Published on tcpalm.com
There is a massive fish kill event taking place in the Indian River Lagoon. It’s epicenter is central Brevard County. The Banana River and nearby Sykes Creek, two marine branches of the Indian River Lagoon that make Merritt Island an actual island, are fraught with dead rotting fish of nearly two dozen species, and ranging in size from very small to world record catch.
I’m sick of this.
I’m sick of writing about fish kills.
I’m sick of writing about algae blooms. And discharges. And brown tides, and red tides and toxic bacteria.
I’m sick of writing about barren flats because the sea grass no longer grows there.
I’m sick of writing about politicians who can tell us with a wink they’re working to fix Florida’s water problems. I’m sick of the back hallways where those same elected officials make secret handshakes and accept cash from special interest groups.
I’m sick of the status quo those special interest groups ensure that pollutes, diverts, abuses, misuses and exploits what once were pristine waters.
I’m sick of receiving press releases from leaders and agencies whose salaries we pay and whom we entrust to protect our waterways, instead telling us to mind our business, keep our mouths shut and stop being activists. I’m sick of those agencies issuing permits to violate laws of common sense, and then turning their back on clear violations of environmental laws and policies.
Indian RiverKeeper Marty Baum, himself a resident of Martin County, toured the area Tuesday with fellow Treasure Coast resident Marjorie Shropshire and Merritt Island small business owner Capt. Alex Gorichky. Gorichky, of Local Lines guide service, an inshore fishing guide for the past nine years and lifelong resident of Merritt Island, is shell-shocked by the catastrophe.
“I just lost my grandfather in December, but seeing this makes me experience all the stages of grief all over again,” Gorichky said Tuesday.
Let me quantify this for the Treasure Coast reader, angler, waterman or mom who enjoys taking her children paddleboarding on a sunny weekend. Right now, the fish kill is occurring in Brevard County waters. It is at its worse in an area roughly 20 miles long and three miles wide. It is affecting every segment of saltwater in its zone. It begins in the area roughly around Pineda Causeway, which is about 27 miles north of Sebastian Inlet, and stretches into the off-limits waters near NASA.
Gorichky explained, the waters of the Banana River are not like they are on the Treasure Coast. There is no tidal exchange so what exists is a kind of large saltwater pond.
Brevard resident Bill Chardavoyne wrote in an email he has heard fish kill effects can be seen in the Indian River Lagoon as far north as Titusville and as far south as Palm Bay. Fishing Monday with a friend just north of Pineda Causeway along the east bank of the lagoon, Chardavoyne observed dead and dying fish including “countless seatrout (about 50 over seven pounds), redfish, black drum, sheepshead, mullet, stingrays, catfish and even a 40-inch snook. Most of the casualties were laying on the bottom, so who knows the true extent? I’ve been fishing here for 18 years and have never seen anything like it. What a setback for our world class fishery.”
Gorichky said this eco-disaster is life-changing. Now and for the foreseeable future. How can he, in good conscience, entertain clients in the Indian River Lagoon? He said he will try to run as many nearshore charters in the Atlantic Ocean as he can, but those trips are limited by weather, wind and the type of boat he owns.
What caused the fish kill that began in earnest Friday was poor water quality, for starters. The waters of the Banana River were poised for a collapse like this. An algae bloom called brown tide had been identified by scientists with the St. Johns River Water Management District and others as long ago as November.
“For months, the water was the color of radioactive Yoo-Hoo,” Gorichky said. “There are so many dead fish stacked into areas like Sykes Creek, it looks like a cobblestone walkway where the water is.”
What scares Gorichky most is that he saw fish as small as six inches and as large as 50 pounds. Pinfish and pufferfish, porcupine fish and ladyfish, croakers and sheepshead and mojarras and more. Some of the fish that have died were born last year. Some have been producing thousands of eggs for the past 10 years, and had more spawning years ahead.
Recovery will be slow in coming. There will be fishless parts of the lagoon for years to come.
“It looks like every fish in the river is dead,” he said. “They are floating as far as the eye can see.”
Baum was beside himself with sadness.
“My gag reflex is broken,” he said. “My heart is crying.”
If you don’t think the same thing can’t happen here, you’re wrong. We’ve seen it first hand. There was “The Lesioned Fish of 1998,” “The Blue-green Algae Bloom of 2005,” “The Mysterious Sea Grass Die-off of 2011,” and “The Lost Summer of 2013.”
Some believe the brown tide could expand. Some believe it could move south and by summertime find its way into Indian River County waters. Some believe we are only weeks away from bloated dead manatees and emaciated dolphins washing up along our shorelines… again.
This is not an ecological disaster anymore. It’s an economical disaster.
When will Florida’s waters be more to our leaders and policy makers than just a downstream dumping ground?
Ed Killer is the outdoors columnist for Treasure Coast Newspapers and TCPalm.com, and this column reflects his opinion. Friend him on Facebook at Ed Killer, follow him on Twitter at @tcpalmekiller or email him at ed.killer@tcpalm.com or call him at 772-221-4201.