Hello and welcome to Pro Tips with Capt. Jonathan Moss. I hope you are staying strong with your New Year’s resolutions now that 2022 is in full swing. The 10 year challenge is a new trend that has become very popular on social media. If you are unfamiliar with it, it is simply posting two pictures side by side—one from 10 years ago and one from today. Most people are posting pictures of themselves (selfies) or a picture of themself and their significant other. But a recent post really struck a nerve with me. It was one that displayed the Mosquito Lagoon from 10 years ago and today (see photo below). The difference was quite drastic, and broke my heart. What was once a lagoon thriving with sea grass and large populations of fish is now a barren sand flat with the occasional small school of fish.
This year, as our “New Year, New Me” goals seem to fade away, let us commit to staying strong with our commitments to saving our lagoons!
How can you help? I am so glad you asked!
1) Be a voice! Attend local government meetings that are focused on water quality issues. We have strength in numbers. A thousand people attending a meeting, all standing together for our waterways, will send a strong message to local officials.
2) Say no to fertilizers! Green lawns are a Florida staple. But there are several ways to maintain a healthy, green lawn without using harmful fertilizers that work their way to our waters and harm our estuaries.
3) Pack it in, pack it out! I have written several times in the past about disposing of your trash when done with your day on the water. But let’s all commit to going the extra mile and picking up extra trash, not just our own. This does so much good and costs us nothing.
Together we ALL can make a huge difference in saving our lagoons. It is something I am very passionate about, as these places were my childhood and I have every intention to share these waters with my own children.
Tight lines,
Capt. Jonathan Moss
Go Castaway Fishing Charters
www.gocastaway.com
(407) 760-8593