A decline in prey like shrimp and crabs is not the main cause of the drop in bonefish populations in Florida Bay, writes Sue Cocking in the Miami Herald, referring to the one-year study conducted by Audubon Florida and funded by Bonefish Tarpon Trust.
The study — conducted in 2012 — compared flats in the Lower Keys, Upper Keys and Biscayne Bay to see if creatures bonefish eat — such as blue crabs, pink shrimp, toadfish and others — were less abundant than in the 1980s and ’90s when initial research by other scientists was conducted. The Audubon researchers measured sea grass cover and collected prey at each site.
