Every April through September our beaches provide critical nesting habitat for hundreds of loggerhead sea turtles. Nest counts are showing an alarming decline, but people can safeguard this threatened species on land by keeping our beaches natural: dark, quiet, and sandy (not hardened with seawalls). At sea, the turtles are in danger of drowning in fishing trawls and becoming entangled in "longlines" set in the open-ocean. It's also important to keep plastic trash (especially bags and balloons) out of the water to prevent the needless deaths of sea turtles that mistake them for a favorite food – jellyfish. To see a comparison of sea turtle nesting activity by beach and species please select the "View an interactive graph..." link below. Learn more about sea turtle monitoring »

Total Sea Turtle Nests on Monitored Beaches in 2011

Note: Leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) do not nest on the western coast of Florida.
Source: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

• View an interactive graph of Sea Turtle Nests on Monitored Beaches

Some common birds in this region that you might see include - Great Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, Great Egret, White Ibis, Brown Pelican, Osprey, Wood Stork, Yellow-Crowned Night Heron, Bald Eagles and the threatened Florida Scrub-jay.

Audubon Christmas Bird Count Data for Water Dependent, Threatened, and Endangered Birds

More than 50,000 observers participate each year in this all-day census of early-winter bird populations. The results of their efforts are compiled into the longest running database in ornithology, representing over a century of unbroken data on trends of early-winter bird populations across the Americas. Simply put, the Christmas Bird Count, or "CBC", is citizen science in action.

The table below demonstrates the average number of birds seen per hour of effort put forth to view them. The historic average is the average of the total number of birds seen per hour of effort divided by the number of years listed in the brackets.

Florida's Breeding Bird Atlas

This site provides access to the Florida Breeding Bird Atlas data recorded by volunteers from 1986 - 1991. The surveys occurred in all 67 counties which were divided into 1028, 7.5 minutes topographic quadrangles. Each quadrangle was further divided into 6 (2 wide by 3 tall) equal-sized blocks of about 10 miles² of which about 75% (4,866) were surveyed. For each species, a breeding code indicating the "highest" breeding evidence was recorded.

• Florida's Breeding Bird Atlas

Fishery-dependent data, collected directly from people who harvest aquatic species, is used to monitor harvest rates and assess the health of exploited fish and invertebrate populations. Learn More about Fisheries Dependent Monitoring »

Commercial Fisheries Landings in Florida

Commercial fisheries include any species that are harvested and sold for human consumption, for medical use, in aquarium or souvenir trades, or for any other for-profit purpose. The state of Florida collects data from commercial harvesters and dealers to generate statistics on the types of species and quantities landed as well as the size, weight, and age distribution of harvested species.

2011
County	Fin Fish		Invertebrates		Food Shrimp		Bait Shrimp		Grand Total
	Lbs.	Trips	Lbs.	Trips	Lbs.	Trips	Lbs.	Trips	Lbs.	Trips
Bay	2,958,481	1,648	111,312	998	246,774	496	4,718	63	0	0
Brevard	1,702,976	4,724	637,739	3,631	1,638,309	126	10	1	0	0
Broward	591,264	1,688	302,677	594	150	1	0	0	0	0
Charlotte	681,126	1,474	521,172	1,407	3,213	42	2,937	89	0	0
Citrus	361,842	776	831,699	3,431	4,586	13	304,037	2,034	0	0
Clay	84	1	367,364	949	0	0	0	0	0	0
Collier	457,860	366	619,094	3,145	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dixie	502,268	923	1,068,582	1,779	177	1	3,640	46	0	0
Duval	1,243,443	2,512	595,885	2,262	5,198,940	1,742	10,041	186	0	0
Escambia	1,138,037	1,950	141,738	719	234,682	189	0	0	0	0
Flagler	2,322	12	22,074	10	28,002	7	0	0	0	0
Franklin	958,460	1,379	2,090,555	31,187	722,814	620	2,433	14	0	0
Gulf	6,589,311	990	74,608	133	382,096	94	64,441	1,418	0	0
Hernando	355,497	237	225,757	450	76,593	694	373,504	3,566	0	0
Hillsborough	677,146	1,371	269,732	1,725	1,299,605	82	3,395	33	0	0
Indian River	848,493	3,033	6,466	71	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jefferson	3,165	10	19,563	38	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lee	1,601,904	4,609	951,492	5,161	3,424,022	332	85,607	1,677	0	0
Levy	76,303	95	746,410	2,697	80,559	413	2,531	40	0	0
Manatee	4,019,413	1,675	83,510	503	2,296	2	11,010	130	0	0
Martin	2,187,771	6,951	48,697	334	0	0	0	0	0	0
Miami-Dade	560,352	1,797	508,875	2,101	310,358	687	161,927	1,735	0	0
Monroe	4,758,255	9,488	5,261,094	18,485	684,048	110	14,725	155	0	0
Nassau	36,096	196	81,841	219	1,050,617	215	8,330	184	0	0
Okaloosa	1,592,108	1,867	19,566	154	21,145	73	711	6	0	0
Palm Beach	2,086,325	8,257	53,320	479	1,547	8	0	0	0	0
Pasco	128,690	173	68,263	499	256,738	9	116,073	1,177	0	0
Pinellas	4,608,910	4,413	354,466	2,735	1,040,231	75	40,622	512	0	0
Putnam	0	0	589,206	1,745	400	2	0	0	0	0
Santa Rosa	92,632	249	27,278	433	3,009	22	41	1	0	0
Sarasota	20,731	73	34,007	435	0	0	0	0	0	0
Taylor	198,489	521	1,496,008	542	0	0	60,899	539	0	0
Volusia	965,249	1,970	299,122	2,587	62,855	38	40,922	677	0	0
Wakulla	461,018	966	1,166,863	2,768	30,440	55	0	0	0	0
Walton	20,564	121	16,316	59	2,213	13	0	0	0	0

