed heading this way and it is larger than before. They are expecting some beaches in Florida to be heavily impacted.
The seaweed in this floating mass is a brown algae known as Sargassum (Gulfweed). Like many brown algae’s, it is yellowish-brown in color and possesses small air bladders called pneumatocysts. These pneumatocysts allow large brown algae, like kelp, to stand tall like a tree in the water column – or, like Sargassum, to float on the surface where they can reach the much-needed sunlight.
Sargassum has small air bladders called pneumatocysts to help them remain afloat on the surface.
Photo: Florida Sea Grant
There are two species of Sargassum that are found in the South Atlantic: Sargassum natans and S. fluitans. They are not easily distinguished so most just say “sargassum”. These seaweeds form large floating mats that drift in the ocean currents. The clockwise rotation of the North Atlantic gyre creates a central point around which the currents spin that is calm – similar to the eye of a hurricane. Here, the sargassum collects in large masses and was noted in the logs of Christopher Columbus as the “Sargasso Sea” – a place to avoid for colonial sailors due to the fact there is little wind or current here.
The Sargasso Sea
Image: University of Florida
Mats of this algae creates an ecosystem drifting across the sea housing transient and residential species that have been the study of marine biologists for decades. The seaweed will get caught in currents that bring it close to shore where fishermen seek it out fishing for jacks or mahi-mahi. Baby sea turtles will use it as refuge until they are large enough to return to the shores of the continents and islands. It will at times get caught in currents that bring it ashore where beach combers sift through to see what they can find. As we mentioned, once on dry ground the seaweed begins to die releasing the odors of decaying sea life and attracting an assortment of insects. When this happens coastal communities will use tractors to drag and remove the smelly mats and deposit them in the local landfill.
In recent years, in south Florida, the amount of this seaweed has increased. The seaweed has formed large mounds on the beaches making beach combing an ordeal and the smell unbearable in many communities. Some of the Sargassum finds its way into the canals of the Florida Keys where it sits and decays, decreasing dissolved oxygen and causing a decline in abundance of some local marine communities. They have responded by removing the Sargassum to the local landfill but are experimenting with composting the material for fertilizing other plants.
Several researchers have experimented with the composting idea with some encouraging results. Some have found a use for it as mulch for coastal mangrove shoots that have lost much of their natural fertilizers due to coastal urbanization. There are problems with using this in some plant settings. 1) It could be too salty for some landscape plants. 2) There is the concern of the amount of arsenic present. Studies continue.
The recent large masses of Sargassum coming ashore began in 2011. What is causing this recent increase in Sargassum on the beaches? Researchers are finding the source of this material is not mats rotating off of the Sargasso Sea but forming in the belt of moving water between the North Equatorial Current in the south Atlantic and the equator itself. The exact cause of this increase growth is uncertain but could be linked to an increase of nutrients from regional rivers, like the Amazon, and from increased ocean temperatures due to climate change – both of these are exactly what seaweeds like.
This year the mass of seaweed seen from satellites is particularly large – over 5,000 miles. It is drifting in the currents heading for the Caribbean and Florida. It will most likely impact south Florida, but researchers do not believe the impact will be as large along Florida panhandle beaches. They will continue to monitor and report on the movement of this mass of seaweed over the course of the summer.
Health advisories are issued by state and local health departments when levels of fecal bacteria become too high for the public to safely enter the water. Sewage can be a source of these fecal bacteria. They can harbor pathogenic organisms that can cause of a variety of health problems. State and local health departments routinely monitor local waterways, particularly where people recreate, to assure the level of fecal bacteria is not unsafe. It is understood that the presence of fecal bacteria in waterways is normal, animals do go the bathroom, but excessive levels can be unsafe.
Closed due to bacteria.
Photo: Rick O’Connor
In the Pensacola Bay area, most of the human recreation areas near the barrier islands rarely have health advisories issued. Once every few years there is an issue at the sewage treatment facility on Pensacola Beach and an advisory is issued, or a sewage line is broken either near Santa Rosa Sound or Big Lagoon with the same results. But is very rare.
However, our local bayous are different. The neighborhoods are densely populated with old or outdated infrastructure, and how we manage these systems can cause problems as well. We are going to do a three-part series on what property owners can do to help reduce the number of health advisories issued in waterways where they are more common. In Part 1 we will look at how to maintain your septic system.
Septic systems were commonly used decades ago when city limits, and treatment facilities, were smaller. Many communities within our counties are on a septic system, and it falls on the property owner to properly maintain them.
Most understand how the system works, but for those who are not familiar – here are the basics.
When you flush your commode, take a shower, or wash your clothes, the wastewater leaves your house through a series of pipes and empties into a septic tank buried in your yard. These tanks are usually made of concrete and there are different sizes. A typical tank will be about 8 feet long x 4 feet wide x 6 feet deep and hold around 1000 gallons (again, sizes vary). The solid material settles to the bottom where it is broken down by living microbes. The oils and fats float to the surface forming a scum layer. The remaining wastewater settles in the middle of the tank and drains into a drain field through a series of perforated pipes.
