HABITAT TRENDS AND FISHERIES IN TAMPA AND SARASOTA BAYS 
Ken Haddad 
Florida Department of Natural Resources 
St. Petersburg, Florida 
Fisheries are an important result of the complex biological web of 
Tampa and Sarasota Bays. Habitat plays an important critical role in 
defining the success of any given species within a system. Habitat refers 
to the specific structural, physical, and chemical environment in which 
an organism lives. This paper will focus on several components of the 
estuary considered important to the juvenile populations of commercial 
and recreational fishery species in Tampa and Sarasota Bays. The 
discussion on fisheries will provide only an overview of the actual 
industry and highlight some relatively new programs that will have a 
long-term influence on fisheries management in the bays. General 
references to Tampa Bay imply the inclusion of Sarasota Bay unless 
otherwise stated. 
HABITAT TRENDS 
Fisheries habitat includes mangrove, saltmarsh, seagrass meadow, 
intertidal mudflat, and unvegetated subtidal bottom communities. An 
integral and encompassing habitat component that influences the 
distribution of other components is the water column. Other less 
extensive, specific habitats of the Tampa Bay system contribute to the 
fishery, but they will not be detailed here. Figure 1 defines the 
boundaries of the quantitative analyses for habitat distribution and 
trends. The total estuarine area for this region is 124,155 hectares 
(ha, 1 ha=2.47 acres). 
Mangroves cover approximately 8,036 ha, or 7% of the bay estuarine 
environment. Although Tampa Bay is near the northern limit of their 
distribution, mangroves remain an important component of the intertidal 
system. The aerial root systems provide a substratum for algal and 
invertebrate attachment and serve as a structural and protective habitat 
for juvenile fish, crustaceans, and shellfish. Leaf litter can also be 
important, forming the basis of a mangrove-detritus food web and 
providing a food supply to many organisms and ultimately the fishery. 
Mangroves also stabilize sediment and can be a nutrient and sediment trap 
for upland runoff. 
Saltmarshes cover approximately 1,432 ha, or 1% of the bay 
estuarine environment. In Tampa Bay they generally serve as intertidal 
transition zones between mangroves and the freshwater marsh systems. 
Marshes also grow in mangrove areas damaged by occasional freezes (Lewis, 
this report). Like mangroves, saltmarshes provide a concentration of 
high-quality food for estuarine animals in addition to a protective 
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