Source: Commercial Landings Data

• View additional Commercial Fisheries Landings data from Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute

Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey

The Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey (MRFSS) was developed by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to monitor recreational fisheries. The MRFSS is designed to collect a variety of data in order to estimate catch, harvest, and fishing effort.

Species	2002		2003		2004		2005		2006
SPOT	64		18.8		114.2		73.3		59.1
RED DRUM	35.5		53.3		69		112.9		40.3
WEAKFISH	82.1		92.9		34.9		30.5		129
BLACK DRUM	50.6		74.8		67.4		70.2		72.9
FLORIDA POMPANO	79.5		76.3		67.7		84.7		27.5
GREATER AMBERJACK	43.9		21.2		28.9		25.8		30
MULLETS	112.6		149		131.3		33.9		45
SHEEPSHEAD	90.3		64.9		19.7		91.5		78.1
BLUEFISH	38.3		36.3		51.1		42.8		46
DOLPHINS	140.5		73.7		75		108.7		75
RED SNAPPER	22.8		25.4		22		24.8		30.8
VERMILION SNAPPER	90.7		88.6		99.5		101.2		32.6
YELLOWTAIL SNAPPER	65.4		75.7		65.1		55.8		60.5
SALTWATER CATFISHES	31.4		37.5		102.4		42.7		35.2
GULF FLOUNDER	40.7		38.4		65.4		40.7		24.8
SUMMER FLOUNDER	25.2		30.3		27.6		31.5		38.3
SOUTHERN FLOUNDER	17.8		19.6		18.6		19		82.9
BLACK SEA BASS	56.5		47.9		51.3		63.8		68.5
EPINEPHELUS GROUPERS	73		49.3		69		105.7		101
MYCTEROPERCA GROUPERS	25.1		96		22.1		23.7		23.8
STRIPED BASS	51.8		80.4		30.4		131.5		34.5
KING MACKEREL	48.2		39.2		64.6		168.6		165.4
SPANISH MACKEREL	78.6		42		64.1		55.9		104.7
ATLANTIC MACKEREL	101.9		57.2		36.7		67.5		18.2
SKATES/RAYS	147.8		208.5		152.1		74.4		189.3
OTHER SHARKS	154.5		74.5		30.7		113.1		104.2

Source: Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics

• View additional data from the Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey

The Tampa Bay coast supports a wide array of fish and crustaceans such as Red Drum, Spotted Seatrout, Snook, Flounder, Blue Crab, Pompano, Mullet, Stone Crab and Shrimp. More than 80 percent of the fish we catch for food or fun depend on estuaries for all or part of their lives. Learn more about fisheries. »

Species Information for Common Fish Caught on Florida's West Coast

Information from FWRI about commercially and recreational important finfish. Includes: stock assessments, species accounts, regulations, and other research studies.

•  Common Snook (Centropomus undecimalis)
•  Dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus)
•  Florida Pompano (Trachinotus carolinus)
•  Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus)
•  Red Grouper (Epinephelus morio)
•  Spotted Seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus)
•  Striped Mullet (Mugil cephalus)
•  Tarpon (Megalops atlanticus)