The drain field should be made of less compacted soils to allow percolation into the surrounding environment. There is some physical, chemical, and biological treatment of the wastewater as it percolates, but only if the drain field is properly designed and located. For obvious reasons you should not (and most communities will not allow) have your drain field next to an open or public water system. In Florida it is required that the loose uncompacted soils must be no less than 24 inches above the wet/water table.
A conventional septic system is composed of a septic tank and a drainfield, where most of the wastewater treatment takes place. Image: US EPA
It has been found that if the septic system is placed in the correct location and maintained properly, it does a good job of removing pathogens from the wastewater. However, it was not designed to remove nutrients, which can still leach into waterways and cause algal blooms. And the presence of pharmaceuticals and household chemicals are not always removed, which can cause problems for aquatic wildlife. But to reduce health advisories they can work.
So…
How do we maintain our septic system so that it functions properly?
Watch what you pour down your drain. As mentioned above, many household chemicals and pharmaceuticals are not removed and become environmental problems when they leach from the drain fields into the local environment. Fats, oils, and grease (and even milk) can solidify and form the scum layer at the top of the septic tank. These solids can clog the lines running to the septic tank, or the drain field lines themselves. They can create back flows and could cause untreated sewage to back flow into your home. Our local utility offers the FOGProgram. In this program you can visit a local dispensing site (these can be found at ECUA’s website and there is one at the Escambia County Extension Office) to obtain as free 1-gallon plastic jug. Pour your bacon grease, oils, etc. into these containers. When full, return them to the dispensing location and swap out for a clean empty one. The service is free.
Watch how much water you use. As mentioned, septic tanks come in different sizes and are designed for a certain amount of water. “Flooding” of the system can occur if you are using more water than your system is designed for and this could include flooding of semi, or untreated, sewage.
The scum and solid layers of the tank need to be pumped out. It is recommended the septic systems are pumped once every 3-5 years, depending on the size of the tank. A pump out may cost you several hundreds of dollars, but a tank replacement is going to be in thousands – it is a good investment and will help reduce health advisories in local waterways.
Do not drive over your septic system, or drain field, with heavy vehicles. This could crack the tank and/or compact the soils within the drain field.
The FOG gallon containers are found in these metal cabinets placed around the county.
Photo: Rick O’Connor 1-gallon container provided free to dispose of your oil and grease.
Photo: Rick O’Connor
Studies have shown that a properly designed, properly placed, and properly maintained septic system will work well in reducing the presence of pathogenic fecal bacteria in our local waterways for up to 50 years. Note: like all things, even a good septic tank does have a live span. If you do not know the history of your septic system, we recommend you contact a certified professional to come do an assessment.
As always, if you have additional questions, do not hesitate to contact your county extension office.
Historically the average rainfall in the Pensacola Bay is around 60 inches per year. However, over the past 10 years that has increased to slightly more than 75 inches per year (see Table 1). The frequency of those levels over the past decade shows that most are between 60 – 80 inches but there have been two years with over 90 inches reported. In the last decade, nine of the 10 years had total rainfall above the historic mean for the area.
Along with the increase in rainfall has come an increase in development. This increase reduces the amount of the excess rainfall to percolate into the ground and recharge our aquifer. Instead, it is directed into stormwater projects to reduce flooding in the community. Some of this stormwater will eventually find its way to the estuary or the tributaries that feed the estuary. The question is whether this increase in freshwater run-off is enough to decrease the salinity of the bay system.
There are several restoration projects ongoing within the bay. Two of them Sea Grant has been involved in. One is monitoring the status of seagrass and the other is status of bay scallops. The species of seagrass in lower bay, such as turtle grass (Thalassia testudnium) and shoal grass (Halodule wrightii) require salinities to be at, or above, 20 parts per thousand. Bay scallops depend on turtle grass for their life cycle and also require the salinity at, or above, 20 ppt.
Citizen volunteers are assisting Florida Sea Grant by monitoring the salinity of the bay on a weekly basis.
Volunteers are trained to use a refractometer and asked to monitor their assigned beach once a week, reporting their results to Sea Grant and calibrating their instrument once a month.
We are asking our volunteers to continue to monitor until they have logged 100 readings.
Currently 21 locations around the bay are being monitored. Nine are in the Big Lagoon area, eight near downtown Pensacola, and four near Pensacola Beach.
12 of these sites are actively being monitored at this time, 3 have reached the 100-reading mark, and 6 have not been monitored in some time.
Note:
Our volunteers are monitoring the water at the surface near the beach due to ease of access. The seagrass and scallops we are interested in grow at the bottom and at depth. However, saline water is more dense than fresh, and it is assumed that the water on the bottom at depth is saltier than the data being found at the surface near the beach.
There are other agencies who are monitoring salinity at depth.
