EFFORTS TO SAVE ENDANGERED FISH IS TOPIC OF JUNE 9 LECTURE AT FSU COASTAL AND MARINE LAB

EFFORTS TO SAVE ENDANGERED FISH IS TOPIC OF JUNE 9 LECTURE AT FSU COASTAL AND MARINE LAB

At 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 9, the Florida State University Coastal and Marine Lab  (FSUCML) will host a free, public lecture on the conservation and recovery efforts underway to save the smalltooth sawfish -- the United States' first endangered marine fish.

Generally found in shallow water near inshore bars, mangroves and seagrass beds but occasionally in deeper coastal waters as well, the smalltooth sawfish once thrived from Texas to New York. However, the population of the now critically endangered fish has declined up to 95 percent over the past 100 years as a result of fishing and habitat alteration and degradation. Ever since the National Marine Fisheries Service listed the U.S. smalltooth sawfish population as endangered it has been difficult to develop recovery plans for the species due to the lack of available biological and habitat data. Consequently, other means are being employed, and are proving useful.

The invited speaker is John Carlson, a research biologist at the National Marine Fisheries Service Laboratory in Panama City, Fla. Carlson has authored and coauthored more than 30 peer-reviewed publications on shark biology and been invited to present papers at international and national workshops and symposia.

Carlson's free, public lecture -- titled "Conservation and Recovery Efforts for Smalltooth Sawfish: The United States' First Endangered Marine Fish" -- will be held:

THURSDAY, JUNE 9

7 - 9 P.M.

AUDITORIUM

FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COASTAL AND MARINE LAB

3618 COASTAL HIGHWAY

ST. TERESA, FLA.

(FRANKLIN COUNTY, INTERSECTION OF HIGHWAYS 98/319, HALFWAY BETWEEN CARRABELLE AND PANACEA)

Light refreshments will be served following the lecture, which is a part of the FSUCML's ongoing Conservation Lecture Series. Attendees are asked to bring a non-perishable food donation for the Second Harvest of the Big Bend.

Visit the FSU Coastal and Marine Lab website at http://www.marinelab.fsu.edu/ to learn more about the distinguished research facility. For further information on the June 9 lecture or future events in the monthly Conservation Lecture Series, call (850) 697-4120.

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