When you report on fish population conservation and management issues, you're most often reporting bad news. While this isn't a pleasant consequence of the tasks, it is the reality. Every so often, a success stories like the current situation in Florida come along, and offer a the opportunity to report from a different perspective. Due to successful management practices, this week the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission voted in new regulations on both redfish and speckled sea trout.

A fine specimen. (Photo: Bay St)

According to managers, both populations have reached levels of abundance that allow for increase take limits on these species. In some areas of Florida, stocks of these fish have almost doubled benchmarks set forth by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) for use in determining the health of populations. In the case of sea trout, all regions of the state demonstrated in the 2010 assessment that populations exceeded benchmarks set forth by the FWC. Redfish populations have demonstrated a similar level of success, with benchmarks set forth by the FWC having been met or exceeded for the last couple of decades.

In an annual report issued yesterday, entitled Yellowstone National Park Natural Resource Vital Signs, the National Park Service detailed the current progress of efforts to reduce the population of non-native fish species within the park. These efforts are specifically geared towards reducing competition with the park's native fish species, Westslope Cutthroat Trout and Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout, hopefully allowing the populations of these species native to the park's ecosystem to expand. According to the report, current efforts to remove non-native species of fish within the park are proving ineffective. In fact, populations of some non-native species have even increased, despite efforts to the contrary.

The situation concerning Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout (YCT) in Yellowstone Lake continues to be a struggle. In fact, the number of YCT caught per mile during sampling efforts reached an all-time low of 5.3 in 2010, after peaking at nearly 20 YCT per mile in the early 1980s. Managers attribute this continued decline to predation by nonnative lake trout, whirling disease and the effects of low water conditions in recent drought years. Unfortunately, despite the removal of over 550,000 nonnative lake trout during the last decade and a half, perceived populations of lake trout continue to rise.