FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute October Research Updates

FWRI Celebrated International Sawfish Day on October 17th FWC biologists have been tagging and monitoring smalltooth sawfish, (Pristis pectinata), since the early 2000s when the species was first listed as endangered under the US Endangered Species Act. This long-term monitoring program, supported primarily by federal funds (NOAA Fisheries Service), has provided the Smalltooth Sawfish Recovery Implementation Team (SSRIT) and their collaborators with over two decades of data to support recovery by understanding habitat use, movements, and life history.  Last September, our team caught a large female sawfish in the St. Lucie River on the east coast of Florida. Thanks to a PIT tag just below the skin, similar to the microchip you would tag your pet with, they determined this fish was previously tagged by them in the Caloosahatchee River back on the west coast of Florida in 2016! In less than 6.5 years, this sawfish had more than doubled in total length from about 5 feet, to over 12 feet! Recaptures like this help the SSRIT better understand growth rates and movements of this species throughout Florida waters. How you can help: If you see or catch a sawfish while fishing for other species, please let us know by calling 1-844-4SAWFISH (1-844-472-9347) or e-mailing sawfish@myfwc.com. These reports are valuable and help scientists around the state conduct their research! For more information, visit our webpage.  New Research Publication on American Woodcock Migration Over the past 50+ years, we’ve seen a decline in the American Woodcock (Scolopax minor) population throughout eastern North American. To understand how the conditions they experience and the choices they make during migration may influence these declines, we’ve teamed up with a broad set of partners to use GPS satellite technology to monitor woodcocks as they migrate between their northern breeding areas and their southern wintering grounds. Want to learn more on this topic? Explore data and learn more from the Eastern Woodcock Migration Research Cooperative online. FWC relies on peer-reviewed science for its management; to access this full publication visit our website. Enhancing Public Access to Florida's Natural Resources  Florida contains a wealth of natural environments. For FWRI's Information Science and Management Group (IS&M), the challenge is how to best inform the public stakeholder and how to best represent spatial information in a clear and informative way. IS&M’s Boating and Angling Guides (seen above) and Pier Finder are just two products that assist the public in learning about and exploring the natural ecosystems of Florida. Read this full research article on our website. $1.2 Million Awarded for Conservation Science in Charlotte Harbor We are happy to share that a new project led by FWRI scientists on our Fisheries Independent Monitoring (FIM) team has been awarded a $1.2 million-dollar grant from the NOAA RESTORE Science Program for conservation science in Charlotte Harbor! Charlotte Harbor is a large estuary that provides important nursery habitat to juvenile sportfish like snook and tarpon and helps support local recreational fishing, which provides over $400 million annually to the local economy. This essential habitat is currently vulnerable to urban development, and snook and tarpon have no explicit habitat protections. Using this funding, our staff, and partners (Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, Charlotte County, Florida Government, and Coastal & Heartland National Estuary Partnership - CHNEP) will create decision-making tools that will help guide county planners and the state government in prioritizing areas for restoration and protection. The team will document the harbor’s juvenile sportfish habitat, monitor a restoration site, create a vulnerability index to prioritize habitats for management and conservation actions, and develop hydrologic models of a key drainage basin to address alternative conservation policies. Learn more here. Watch a video about FWRI research at Charlotte Harbor on our YouTube channel.  Sea Turtle Nesting Update Most sea turtle nesting activity has finished for this year, but there were most likely a few more green turtle nests in October. We look forward to seeing what the final nest counts will be! Remember, nests will continue to hatch, and hatchlings will be heading to the water through October and into November, so be sure to avoid using lights on the beach and keep curtains and blinds closed at night. The preliminary statewide totals as of September 30th are: 133,941 loggerhead nests (previous annual record was 122,707 in 2016); 76,543 green turtle nests (previous annual record was 53,102 in 2017); 1,711 leatherback nests; and 10 confirmed kemp's ridleys nests. Learn how FWRI collects this data here. Please report sea turtles that are sick, injured, dead, entangled or are in danger to the FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline (888-404-3922). New on MyFWC.com/Research We hope you enjoy these articles that have been recently added/updated on our website: Red Tide Current Status Red Tide-Related Hotlines and Information Sources Freshwater Fisheries Research Manager's Report Restoring Florida's Shorebird and Seabird Populations Internship Opportunities 2023 Manatee Mortalities Red Tide Manatee Mortalities Annual Rescue Summaries, Manatees New Publications Harmful Algal Bloom Task Force Meeting Information Steidinger Scholars Amphibian and Reptile Publications Stone Crab Catch Data Movement Ecology and Reproductive Resilience (MERR) Laboratory Publications Florida Manatee Oceanaria Reimbursement Assistance Program HAB Publications HAB Monitoring Database Enhancing Public Access to Florida's Natural Resources Our Mission Through effective research and technical knowledge, we provide timely information and guidance to protect, conserve, and manage Florida's fish and wildlife resources.

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