Renowned for its clear waters and extensive shallow grass flats, St. Joseph Bay is one of the Florida Panhandle’s best destinations for scalloping and fishing.
According to the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, the bay has suffered from an overabundance of sea urchins, which overgraze the turtle grass beds and destroy habitat many aquatic species require. In late May, FWC, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and 41 volunteers set out to do something about those pesky urchins.
The first-ever Urchin Roundup at St. Joseph Bay collected 5,731 sea urchins from designated seagrass patches. The animals were released in deeper areas of the bay at a distance from over-grazed areas.
For more information, go to myfwc.com.