Aquaculture in Florida consists of two main entities, usually conducted in separate facilities: the culture of fishes for aquarium use and an industry for raising nonindigenous fishes for human consumption. The tropical aquarium-fish industry of Florida was described by Meryman (1978), Belleville (1981), and Fishman (1982 a,b). Ramsey (1985) reviewed most of the literature prior to 1970 on the early development of the aquarium hobby in the United States. Aquarium fish and plant farming in Florida, as we know it today, was initiated in 1930 by Albert Greenberg in a business he called Everglades Aquatic Nurseries (Ross B. Socolof, Past President, Florida Tropical Fish Farmers Association, Bredenton, Florida, personal communication). The first fishes he raised in his hand-dug ponds were four varieties of platies (Xiphophorus spp.), swordtails (Xiphophorus spp.), paradise fishes (Macropodus opercularis), rosy barbs (Puntius conchonius), black mollies (Poecilia spp.), Sphenops mollies (Poecilia spp.) and guppies (Poecilia reticulata). Aquatic plants were taken from the wild. He also cultured Cryptocoryne (Cryplocoryne spp.), Amazon sword plants (Echinodorus paniculatus), and the rare Madagascar lace plant (Aponogeton fenestralis).
Because of the importance of marketing and profit margin, many fish farmers benefit a great deal by manipulating the market. Almost half of them are also shippers who buy heavily from other farmers to keep their product line diversified. From pond to retail buyer, the price of the fish is usually increased by 400%. Marine fishes, which are usually trapped wild or imported, are a relatively small part of the tropical-fish industry of Florida (Belleville 1981). Presently, the farming of marine tropical fishes in Florida is restricted to two or three growers that produce two or three species. Shireman and Lindberg (1985) stated that marine species are in high demand, but the lack of technology and biological information impede production. They estimated that the sale of marine species in the U.S. market accounts for 10% of the total market and for 20% of the value. Nevertheless, imported freshwater tropical fishes sold in the United States play a large competitive role. A market survey, reported by Ford (1981), showed that 60-70% of ornamental fishes imported into United States came from Southeast Asia, 25% from South America, and the remaining 5-10% from domestic productions. Florida tropical-fish producers supplied an estimated 80% of the domestic aquarium fish needs of this country (Boozer 1973, Anonymous 1979). The size and importance of the ornamental aquarium fish industry in Florida is not widely known. Aquarium fishes and their transportation water comprise the largest percentage by weight of air freight into and out of Tampa-St. Petersburg and the second largest into and out of Miami. The industry provides a livelihood for thousands of people in Florida and in other states. In 1991, the Florida Agricultural Statistics Service (Florida Agricultural Statistics Service 1992) reported that 396 of the 448 aquaculture producers in Florida reported a total sale of $58 million in aquaculture products. One hundred ninety-three growers of tropical fishes accounted for $32.8 million or approximately 60% of the total 1991 aquaculture sales. Additionally, 79 growers of aquatic plants netted $9.9 million in sales. Producers used 5.02 million m2 of water-surface. Fishes harvested from the wild are not included in the statistics (Florida Agricultural Statistics Service 1988). In 1987 growers sold another $6.9 million tropical fishes that they imported for immediate sale (Florida Agricultural Statistical Services 1988). Adams (1986) and Prochaska and Adams (1985) outlined the general economic considerations that should be evaluated by anyone interested in entering aquaculture in Florida. They describe the possible gains and losses. In southern Florida, high water temperatures and oxygen deficiencies in summer are major reasons for loss of production of cultured fishes (Shireman and Linberg 1985). In some years, as in 1989 and in 1991, cold weather is the major factor of the loss of tropical aquarium fishes and aquatic plants. In those years, more than half of the fish loss was due to cold weather.
Some of the more prominent freshwater tropical fish species raised today in Florida include guppies (Poecilia reticulata), mollies (Poecilia spp.), swordtails (Xiphophorus spp.), variatus (Xiphophorus variatus), platies (Xiphophorus spp.), tetras (Family Characinae), gouramies (Trichogaster spp.), goldfishes (Carassius auratus), cichlids (Cichlidae), barbs (Barbus spp.), tropical catfishes (Family Bagridae), and many others (Axelrod and Schultz 1955). The tropical fish and plant industry is expanding in Florida; nine new growers of tropical fishes and eight new growers of tropical plants were expected to enter the industry in 1992 (Florida Agricultural Statistics Service 1992).
