Ever heard of fishing
with dynamite? Well, we fish with something that may sound just as crazy but is
much less destructive, electricity! Mixing water and electricity sounds like
trouble, but it is actually a widely used method to collect and monitor fish
communities in freshwater systems around the world. Our boat-mounted electrofishing
set up allows the driver to control the output of electrical current to temporarily
immobilize the fish and give the netters a chance to scoop them up and place
them in a livewell.
Once the transect is
completed, each fish is measured, weighted, and released with the exception of
non-native species. Our work focuses on how community assemblage and species
abundance changes with hydrology at the marsh-mangrove interface of Shark River,
or Shark River Estuary (SRE). Shark River Estuary acts as an important dry
season refuge for freshwater species driven out of the drying marsh and thus provides
foraging opportunities for marine and estuarine consumers.
Due to the remoteness of our study
area, we typically opt to camp out for 2 – 4 days to cut travel time and more
efficiently sample our sites. We start early and work for as long as the daylight
allows, but our long days end with amazing meals and good company. Although over-nights
take a bit more prep and at times can be brutally hot and buggy, they provide a
refuge from the craziness of Miami, amazing stargazing, and a chance to connect
with people that have been visiting Shark River for years.
Conveniently nestled in the middle
of our study area is one of the most remote campgrounds in the Everglades, Cane
Patch. Cane Patch is one of a few areas of elevated land throughout SRE that
remains dry year-round. In fact, the only reason for the elevated ground is because
it is a Native American shell midden. Shell middens are created from discarded
shells which build elevation over generations. Cane Patch was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1996 for its Native American/Aboriginal
history and acts as one of Everglades National Parks Archeological Resources. Actually,
if you look closely, you can still see a number of oyster, conch, and clam
shells that were used to build the shell midden right off the dock of Cane Patch!
The Coastal Fish & Fisheries lab, headed by Dr. Jennifer
Rehage, just wrapped up our seventeenth year of electrofishing sampling in Shark
River! The dataset is part of the FCE LTER and is our lab’s longest dataset, comment
your lab’s longest continuous dataset below!
Picture 1: Getting ready to release a Florida Largemouth Bass. Note the shocking electrode dangling in the water on the bottom right of the photo.
Picture 2: Crew members on dock leading to Cane Patch. Left to right: Lauren Padron, Dr. Jennifer Rehage, Jordan Massie, & Natasha Viadero.
Picture 3: Birds-eye view of Cane Patch. Left to right: Jordan Massie, Natasha Viadero, & Joshua Linenfelser. PC: Lauren Padron.
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