WILD SIDE
Lagoon boasts most
snook species in U.S.
BY CAMILLE S. YATES
When the Indian River Lagoon was designated
30
as an Estuary of National Significance
in the early 1990s by the National Estuary
Program, the newly formed agency quickly
adopted the common snook as its icon.
Now championed by the St. John’s River Water Management
District, the Indian River Lagoon Program has been the
leader in restoring the lagoon. In 1998, the State of Florida
approved the Indian River Lagoon license plate, which has
a color rendition of a snook on it. Those who buy the plate
contribute a portion toward lagoon conservation.
The snook is a fish that can live in saltwater, freshwater
and brackish water, a mix of both fresh and saltwater. Up
until 2004, four different species of snook could be found in
the lagoon, including the swordspine snook (Centropomus
enciferus), large scale fat snook (Centropomus parallelus), tarpon
snook (Centropomus pectinatus), and the common snook
(Centropomus undecimalus). A fifth species, the small scale fat
snook (Centropomus mexicanis), was discovered in 2004 by fish
ecologist Grant Gilmore.
“No other place in the U.S. can say that their body of water
has 5 species of snook,” Gilmore says.
Young snook larvae that hatch near the inlets and beaches
drift for several days before finding refuge in estuaries,
salt marshes, creeks, and mangrove islands. Snook become
sexually mature when they are 2-4 years old and about 18-24
inches long. Snook are hermaphroditic, which means they
exhibit male-to-female sex reversal as they become older. In
order to survive life threatening events such as cold weather,
drought, or limited food sources, the snook changes its sex to
avoid having its population destroyed. As a result, most of
the larger, older adult fish more than 30 inches are female and
most of the younger, smaller adults are males. Upon reaching
sexual maturity, snook migrate each summer to inlets and
near-shore waters to spawn. Spawning occurs each year from
May through
September.
Although
adult snook can
live in freshwater
habitats,
they are unable
to spawn in
fresh water, as
sperm become
activated
only in saline
waters. In the
early 1980s,
Gilmore and
PHOTO PROVIDED BY GRANT GILMORE
Adult snook prey on baitfish along ledges in inlets or shallow reefs.
other scientists observed snook traveling through culverts
and into the area’s impounded marshes to breed.
“People didn’t realize how important these impoundments
were to snook,’’ Gilmore says. “Fishermen were upset when
the marshes were impounded for mosquito control because
they felt that it destroyed fish habitat. We found that once
culverts were placed into the impoundments, snook began
traveling into the impoundments regularly. At Jack Island
in St. Lucie County, we recorded 1,500 snook entering the
impoundment through a single culvert during a three-hour
period.”
They also found that spawning activity correlates with
monthly rainfall patterns, but not necessarily with either
temperature or salinity. Since more prey are abundant during
heavy rainfall, spawning patterns most likely are related to
food availability.
Most people who have eaten snook, say it is one of the best
fish they have ever tasted. Its white meat is light and flaky if
cooked properly.
My brother-in-law, Bill Yates, and his friend Sam Crutchfield
are experts at frying snook. They take a can of beer and
stir it into about a cup and a half of Bisquik. After drinking
a few cans of beer, they set aside a bowl of dry Bisquik and
begin heating a pan of oil.
While the oil is getting hot, they drink a few more beers.
Once a case of beer is empty, they save the cardboard flat —
this is the important part. They line the flat with a bunch of
paper towels and prepare the fish for frying.
They dip strips of snook into the beer batter and coat the
fish well. Next, they coat the fish with the dry mixture and
slowly drop the pieces into the hot oil. When the snook “fingers”
are golden brown, they go into the beer flat to drain.
Their flat soon becomes full of fresh fried snook.
But not for long.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY HARRY SCHERER
The Indian River Lagoon provides fishermen with
regular catches of common snook.