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What's Going On In The Water: Biscayne Nat'l Park

MIAMI (CBS4) ― A valuable natural resource at one of South Florida's most popular parks is quickly becoming a thing of the past.

Ask anyone dangling a line into the water at Biscayne National Park and they'll tell you fishing catches today are only a dim reminder of the catches of yesteryear when giant grouper, snapper and hogfish were plentiful. Today, tiny grunts are the catch of the day, according to park fishery biologist, Dr. Vanessa McDonough.

"A kind of grunt called a 'tomkat'," said McDonough. "More and more species like this are being caught because they have problems catching anything else."

Case in point is Rafael Gonzalez, who said his one decent prize during a recent fishing trip turned out to be just short of a legal catch.

"We got a hogfish, he's a little short" said Gonzalez. "It is crazy and I don't know what it is, too many people are out here, but I'm one of them so I can't say anything about it."

There are more than a million registered recreational boats in Florida and many spend the weekends chasing after a dwindling fish population. University of Miami marine biologist Jerry Ault has spent the last 15 years surveying the under water inhabitants of Biscayne National Park.

"About 15 to 30-percent of those fishes coming to the dock are below the legal limit," said Ault.

Ault's surveys show 70-percent of the grouper and snapper populations within the park's waters are below the sustainability level. In short, according to marine experts, one of America's great marine treasures is being emptied of its most vital resource and something must be done to stop, and reverse, that trend.

With that goal in mind Biscayne National Park, a 270-square mile stretch that extends from south of Key Biscayne to north of Key Largo, will soon propose much tighter fishing restrictions. Restrictions on fishing licenses inside the park and the establishment of no fishing zones are also being considered. If the most stringent proposals are adopted after a series of public hearings, they could effectively put many grouper and snapper species off limits for 5 to 10 years to give them a chance to reproduce and recover.

"If they are too tough it will kill the area," said Jeff Copa, who fishes the park, "because there is no reason to go out with the price of gas."

"I think it will pale in comparison to the cry we hear when there are no fish and we are on the road to that level," said Ault. "Some strong medicine is needed."

Some of the park's regulars agree.

"Sometimes you have to lay down the law," said Gonzalo Paez, who fishes the park often. "If it means that for my son to go fishing in 10-15 years, so be it."

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