For 40 years, I have lived on the banks of the Braden River in Manatee County, Florida, watching its waters from my home just feet from the shoreline. As a retired marine scientist with over 50 years of professional experience—including years of research at Mote Marine Laboratory—I have spent my life studying fish. But what I have witnessed over the last four years is unlike anything I have ever seen: a precipitous, near-total collapse of marine life in the middle segment of our river.
Prior to four years ago, this shoreline was vibrant. It teemed with schools of small fish like sailfin molly, killifish, and mosquitofish. Large schools of pinfish and mojarra were constantly visible in the shallow water, chased by predatory jacks churning the water into a frenzy. Striped mullet jumped continuously, wading birds lined the banks at low tide, and a pair of yellow-crowned herons nested reliably in a nearby pine. Local crabbers and fishermen enjoyed steady success, just as they had for decades.
Today, that vibrant ecosystem is essentially gone…