Florida Fish And Wildlife Conservation Commission

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is allowing limited fishing of protected goliath grouper and set new limits on catching dolphin fish.

The groups say the rule is aimed at preventing isolated populations of the tortoises.

In the greater Tampa Bay region, mats are installed at four beaches: Treasure Island, Gulfport, St Petersburg - Spa Beach, and Indian Rocks Beach. Several others, like Clearwater, are making their way through the extensive permitting process.

Kathy Guindon, the director of the Suncoast Youth Conservation Center, uses her passion for the ocean to teach and encourage children to become future stewards of the environment in order to combat climate change.

Goliath grouper have been protected since 1990. The state of Florida is considering a plan that would allow up to 200 of the big fish to be taken each year. The public can provide input at two online workshops.

Around 200 sea urchins were spawned at the aquarium and released in a coral reef off the Florida Keys, where they will eat algae that can overrun the reef.

His budget proposal would increase minimum pay for entry-level officers at various agencies by 20% while salaries of veteran officers would go up 25%.

The state wants to make boaters in the Keys anchored out "on the hook" move to regulated mooring fields or move every three months. Some boaters say that would sink one of the last affordable ways to live in the expensive island chain.

Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, has also filed a proposal to rescind the designation of the mockingbird as the state bird.

The “limited” harvest is intended to help the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission replenish the stock in the next three to five years.

High concentrations of red tide were found off Pinellas and Sarasota counties; medium concentrations are being found once again in Tampa Bay.

The massive fish have been protected since 1990, after they were nearly wiped out. But now, Florida is proposing allowing the first catch of goliath groupers in more than three decades.