Our current research project, Project Bay Bones was recently featured in Guy Harvey’s online magazine.
Guy Harvey Magazine-Fred Garth and an 11 lb bonefish.
Check out this link for the article: http://guyharveymagazine.com/take-a-survey-on-bonefishing-for-btt-research/
Pick up a copy to check out the CAST article as well as a great feature on snook recovery from the 2010 cold snap.
This month CAST wrapped up its first Recapture Tournament. Participating Everglades anglers scan fish year-round, but this time from January 1st to May 31st all recaptures were entered into a tournament! We ended the event with a total of 19 recaptures: 17 largemouth bass and 2 snook, which is an amazing accomplishment for the first tournament! Overall, 535 Florida bass, 92 snook, and 8 redfish were scanned for tags during this time. Every recapture is crucial, as each one increases our knowledge of the fishery. This tournament brings CAST to a total of 145 recaptures, of which about 35% have been caught by Everglades recreational anglers! Congratulations to everyone!
Here are the tournament winners:
For Snook Recaptures:
1st place, Dave Rose (Key Largo, FL) – 2 recap
For Florida Bass Recaptures
1st place, Jason Nedimyer (Orlando, FL) -4 recaps
2nd place, Larry Frischman (Key Largo, FL) – 3 recaps
3rd place, Todd Schnieder (Key Largo, FL) &
Jeff Nedimyer (Orland, FL) – 2 recaps
1st place snook recapture winner Dave Rose
1st place bass recapture winner Jason Nedimyer
In February I had an opportunity to fish with my favorite group of anglers from the Keys. For the past 30 years this group of fishermen has faithfully made it every month to the backcountry to fish. They were the inspiration for the Coastal Angler Science Team (CAST), the “original-members” before CAST officially came to be. For the past two years they have been regularly scanning their catches for “recaptures” (previous fish we tagged with internal microchips, “PIT-tags”). This group alone has caught over 30 recaptures, about half of the current CAST totals.
Photo by: Jessica Lee
Snook catch and release
West Marine, Inc.
June 10, 2013
Environmental studies graduate student Jessica Lee tags and releases a largemouth bass in the Everglades
FIU News features the Coastal Angler Science Team in last month’s publication. The article describes CAST research, how we tag fish, and the importance of angler involvement.
Check out the entire article here: http://news.fiu.edu/2013/05/grad-student-launches-science-team-to-examine-everglades-restoration-efforts/62290
In October of 2012 the Coastal Angler Science Team was awarded $5,000 from the Everglades Foundation. This award was a significant event for CAST, allowing us to officially launch our program. Funding has gone towards the purchase of handheld PIT tag readers for anglers and other data collection tools, PIT tags, and informational materials. We are extremely grateful for the support from the Everglades Foundation. This program would not have been possible without this initial funding.
Check out the full story from the EF at: http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/2012/10/04/students-working-on-everglades-topics-awarded-ef-2012-scholarships/