The human cost remains significant as Florida’s West Coast continues to respond to the effects of two major hurricanes that will make landfall within two weeks. With the Helen, which washed ashore along Florida’s Big Bend on September 26th and headed north into Appalachia, and the Milton, which made landfall just south of Sarasota on October 9th, Florida is certainly tired of disasters.
But despite the obvious destruction caused by these two major storms, there are subtle signs of hope. Big storms and their associated high waves may actually be a good thing for Florida’s prized game fish, tarpon and snook.
Juvenile snook and tarpon may benefit from the storm surge associated with hurricanes and strong tropical storms, according to a study conducted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission and the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust. The researchers found that juvenile fish essentially ride waves into high-quality habitat that is inaccessible, or at least difficult to access, under normal tidal conditions.
Both tarpon and snook are summer spawning grounds that coincide with summer king tide and hurricane season, two events that naturally occur on Florida’s west coast. The fry ride high water into sometimes inaccessible habitats, sometimes living in tidal ponds and streams, where they are safe from ocean-dwelling predators and suddenly rise to the top of the food chain. Can stand.
While large storms are not necessarily beneficial for all fish, large winds are known to completely destroy mangrove forests that are essential for coastal fish such as bonefish and permit, but these It is important to note that this event has certain benefits for the fry. People who need both safety and a reliable source of food.
“It’s important to remember that these fish evolved with hurricanes,” says B&TT biologist Dr. Ross Bousek, who works primarily in the Florida Keys. When these big storms hit the Southeast coastline, young tarpon and snook drift along with the coastal currents. Spring tides, tropical storms, and even hurricanes create the waves necessary for young fish to overcome impassable obstacles, giving these young fish access to deep-country habitats. And once they settle in these calm, secluded waters, they are no longer defenseless against all the sea’s predators.
“That’s the hypothesis: These storm events help move the larvae out of the ocean and into a protected habitat,” Bousek says.
And the theory is generally supported by the results, he says. After Hurricane Irma made landfall in the Keys as a major Category 4 storm in 2017, the damage in its immediate aftermath was evident. But two or three years after the storm, Boucek recalls that he really enjoyed fishing for tarpon and snook in the backcountry. “The idea is that these fish get stuck in ponds or streams and sometimes a high tide comes in and they need to get out,” he says. And of course, as rising waters open channels between the ocean and backwater ponds, allowing trapped much larger fish to escape, new swarms of newly spawned larvae invade these protected habitats. We are in the process of doing so.
But Boucek acknowledged that extreme hurricanes, like Hurricane Charlie in August 2004, which made landfall in Punta Gorda, can have a negative impact on coastal fisheries.
“Charlie was so extreme that it ended up destroying nursery habitat,” Bowsek said. “The mangrove leaves have taken oxygen away from the ponds and backwater streams.”
How are Helen and Milton viewed by fisheries biologists?
“It’s hard to say at this point,” Bowsek said. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more snook in a few years along the Gulf Coast where these two storms hit.”
The key is the spawning period from late spring to early summer, Bousek said. Snook usually begin spawning in April. Depending on where they live along the southeastern coastal waters, spawning can continue into August. Bousek said tarpon typically spawn from May to July. These are not the only important coastal game fish that spawn just before and during hurricane season. Goliath grouper shares the same spawning season as tarpon and snook, and in Florida redfish typically spawn from August to December.
“They all appear before or during hurricane season,” Bousek says. “That’s how they evolved, how they use storm surge to get to a safe habitat where they can grow.”
So while it may not be much consolation to those still recovering from the last two devastating storms that hit the Florida Gulf Coast, anglers will be hunting for snook, tarpon, and redfish in the coming years. They may start wandering in the outback. It probably won’t make up for the 3 feet of sand that currently sits in Sarasota’s coastal Sarasota living rooms, but when this hurricane season becomes a memory, it’s likely to result in better catches for snook, tarpon, and redfish. It may be a ray of hope that people are looking forward to. for.
