Under Florida's shallow coastal waters live an array of flowering plants called seagrasses that are vital to marine life. Seagrasses and the organisms that grow on them provide food for all types of commercial and recreational fish, and seagrass beds serve as nurseries and habitat for those same fish, shellfish, crustaceans, marine mammals and sea turtles.
Tallahassee lawmakers have acknowledged the importance of this critical habitat in a bill that is making its way through the Florida Legislature this session. The proposed law will make it illegal to damage seagrass beds in aquatic preserves. Sen. Mike Bennett of Bradenton and Rep. Will Kendrick of Carrabelle are to be commended for filing this legislation.
While the law addresses only aquatic preserve seagrasses, it is a good first step. A new study soon to be published by the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute documents 300,000 acres of critical seagrass habitat lost since 1995, according to the Tampa Tribune. We can't afford to continue in that direction. If there is no seagrass, there will be no fish - it's that simple.
Florida's seagrasses support both commercial and recreational fisheries that provide a wealth of benefits to the state's economy. A 1996 study on seagrass benefits in the Indian River Lagoon by the St. John's River Water Management District found that seagrass contributed about $12,500 per acre annually in commercial and recreational fisheries values. Adding the economic value of the nutrient cycling function of seagrasses and other seagrass functions, the value is likely much higher. A lost of 300,000 acres of seagrass could translate into an annual economic loss to the state of more than $1 billion.
In 1950, Florida coastal waters supported about 5 million acres of seagrass beds. Today we have about half that much. With this new law, boaters whose propellers gouge beds and kill the plants can be fined, and the fines will go into a trust fund to rebuild habitat. Including criminal penalties rather than just the civil penalties in the law was seen as too harsh, but perhaps as more people understand the significance of seagrasses our laws will become even more protective.
