Florescent-blue waters, long sandy beaches, palm trees rustling in warm gentle winds. The Florida Keys are home to diverse fish, sea turtles, manatees, gators and more. Tad Burke grew up here, and now is a professional recreational fishing guide. Thanks to his many years on the water, Tad knows how to find and catch just about any kind of fish in the region from one of his two boats. Tad doesn't sell what catches; he's there to guide others on their fishing trips. He also guides birders on trips to see mangrove cuckoos, peregrine falcons, and a wide variety of shore and perching birds that migrate to southern Florida in the winter. These fishing trips and eco-tours are an important part of Florida's economy; in fact, fishing is a bigger industry than citrus or agriculture in the state. People come from all over the U.S. and throughout the world to fish in Florida, and hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions rely on the income from these visitors. Fishermen like Tad know that protecting natural ecosystems is critically important. They support countless forms of wildlife and also much of the Florida economy.

Living in the Keys, Tad lives where three major water bodies meet. With the Florida Everglades just outside his back door, the Gulf of Mexico to the west and the Atlantic to the east, Tad's home is surrounded by a wide variety of ecological zones, from saltwater to freshwater. The region is home to a variety of fish and birds, as well as alligators, manatees and more. 



Working on all these different water bodies means Tad has to know not only the different species and fishing techniques, but also three different sets of rules and regulations governing fishing in each area. The regulations are constantly changing, he says, and it's a lot to keep up with, but Tad is grateful for those rules. "The State of Florida has been really instrumental in setting and enforcing these regulations to protect the ecosystems," says Tad.



"Still," Tad says, "no matter how much work you do to protect the fragile environment locally, the Keys are at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico watershed." Anything that happens in the Gulf will eventually end up at his doorstep – including, a few months after Hurricane Katrina, whole houses and dead animals floating past. Algae blooms in the Gulf travel down and stop in the calm waters there, creating dead zones as they block out the sunlight to the plants and corals under the surface. Pollution in the Gulf can wash up into the Florida Bay and then into the Everglades, undoing the slow progress that's being made to restore it.



These are just some of the reasons why Tad opposes fish farms in the Gulf of Mexico. Fish are grown in often cramped and unnatural conditions in floating cages in the open water, so disease is inevitable – and may be transmitted to wild fish in the surrounding waters. Because of diseases and parasites, fish farming operations often use antibiotics and other chemicals to try to combat these infections, and these, too, can flow directly out of the cages, contaminating the waters and wild fish. That's not to mention the excess fish feed and concentrated waste that drifts out, altering the quality of the water, and the ocean bottom. In addition, inevitable fish escapes can damage native fish populations by contaminating the gene pool (farmed fish, even of the same species as those in the wild, can be different than wild fish), outcompeting for food, and attracting predators – possibly to nearby important spawning grounds of other fish. This causes wild fish to be unnaturally and unnecessarily depleted.

Tad also points out that to feed the farmed fish, most of which are carnivorous, the operations require large amounts of prey fish, which are low on the food chain – thus taking away a food source for the wild fish, birds and marine mammals. And the conversion rate is not efficient – it can take from two to six pounds of wild fish to produce just one pound of farmed fish. "A predatory system can't maintain itself without food," says Tad, "and we may not see the effects of this until it's too late." Many of these prey fish, such as menhaden, are already taken in massive amounts each year to use in animal feeds. 


Tad, who has been involved in environmental protection in the region for many years, is passionate about maintaining the health of Florida's marine ecosystems, and is now dedicated to spreading the word about the threats posed by offshore fish farms. "I'm just getting in people's ears to raise awareness," Tad says. You can read more here and join Tad in helping to raise awareness, too.