FLORIDA’S DIRTY-WATER REACH

• Whenever you think of Everglades restoration, it’s easy to equate the well-publicized algae blooms, dirty-water discharges and seagrass die-offs with their impacts to inshore fishing, but most anglers don’t consider the overall reach of the devastation created by man-made water diversion. Beyond the obvious loss of juvenile-nursery habitat, the water-quality issues associated with Everglades restoration create long-term changes for the offshore-fishing community.

THE BIG PICTURE

It all boils down to water quality, or the lack thereof, which determines everything from the availability of bait nearshore to the recruitment of reef species such as snapper, and the movements of migratory species such as cobia,