The great barracuda, a coastal predator known for needle-sharp teeth and a speed to match the fastest U.S. destroyers, has become harder to find in South Florida.
At the request of fishing guides, who want to maintain stocks of a fighting fish that’s extremely popular with tourists, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission next month will discuss whether to impose the state’s first catch limits on the species.
“People are seeing declines in the barracuda population,” said Amanda Nalley, spokeswoman for the wildlife commission. “Something is happening in South Florida that’s causing people to be concerned. We’re getting a lot of reports that they’re being overfished.”
Barracuda used to be common around the Palm Beach Inlet and at the submerged wrecks off Singer Island, said Tom Twyford, president of the West Palm Beach Fishing Club.
“We could pretty much count on catching some decent-sized barracuda to kind of save the day,” he said. “In some of the regular haunts they used to be at, they’re not as abundant. For many years, we used to rely on a spot outside the Palm Beach Inlet. That spot is not reliable anymore because the barracuda have been eliminated.”
Important to coral reef ecosystems as one of their top predators, Twyford said barracuda are also excellent fish for anglers — energetic, impressive in their appearance and tough enough to survive being caught and released.
“It’s a great game fish,” he said. “It’s one of the most popular fish that people mount. It jumps. It gets very large. It’s great for light tackle.”
Frequently seen by divers, barracuda often display the unnerving habit of following those who enter their territory. Many barracudas are caught and sold by divers with spearguns, although hook-and-line anglers also catch them for sale to seafood dealers, according to people in the fishing community..
The statewide commercial catch of barracuda has gone up and down over the past few years, with 64,490 pounds landed in 2013, up from the previous few years but down sharply from the 119,663 pounds landed a decade previously.
In the Florida Keys, the commercial catch has gone up sharply — 43,506 pounds landed last year versus 6,836 in 2003. The main push to impose limits on barracuda fishing comes from the Keys, where the sportfishing business is a big part of the economy.
“We’re not scientists, but we make our living fishing and knowing where the fish are,” said Will Benson, a fishing guide on Sugar Loaf Key and secretary of the Florida Keys Fishing Guides Association. “We’ve seen a dramatic decline.”
Tourists fishing in South Florida give the menacing, powerful barracuda high scores for the “cool factor,” he said.
“It’s a wonderful, violent, vicious hit when they attack a lure,” he said. “They tear out lines and zip around and jump. They’re wonderfully visual fighters.”
Barracuda can grow to lengths of five or six feet but are typically much shorter, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History.
Attacks on people are extremely rare, typically cases in which the barracuda mistakes something shiny on a swimmer or diver for the scales of a fish. In 2010, a Key West girl suffered nerve damage to her hand from a barracuda bite while snorkeling. Last July a 13-year-old boy was fishing with his father off Port Orange when a barracuda leapt out of the water and inflicted a severe bite on his upper arm. Fatal bites have been reported in 1947 off Key West and 1957 off North Carolina.
They eat a variety of fish, using their teeth to slice their prey in half. With their sleek profile, they are thought to be able to achieve a speed of 36 miles per hour, comparable to the top speed of an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.
As a food fish, barracuda are controversial. Although they have white, flaky flesh similar to many species popular for the dinner table, they can carry a disease called ciguatera that can cause weeks, months or years of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches and other symptoms.
Bill Kelly, executive director of the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association, said he’s unaware of any boats specifically targeting barracuda. But he said some boats may take them in the course of catching other fish. They are a popular food item with Florida residents from the Caribbean, he said.
The state wildlife commission will discuss options for managing barracuda at its Nov. 20 meeting at the Hilton Key Largo Resort. There are no formal proposals on the table, but among the suggestions from members of the public are bag limits, trip limits and size limits. It’s also unknown whether any new restrictions would be statewide or limited to South Florida.
dfleshler@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4535
