Say Hello to Rita!

[liverock]

Well....

we were going to the Keys today to get a load of rock but here we go again....I cannot wait until December!!

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/DATA/RT/gmex-ir4-loop.html

TBS

 

[Diatome]

It's getting hard to make a living. Maybe you should come up to Cedar Key with all the clam farmers.

 

[liverock]

It's getting hard to make a living. Maybe you should come up to Cedar Key with all the clam farmers.

They are also in dire straits, the water has been polluted from run off and other causes, they have been closed down by the state numerous times in the past two years, and imports are hurting them.

Seafood in Florida is going to be very scarce, especially red grouper, as they are overfished and the Feds are now sending letters to all fisherman trying to buy them out to reduce pressure on the fishery.

Plus now that the Gulf is dead for thousands of square miles, they have to run more than 50 miles offshore to catch any fish, and the catch is seriously down, most boats are not making enough to pay for their fuel so they are staying in port.

I talked to two Captains this week, they had to run all the way to the middle grounds for a weeks trip, but only stayed two days as all they caught was 200 pounds between two boats,, when they usually come back with at least two thousand pounds per boat ,usually more.

There is going to be very tough times for anybody who made a living from the Gulf.

TBS

 

[Diatome]

Wow, hadn't heard they were going out that far and still getting small catches.

I actually have heard that the clammers that moved to Cedar Key, to avoid red tide, are getting just that. They are monitoring and last I heard were ok but Cedar Key has been lucky most years and that's why some moved there.

My wife works at UF in fisheries and aquatics and all of her faculty are rushing around, from the keys to the panhandle, trying to save what little they have left of their samples. It has been bad. I think this state has a leg up because of the aquaculture industry and conservation efforts. Since I am new to FL it stands out to me. Coming from coal country where slurry runoff kills thousands of fish each year and is overlooked, this is refreshing.

 

[ganjero]

That was bad