Marine Resources

Shrimp – An Important Seafood Product in Florida

Shrimp Florida is known as the fishing capital of the world. As important as fishing is in Florida, the variety of seafood offered to consumers in Florida is equally as important. According to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Florida produces over 80 varieties of both wild-caught and farm-raised sseafood products across the state in the Gulf and Atlantic, in both state and federal waters. Florida also is ranked among the top twelve states for fresh seafood production. With over 1,300 miles of coastline, Florida has a vast area where seafood can be harvested and brought back to port to be processed and sold. Read More...

Space Coast Regional Chapter of the Florida Master Naturalist Program

We are looking for members who want to continue their environmental education activities and outreach with fellow Naturalists. Click here to learn more..

Florida Seafood @ Your Fingertips Mobile App

Floridians eat nearly twice as much seafood as consumers in the rest of the country. With the variety of choices in the market today, consumers have more and more questions about seafood. Based on a statewide survey of 717 Florida residents, we know that approximately 40% of Floridians are not consuming the recommended USDA dietary guidelines of eating two servings of seafood each week. Also, the biggest barriers to purchasing Florida seafood were that respondents didn’t know where to find it, don’t know what types of seafood are specific to Florida (caught or raised here), and the cost of Florida seafood.

The Florida Seafood at Your Fingertips program helps to answer consumers’ questions about seafood safety, handling and cooking, promote Florida’s commercial seafood industry, and provide current information about Florida seafood. To help get this information out to the public, a mobile app was developed for Android and Apple Devices that gives consumers advice on seafood selection and preparation tips, popular Florida seafood species information, recipes, maps showing seafood markets in each county with GPS directions, and seafood facts. You can download the Android app and Apple app to your phone or tablet today. Let us know what you think about the mobile apps and write a review!

Catch and Release Fishing

Florida Sea Grant extension agents are getting offshore anglers involved in the process of evaluating descending devices in Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic waters to see if there are practical options that may help fishermen improve the survival of deep-water fish they release. There have been promising results from scientific studies conducted on the U.S. West Coast that show survival of deep-water released fish can be improved if they are quickly returned to capture depth. The latest edition of the Catch and Release (.pdf) brochure includes an all new section on descending tools, venting and other deep-water release techniques for reef fish. Learn more at the UF/IFAS Catch and Release website.

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About

Brevard Marine Extension provides educational opportunities and university research-based information designed to assist citizens, businesses, community leaders, and visitors in making informed choices as they enjoy and conserve Brevard's unique marine and aquatic resources. Future generations can then continue to enjoy and conserve these same ecological wonders.