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Red Tide Affects Gulf Coast Fishing Through The Holidays

The Google earth map has colored dots to show red tide levels along Florida's west coast.
Credit: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission website

The holidays provide extra time for fishing along the Gulf coast, but some popular species are not for keeps due to red tide.
Snook, red drum and spotted seatrout are all catch and release from Pasco County down to Collier County.

The regulation from state wildlife officials will last until spring of 2020 because of toxic red tide algae blooms in west coast waters.

RELATED: Red Tide And Human Health: Researchers Study 'Chronic Exposure'

As of Friday, there were low concentrations of the red tide organism in Pinellas to high concentrations in Collier.

Fish kills were recently reported in Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties.

Anglers will be permitted to keep red drum and seatrout again after May 31. The regular snook season begins again in September 2020.

My main role for WUSF is to report on climate change and the environment, while taking part in NPR’s High-Impact Climate Change Team. I’m also a participant of the Florida Climate Change Reporting Network.
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