| February 26, 2005
Boat props threaten seagrass Indian River Lagoon grass flats in jeopardy from increasing boats BY JIM WAYMER From above, the marks slash shallow areas like scratches on a chalkboard. Experts say damage to seagrass is increasing with more boaters every year, and they don't yet know the long-term effect on the slender vegetation, on which fish rely for feeding and breeding. "If you take one area and just crisscross it with prop scars, it's going to have some negative effect on productivity," said David Crewz, a plant ecologist with the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg. "What we're trying to get away from is people being cavalier about how they use these seagrass beds." Regulators aren't waiting for specific effects before they protect some of Florida's most vital seagrass. This summer, the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge plans a new seven-mile-long zone in the Mosquito Lagoon where captains will have to lift up their motors and push-pole their way. Boaters -- many angry over recent lost battles over slow zones for manatees -- are divided on the idea. Some are fed up with those who race through and chew up fragile fishing flats. Others say the problem is overblown and fear that seagrass could become the next tactic for keeping them out. Lagoon barometer "We're concerned that there are people out there trying to restrict boating further by using seagrass now as their tool," said Daniel Dvorak, president of Citizens for Florida's Waterways, a boating advocacy group in Brevard County. "It seems to me it's pushed by people who have no concept of the scope of things."Seagrass is considered the best barometer of the Indian River Lagoon's overall health because it needs clean water to grow and fish rely on it for habitat. Each acre supports 40,000 fish and is valued at $12,000 per acre a year. The most recent study, using aerial photos from the 1990s, found about 13 percent or more than 6,200 acres of Brevard's seagrass prop-scarred. Statewide, it documented 6 percent. But the scientist who wrote the study said Brevard's prop scarring could be much worse by now, since the county has added another 12,000 registered boats in the past decade. Nearly 40,000 boats, including about 3,000 personal watercraft, are registered in the county. Though powered by water-jet motors, personal watercraft can also damage grass because of their ability to access shallower areas. The force of the jetwash can tear up grass and the sediments it roots in. "It's absolutely worse, there's no doubt about it," Crewz said. "The number of boats are increasing almost logarithmically. He calls for balance when considering setting aside areas for seagrass protection. He said the prop scars, in some cases, can actually increase biological diversity within the seagrass bed by allowing other species room to thrive. Fishing guides "I don't want to elevate seagrass into a level of holiness like some scientists do," Crewz said.Some fishing guides, however, want the most vulnerable fishing flats protected, with pole-only zones or better maintained and marked channels. Typically, the most prop scarring occurs in shallows near spits of land that jut out. But conservationists say little is being done here or elsewhere to stop the scars. "I think we do need to address it a little more aggressively, but there's a lack of interest at the state level," said Roy Lewis. He has fought for 25 years to control the problem in Tampa Bay, where nearly half the seagrass is scarred. "What you really need is on-the-water enforcement or it's not going to work," said Lewis, secretary-treasurer of Coastal Resources Group Inc., a nonprofit conservation group. Part of the problem is catching boaters in the act, said Lenny Salsberg, a state wildlife officer who patrols the Indian River Lagoon near Titusville. "You've got to see it happen," he said. Mark channels Boaters can face fines of as much as $3,000 per violation for prop scarring seagrass and $10,000 per day, if the scarring occurs over multiple days.Boaters say new slow-speed manatee protection zones that extend outward from most of the lagoon banks made the problem worse in recent years. Slow-moving boats plow deeper through the water, grazing more grass. The problem could be solved, local boaters say, by keeping channels adequately dredged and marked. "They could just use some PVC pipe every few hundred yards, so they can see where the channel runs through the flat," said Eric Taylor, a fishing guide from Rockledge. "You can sit out on a sand bar, and you'll see someone run aground every day." Boater education is the best way to heal the prop wounds, Coastal Resource's Lewis said. "There's where we could have some major impact," he told a group of scientists at a recent conference in Cocoa Beach. In many cases, if left alone and the damage is minimal, the scars do heal. "These seagrass live on the edge," Crewz said. "That they live at all is just remarkable." What's at stake Each acre of lagoon seagrass supports 40,000 fish, and is valued at $12,000 per acre per year. The Indian River Lagoon generates more than $730 million in economic
activity in the region. |
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