Data for Each Site as of the end of 2022
Table 3 – Salinity Mean, Median, and Mode from Around the Pensacola Bay Area
Water Body
No. of samples logged
Mean
Median
Mode
Bayou Chico
7
10
5
5
Bayou Grande
29
20
21
21
Bayou Texar
10
8
7
ND
Big Lagoon
15
23
20
20
Big Lagoon SP
51
16
15
14
Big Sabine
64
22
22
22
Bruce Beach
1
18
18
ND
Ft. McRee
4
21
21
19
Galvez Landing
65
22
23
22
Hawkshaw
24
16
15
15
Kees Bayou
100
20
21
14
Little Sabine
100
23
23
25
Lower Perdido Bay
100
16
15
20
Navy Point SE
21
17
17
20
Navy Point SW
22
16
17
10
Old River
36
23
23
25
Oriole Beach
51
25
25
25
Perdido Key SP
33
21
20
15
Sanders Beach
70
18
18
18
Siguenza Cove
11
22
21
21
Shoreline Park
10
25
25
25
TOTAL
824
19
19
19
Table 4 – Salinity Mean, Median, and Mode from the Big Lagoon Area
Water Body
No. of samples logged
Mean
Median
Mode
Big Lagoon
15
23
20
20
Big Lagoon SP
51
16
15
14
Ft. McRee
4
21
21
19
Galvez Landing
65
22
23
22
Kees Bayou
100
20
21
14
Lower Perdido Bay
100
16
15
20
Old River
36
23
23
25
Perdido Key SP
33
21
20
15
Siguenza Cove
11
22
21
21
TOTAL
415
20
20
19
Table 5 – Salinity Mean, Median, and Mode for the Downtown Pensacola Area
Water Body
No. of samples logged
Mean
Median
Mode
Bayou Chico
7
10
5
5
Bayou Grande
29
20
21
21
Bayou Texar
10
8
7
ND
Bruce Beach
1
18
18
ND
Hawkshaw
24
16
15
15
Navy Point SE
21
17
17
20
Navy Point SW
22
16
17
10
Sanders Beach
70
18
18
18
TOTAL
184
15
15
15
Table 6 – Salinity Mean, Median, Mode for the Pensacola Beach Area
Water Body
No. of samples logged
Mean
Median
Mode
Big Sabine
64
22
22
22
Little Sabine
100
23
23
25
Oriole Beach
51
25
25
25
Shoreline Park
10
25
25
25
TOTAL
225
24
24
24
Discussion
A glance at Table 3 will show all 21 bodies of water that have been involved in this project. Three of those, Lower Perdido Bay, Kees Bayou, and Little Sabine have reached the 100-reading mark.
For Lower Perdido Bay the mean salinity was 16 ppt ±5. The highest reading was 24 ppt and the lowest was 6 ppt. The median was 15 ppt and the mode was 20. These data suggest that this body of water would not support turtle grass or bay scallops, but it is not believed that historically lower Perdido Bay did. We would like to thank Bob Jackson for his effort on collecting these data.
For Kees Bayou the mean salinity was 20 ppt ±6. The highest reading was 31 ppt and the lowest was 5 ppt. The median was 21 ppt and the mode was 14 ppt. These data suggest that turtle grass and bay scallops could survive here. It is noted that Kees Bayou is a shallow basin located next to a highway and during intense rainfall the salinities could drop drastically to cause a decline of both target species. We would like to thank Marty Goodman for his effort on collecting these data.
For Little Sabine the mean salinity was 23 ppt ±4. The highest reading was 30 ppt and the lowest was 12 ppt. The median was 23 ppt and the mode was 25 ppt. These data also suggest that both turtle grass and scallops could survive in Little Sabine, and there are records that scallops were once there. Turtle grass exist there now. We would like to thank Betsy Walker and Liz Hewson for their efforts on collecting these data.
The Big Lagoon Area
These data suggest that most of the sampled areas could, in fact, support both turtle grass and scallops, and there are records that they have supported both in relatively recent years. One note of interest is the lower salinities near Big Lagoon State Park. Most of the sites have data at 20 ppt or higher – except Lower Perdido Bay (understandable) but we are not sure why the numbers are below 20 ppt. at the state park. We would like to thank our active volunteers in the Big Lagoon area Jessica Bickell, Glenn Conrad, John Williams, and Emogene Johnson for their effort in collecting these data.
The Downtown Pensacola Area
These data suggest that this area of the bay would not support turtle grass nor bay scallops. But historically they did not. Seagrass does exist in these bodies of water but much of it is widgeon grass (Ruppia maritima) which can tolerate lower salinities. We would like to thank our active volunteers for the downtown area Tim Richardson and Glenn Conrad for their efforts in collecting these data.
The Pensacola Beach Area
These data suggest that Santa Rosa Sound could support, and do support, populations of turtle grass and scallops. During our scallop searches conducted in July we have found one live scallop in Big Lagoon and two in Santa Rosa Sound over the last six years. Again, these data suggests that all of these locations could do so with the highest salinities in the bay area based on these data. We would like to thank our active volunteers in the Pensacola Beach area Ann Livingston, Gina and Ingo Hertz, and Holly Forrester for their efforts in collecting these data.
Though we have not reached the targeted 100-readings for most of our sites, these early results suggest the rainfall may not be lowering the salinity. We will continue to monitor until we do reach the 100-reading for each and have a better idea.
We are seeking new volunteers. The water bodies needing help are Bayou Chico, Bayou Texar, Big Lagoon, Bruce Beach, and Sanders Beach. If you are interested contact me at roc1@ufl.edu
