In a little more than a year, several types of fish found along the Treasure Coast — and nowhere else — could be added to the federal endangered species list.
Getting on the list not only would help protect those fish, but the waters where they live.
Grant Gilmore, a Vero Beach marine biologist who recently assessed area waters, is expected to ask the Martin County Commission this spring to petition the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to protect nine species endemic to the Indian River Lagoon and the St. Lucie, Loxahatchee and Sebastian rivers. They are:
- Bigmouth sleeper
- Swordspine snook
- Whitemouth croaker
- Burro grunt
- Violet goby
- River goby
- Slashcheek goby
- Opossum pipefish
- Mountain mullet
The county has been considering adding just three fish to the endangered list: the bigmouth sleeper, opossum pipefish and violet goby, said John Maehl, ecosystem manager.
Gilmore told TCPalm that officials at the Center for Biodiversity and the Fish & Wildlife Service told him the petition would be more successful with all nine species that share "the same environmental requirements and potential evolutionary history."
List fish, protect habitat
"The beauty of it is, if you're able to save habitat for just one species, you're saving it for all of them," Maehl said.
Gilmore's study, paid for by a $30,000 grant the commission approved in September 2018, includes getting genetic information on the fish, when possible, and mapping all the sites where the fish have been caught.
More: County approves grant to petition for endangered species
"It appears that habitat loss and water quality declines are truly endangering these species," Gilmore said.
The fact that these fish never have been seen in other areas of Florida "truly reveals the biological treasure we have along this coast south of Cape Canaveral," he said.
Lake Okeechobee discharges
The commission's approval came as the Army Corps of Engineers was discharging Lake Okeechobee water, some of it containing toxic blue-green algae that caused scattered blooms in the St. Lucie River much of the previous summer, and about a month before red tide blooms made their way to the Treasure Coast, killing millions of fish and closing beaches and waterfront businesses.
By itself, getting endemic fish on the endangered species list won't stop Lake O discharges or algae blooms, Maehl said.
"But when it comes to fighting for water quality, you throw everything you've got at it," he said. "This isn't going to solve all our water problems, but it gives us more credibility to be able to say, 'The St. Lucie River and southern Indian River Lagoon are a unique habitat for these species, and anything you do to harm the ecosystem threatens the existence of these fish.' "
Gilmore said he and other biologists petitioned to save these species long ago, "but I have been told that the best chance for their protection lies with a county government with partners to petition, and public support. So I hope the local counties these species call home, from southern Brevard to northern Palm Beach, will all participate in the petition process."
If Martin County commissioners agree to Gilmore's request, the Fish & Wildlife Service has a year to review the petition and make a decision.
Endangered species list
The Treasure Coast is home to two animals and four plants already listed:
- Smalltooth sawfish
- Hawksbill sea turtle
- Lakela's mint
- Carter's mustard
- Four-petal pawpaw
- Tiny polygala
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January 06, 2020 at 06:00PM
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U.S. endangered species list could include 9 fish found only along Treasure Coast - TCPalm
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