Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commissions Response Florid - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Response Florid ida a Fish a and W Wildlife C Conservat atio ion Commission Denni nnis J. J. Renf nfro

Mission Statement • The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s mission is to manage fish and wildlife resources for their long-term well-being and for the benefit of people.

Harris Chain of Lakes

Issue 1: North Shore Restoration Area (NSRA) Reconnection • The Council strongly recommends a study for reconnecting Lake Apopka to the North Shore Restoration Area (NSRA). The Florida Legislature appointed the SJRWMD as the agency responsible for implementing the farm buy-out program. The plan for restoration after the buy-out focused on reflooding the farm fields and elimination or breaching of the levees that separated the fields from the main body of the lake, allowing Lake Apopka to return to its historic size. (See p. 2 from the report entitled "Final Lake Apopka Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan," dated 6/2004). SJRWMD now seems intent on creating a bird sanctuary by placing infrastructure on former farmlands, which may prevent reconnection. • Request st: Council requests SJRWMD and pertinent Council technical advisory group (TAG) agencies (FWCC, FDEP, LCWA) to provide scientific data in a presentation to the Council that allows the NSRA to be connected or not connected to Lake Apopka. The presentation should include required steps, cost, and time line to reconnect. • Response: FWC supports the SJRWMD’s response and defer to their analysis on reconnection

Issue 2: Dredging • SJRWMD is essentially building a flat sawgrass marsh to try to restore the marsh to its original condition. Alternatively, soil could be mounded to provide wind breaks, small islands of sawgrass, and deep holes, much like a marsh that would be developed by Ducks Unlimited. Deeper channels will allow boats to migrate through the NSRA for bird watching and fishing. Dredging could be used to provide soil for the NSRA. • Reques est: t: Council requests pertinent TAG agencies to provide a plan to accomplish the above statements. • Response se: : FWC supports the SJRWMD’s response and defers to their expertise in this area.

Issue 3: Aquatic Vegetation • While SJRWMD has made reductions in phosphorus and chlorophyll (algae) and improved water clarity slightly, fisheries habitat (i.e., aquatic plants) have not increased significantly. • Reques est: t: Provide to the Council a proposal for establishing more aquatic plants, e.g. continued plantings, use of geotubes, or other types of barriers to facilitate aquatic vegetation establishment. These barriers will reduce wave action along the shore and form a substrate for rooting or the use of geotubes could create islands to protect shore lines with newly planted vegetation. Agencies should consider an approach similar to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to create islands similar to Fox Lake in Illinois.

Response FWC R Respon onse: FWC agrees that aquatic plants are an essential component in lake management. Throughout the state we are faced with the challenging task of managing for the appropriate balance of emergent, floating, and submerged vegetation in our state’s public water bodies. As the Council is aware, aquatic plants serve many purposes from providing habitat for a multitude of species, reducing wave action and turbidity, and improving water quality through using dissolved nitrogen and phosphorus. When identifying areas that are appropriate for planting, we look for suitable substrate for the roots to take hold, appropriate levels of dissolved oxygen, and sufficient sunlight to thrive. This effort is continually underway in the Harris Chain of Lakes. FWC has also initiated a new process of using side scan technology to identify Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) in Florida Long Term Monitoring lakes. Lake Griffin and Lake Harris are included in this program. As we continue to improve the technique, this program should allow for a detailed analysis of the vegetation coverage of numerous aquatic plants and help us to identify areas that may benefit from additional planting. FWC will continue to work with our partner agencies and the Council as we work to improve in-lake habitat. Through the combined efforts of FWC and our partner agencies, the submerged aquatic vegetation in Lake Apopka has shown a measurable increase; continued expansion of aquatic plants would be beneficial. The FWC is currently under contract with Dr. Michael Allen, with the University of Florida, to conduct a habitat quality assessment to compare areas where restoration efforts have been conducted in comparison with unrestored shoreline habitats. The analysis will assess whether aquatic macrophyte plantings have expanded and improved aquatic habitat, with a comparison to high-quality habitat, and areas that lack substantial vegetation. This project should help inform future management efforts in the Harris Chain of Lakes. As mentioned previously, our planning efforts are predicated on a transparent process that includes the needs of the habitat and species but also strives to meet the expectation of all stakeholders. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with our partner agencies, the Council and the public as we all work to enhance the native vegetation throughout the Chain. In regards to the Council’s statement on “geotubes”, the FWC concurs with the SJRWMD. The use of “geotubes” in the lake may not be the most efficient or cost effective approach to expanding vegetation in the lake. FWC will continue to work with our partner agencies on exploring ways to improve in-lake conditions to allow for colonization and growth of native vegetation.

Issue 4: Water Quality • Water quality improvements have stagnated due to the lack of rainfall and flushing of the lake. • Reques est: Determine the best practice the agencies would use to remove fluid flocculent on the bottom of Lake Apopka in order to allow plant growth on the bottom of the lake to survive. Include a possibility of strategic dredging in certain parts of the lake. • Response se: : FWC supports the SJRWMD’s response and continues to collaborate with the SJRWMD on the development of projects to improve water quality in Lake Apopka.

Issue 5: Gizzard Shad The Council does not support gizzard shad harvesting by SJRWMD. • Request: Council requests SJRWMD to review gizzard shad harvesting as • to benefits and costs. The review should also include an assessment of whether shad harvesting should be done in the rest of the Harris Chain. FWC Response: FWC supports the SJWMD’s response and defers to • their lead on harvesting gizzard shad.

Issue 6: Attract Anglers • Aquatic vegetation will improve the establishment of sportfish populations. The Council recommends stocking adult bass when vegetation is limited. FWCC prefers advanced fingerlings, but have had limited success. • Reques est: Council requests recommendations by the TAG agencies on methods to attract anglers to Lake Apopka.

FWC Response: • FWC is working closely with the Lake County Director of Tourism to promote fishing on the Harris Chain of Lakes including attracting major tournaments and major fishing shows. During 2017 three major tournaments will be held on the Harris Chain of Lakes: B.A.S.S. Southern Open in January, Big Bass Tour in February and Walmart FLW Tour in March. We are also working with the Lake Apopka Ecotourism Committee to promote fishing and related outdoor activities to encourage more people to enjoy the recreational opportunities that Lake Apopka offers. • Routine long term monitoring and sampling are conducted to evaluate the population status of sportfish in the lakes. Based on this ongoing evaluation, the majority of the lakes in the Harris Chain have good recruitment of Florida largemouth bass and therefore are not candidates for stocking. There is a research project that is in the initial stages that is intended to evaluate the potential benefits of out of season stocking in Lake Apopka.

FWC Response continued: • Out of season stocking is a new, innovative technique where largemouth bass are spawned during September and stocked in late fall, several months ahead of what typically occurs naturally. In highly eutrophic lakes with ample forage, such as Lake Apopka, there may be benefit to stocking out of season to allow Phase I fingerlings to establish and acclimate to conditions outside of a hatchery. Based on the findings, this may be an approach that the FWC considers in other Central and South Florida lakes. The Council will be updated at the regularly scheduled meetings as the project progresses. Beyond the Florida largemouth bass, another popular fishery in the Harris Chain of Lakes is the Sunshine bass that are routinely stocked by FWC. Last year, approximately 310,000 Sunshine bass were stocked in Lakes Harris, Eustis, and Apopka. These fish provide an alternative to the other sportfish that are found in the lakes and are highly targeted by many anglers.