In 1971, a group of 130 tropical-fish farmers in Florida banded together and formed the Florida Tropical Fish Farmers Association, Inc. The purpose of the association was to represent the fish farmers when the industry felt threatened by state or federal regulatory agencies, to provide public relations for the industry, to organize symposia and workshops, and to establish a cooperative store (Boozer 1973). In 1993, the association reported 192 members (David Boozer, Executive Director, Florida Tropical Fish Farmers Association, personal communication). Approximately 118 of the members are located within 60 miles of Tampa and 26 within 60 miles of Miami. Tropical aquarium-fish production is concentrated in Hillsborough and Polk counties, and a smaller concentration of fish farms is in Dade and Palm Beach counties. Fish farms in Dade and Palm Beach counties usually raise higher-priced tropical fish species or grow imported fishes to commercial size (David Boozer, Executive Director, Florida Tropical Fish Farmers Association, personal communication). Fish farms in Hillsbough County are usually larger in size and usually concentrate on raising large numbers of the lower priced fishes.
Historically, major reasons for the escape or release of tropical fishes from production facilities were due to the flooding of ponds in high water, pumping of pond water with an excess of unharvested fishes into surrounding streams during cleaning of production ponds or tanks, and the movement of fishes by predatory birds. The release of water with fishes is now forbidden by state regulations. Of the 46 exotic fish species now established in the United States (Courtenay et al. 1991), 31 are believed to have escaped or to have been released from aquarium or aquaculture facilities. The spread of tropical fishes in Florida and especially in the other parts of the country is partly due to releases by aquarium hobbyists.
Shireman and Lindberg (1985) also discussed the current status and prospects for the future development of Florida aquaculture. The aquaculture industry in Florida includes the culture of many nonindigenous species such as aquarium fishes, tilapia, chinese carps (grass, bighead [Hypophthalmichthys nobilis] and silver carp [Hypophthalmichthys molitrix]), saltwater shrimp (Penalus spp.), and aquatic plants. They also briefly discuss the five federal and state agencies that regulate the industry with 30 statutes or rules. Shafland (1986) presented a review of efforts to regulate, assess, and manage exotic fish species and the aquarium aquaculture industry in Florida. Rosenthal (1985) discussed constraints and perspectives of aquaculture development in the United States. Management, philosophy, strategy, and current regulations of the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission for freshwater fishes are summarized by Shafland (1991). Federal activities, authorities, and regulations about importation, possession, sale, and transport of exotic species were summarized by Stanley et al. (1991) and Peoples et al. (1992).
The tilapias sold in Florida for human consumption are raised in fish farms or netted from the open waters of the state. Tilapia production in Florida fish farms is primarily the red hybrid tilapia--a blue (Tilapia aurea) and Mozambique (Tilapia mossambica) tilapia hybrid. Blue tilapia make up the largest volume of the wild-caught fishes sold for human consumption, however, some blackchin tilapia are netted along the east and west coasts of Florida as an incidental species and are sold in local markets.
Another nonindigenous aquaculture product in Florida is the grass carp, which is sold as a weed-control agent. Without a permit, possession of fertile, diploid grass carp is illegal in Florida to prevent escape and reproduction in the wild. At present, only triploid grass carp, which are sterile, are allowed for weed control (Clayton and Shireman 1987). Anyone permitted by the state to use grass carp for weed control may purchase triploid fishes from out-of-state producers or from one of four Florida producers in Center Hill, Dunnellon, Micanopy, or Waldo. All grass carp for weed control must be checked for triploidy before they can be officially released.
Courtenay and Williams (1992) and Shelton and Smitherman (1984) discussed releases or escapes of nonindigenous fishes from aquaculture facilities. Historically, tropical fish farmers released some species of aquarium fishes, mainly those that grow to larger sizes, into open water to establish an adult population that could later be harvested from the wild for sale. These wild fishes are usually larger than those grown on fish farms, considered a specialty item, and demand higher prices.
Fish cultures are usually where habitats have optimal growing conditions and where concomitantly escaped individuals survive in the surrounding open waters. The construction and operation of a facility have been impossible without occasional escapes or releases and convinced most professional aquaculturist and fishery biologist that the culture of any species where it is not native eventually results in its introduction and survival (Shelton and Smitherman 1984, McCann 1993). Early culturists and managers did not anticipate the dangers to the native populations from the release of nonindigenous species and failed to take adequate measures to contain the species. Increased awareness by tropical fish and plant culturists and fishery managers to potential problems from releasing nonindigenous species increased efforts to prevent new introductions. Hocutt (1984) discussed ethics about the introduction of exotic fish species. Methods to reduce all unwanted introductions are presently being evaluated. Possible mechanisms to reduce or stop new introductions are being evaluated and developed (U.S. Congress 1993; U.S. Interagency Task Force 1992; Shafland 1986; Courtenay and Taylor 1986). Protocols to reduce the escape of nonindigenous fishes from research facilities have also been developed (Jennings and McCann 1991; McCann 1993).
