Seagrass Loss at Econfina

[big bend gyrene]

Versus sharing this update on my recent inquiry whether anyone had scalloped out of Econfina, thought it worth starting a new thread for visibility / discussion sake.

Did get out this weekend (try to post fishing report soon), and while motoring around stopped at some of my previously marked scallop spots. Did NOT jump in... not because I wasn't interested in seeing if any scallops were hiding in the grass, but instead because the spots I had previously marked were now sandy bottom. Honestly, on a run over three or four miles we only went over one small grass patch during our travels. Hate to be the bearer of bad news, and I sure can't claim that the remark I'm about to share is backed up with hard scientific data (instead just quick observations on a narrow single path out to deeper waters)... but I would guess we saw a 90% grass loss (or more) over the route we traveled.

Which begs the question for the board members who've lived / fished / scalloped here the longest... have such losses occurred in the past? If so, how long does it take for grass to rebound under ideal weather / environmental conditions?

Also sure curious if I'm the only one who's noticed the loss or if anyone else can confirm loss of grass in areas known to previously have been thick in it? Anybody observed the same loss in the flats outside Fenholloway, Aucilla, St. Marks?

Here's hoping some other board members will chime in on the subject.

BBG

[leesburgga]

My wife and I were fishing in front of Aucilla this past Saturday. While this was some new area for me, I was surprised at the vastness of areas with lack of grass. I even commented to my wife that we seem to be having some surprising difficulty in locating the grass. I would not have thought anything more of it if I had not seen your post. Interesting and look forward to other responses with more knowledge of the area than I have.

[wevans]

http://myfwc.com/media/1590767/Northern_Big_Bend.pdf

Also
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 164128.htm
Seagrass beds, which provide home and food for fish, manatees, sea turtles and other animals, find themselves in peril. A new study shows how much sunlight is needed to keep the seagrass healthy. Loss of seagrass means fish, crabs and other animals lose their homes and manatees and sea turtles lose a source of food. Nutrients, such as phosphorous, may prevent seagrass from getting the sunlight it needs to thrive. Nutrients may come from many sources, among them fertilizers used in agriculture, golf courses and suburban lawns, pet waste and septic tank waste.

[big bend gyrene]

Wevans, read and appreciate the educational share. Also have found a few other Florida-based research articles that speak to general issues such as length of recovery time, effect on fish populations, etc... but haven't found anything up to date speaking to loss over the past two to three years in the Big Bend area due to freshwater flooding.

And promise, I sure don't want to turn out to be Chicken Little crying that the sky is falling if it really isn't, but I was pretty shocked by the lack of visible grass in large areas I scalloped in the past. Also helps explain why I was having so much difficulty catching bait on my routes earlier this year when the water was less clear and I couldn't see bottom. Not that surprisingly, only place my sabiki got tapped this go round was when we went over the one small patch of grass.

[Salty Gator]

I noticed the same thing west. Lanark usually has the thickest turtle grass you have ever seem by early- mid spring and this year it was really slow to come in. When it did it was in smaller patches. Not nearly as thick as in the past. Turkey point is the same. Way less "good" grass and more brown dead looking grass. Less pinfish also. I wondered if it was too much fresh water or too much opacity in the water. Not sure, but I was alarmed( sky not falling yet, but certainly concerned). Ive heard St Joe bay is also lacking the grass normally present there. Hope it comes back like it is supposed to.

[onefishtwofish]

I know in the Indian River Lagoon areas, there are huge losses of seagrass going on for several years. Couple of friends that fish almost daily have been concerned for a while. Nutrient loading seems to be the issue there. I am hoping two consecutive years of tea stained water has been the culprit in our area. I have noticed it too, although Lanark had the healthiest grass beds I have seen (still less than traditional for that area) and I would guess that coincides with the location of significant fresh water flow (or lack of). Aucilla is my main stomping ground, and out the mouth of the river and the west cutoff have always been devoid of significant consistent grass. You usually have to go a little east or a little west to get into it again. I have been thinking about this too, glad you brought it up. Some areas we have always headed to first have been non-productive and I felt like lack of good grass may have been the culprit.

[HewesMan]

My thought is that with us having as much rain in the spring as we had this year and maybe last year, when the water starts warming and grass normally starts growing, an over abundant amount of fresh water could severely impede the rate at which grass should normally grow. But, what do I know. I would hope with all things it would be cyclical.

[kgarner1]

Research def points towards excess amounts of early freshwater but the alarming and biggest contributing factor is whats "in" all that fesh water... pollutants! No way around it or candy coating the issue just take a look at Wakulla Springs they cant even remember when last they had Glass Bottom Boat tours.

[big bend gyrene]

kgarner1, no doubt pollutants of various sources are in the freshwater dumps, but the likely biggest contributor to the die-off (if indeed it's happened) is a completely natural water contaminant... tannins released from leaf litter.

From the reading I've done my understanding is that lowered imbalanced salinity levels themselves are a major stressor on seagrasses, but compounding the issue is that seagrasses need to receive a level of sunlight to survive. Fresh water flooding that brings high levels of tannins into the water prevents grasses from getting the light they need and they die.

As darkly stained with tannins as the waters have been the past two springs / early summer at Econfina, sure sounds like a probable cause of any die-off experienced. But by all means, if you're privy to research that points to other less natural pollutants as a measured cause I would like to read up on anything you have to share / sure others would too.

[2true]

Another vote for too much fresh water...

[DEMON]

Yep, too much fresh-tannin water over the last couple of years right at the beginning of the grow season.

[big bend gyrene]

Kind of steering things back to the original intent of the post, any old(er ) timers seen our local flats lose grass like this before?

Just can't help but believe that sometime back a ways, the area didn't experience a few years with similar consecutive heavy freshwater floods.

If any board members can speak to whether or not they noticed big grass losses before, even if decades ago, be much appreciated.

[MudDucker]

Kind of steering things back to the original intent of the post, any old(er ) timers seen our local flats lose grass like this before?

Just can't help but believe that sometime back a ways, the area didn't experience a few years with similar consecutive heavy freshwater floods.

If any board members can speak to whether or not they noticed big grass losses before, even if decades ago, be much appreciated.

I guess I qualify as an old timer. I don't recall anytime that the flats in the big bend area lost significant grass. I do recall one year in the 70's that the flats out the Suwanee River and between the Suwanee and Cedar Key had significant losses. Both recovered over the next couple of years. -That followed a historical flood of the river when it ran over I75 so I suspect fresh water is the culprit.

[RHTFISH]

Not sure I qualify as an old timer but I have been enjoying the Econfina area since 1970. I remember changes in seagrasses over a one to two year period in the areas I fish and with the major exception of sargossa they have always returned. I also do not remember such extended periods of dark water blocking the necessary sunlight as the past couple of years coupled with lowered salinity.

We used to have patches of sargossa that measured acres in size and were fish magnets! I sure miss throwing top waters
around those areas.

[Old Dog]

When I first started fishing the upper bay at Apalachicola there were thick masses of turtle grass all along the shores of the upper bay out from the mouths of Doyle, Whiskey George, and Cash Creeks. Then beginning around 1983 it began dying off and it has not come back. In that area we would catch bass, bream, reds, and trout in the same waters around that grass; it was a very productive fishery.
OD