Nothing is as important as water quality, good habitat and healthy ecosystems other than you and your family’s health. Sometimes water quality affects your health too as we have seen recently in the Flint River, Port St. Lucie and the southwest coast of Florida along with other parts of the Indian River Lagoon (e.g. Brevard County, FL).  As we are getting ready for this week’s International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades (ICAST)  trade show I would like to remind the associated industries that if the habitat condition and water quality is poor, then there is no need for fishing equipment and boats or associated equipment, etc. as there will be no healthy quality fish to catch.

The issue of fishing access, catch statistics, stock assessments along with snapper and tuna quotas, and gas taxes, etc. will be a moot. This is a national and international issue, not just Florida’s, although Florida seems to be leading the country on this unfortunately. The fish tackle manufacturers, boat manufacturers, electronics industries and allied businesses need to exert their influence ($$$) on politicians, resource managers, and other various government services (e.g. for environmental protection) to guarantee clean water, good habitat, and healthy ecosystems.

ROFFS™ has observed what appears to be the first significant upwelling along the Florida east coast. The cooler (78°F) water is seen between Jupiter Inlet and Port St. Lucie Inlet is shown with green in the false color enhanced image. Between Ft. Pierce and Wabasso the sea surface temperature (SST) appears to be 81°F. At the tip of Cape Canaveral the SST is 80°F. Note that the water north of Ponce Inlet is still warm 84°F-85°F. There are clouds that look like cold water along the west coast of Florida and in Florida Bay.