Summary | Pensacola Bay | Apalachicola Bay | Tampa Bay | Charlotte Harbor |
Ten Thousand Islands | Florida Bay | Biscayne Bay | St. Lucie | Indian River Lagoon

The St. Lucie estuary in the southern part of the Indian River region is a popular fishing destination for redfish, snook, flounder, tarpon, permit, snappers and groupers. The areas beaches provide opportunities for surf fishing for bluefish and pompano, and fishing offshore is enormously popular given the accessibility of the Gulf Stream. In 2005, retail sales associated with saltwater recreational fishing in St. Lucie and Martin counties totaled $89 million, supporting more than 1,500 jobs.

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Water quality problems associated with altered freshwater flows have plagued the St. Lucie region in recent decades. During the summer of 2005, due to the frequency, duration and intensity of the hurricane season, the Army Corps of Engineers allowed massive discharges of polluted runoff into the St. Lucie River, resulting in catastrophic fish kills from excessive nutrients. An algal bloom ensued, making the river unfishable. Changes in salinity gradients due to alterations in the timing, distribution and volume of freshwater entering the estuary, nearby lagoon and ocean waters have had a significant effect on the region's fisheries. Species richness in many of the fish communities of the estuary has declined considerably since 1970.

With sea-level rise, the two dominant processes predicted to affect St. Lucie are overwash of barrier islands and saturation of dry land. Inland elevations of dry land are low, especially in relation to the inland fresh marsh that occurs close to the bay. This results in significant predictions of saturation and a loss of 10 to 12 percent of dry land (which comprises more than 50 percent of this site) by 2100. Because this part of St. Lucie is heavily developed, this projection should be considered the "potential" for saturation as this process is likely to be offset by landowners bringing in fill when required, which may protect development but would not help fish. In addition, inundation of sea water into the estuary may exacerbate salinity fluctuations, affecting spotted seatrout, redfish and snook. Beach erosion and overwash is predicted to result in the loss of roughly half of the ocean beach at this site by 2050 and 80 percent by 2100, significantly reducing feeding habitat for pompano and other surf fish.