It's the Law: On the Water with Your Vessel

Protect Florida's Seagrasses

Seagrasses are plants totally adapted to living underwater. Their canopy of leaves and net of roots create a stable and protected habitat for marine life.

• Seagrass benefits the environment by providing habitat for young stages of fish, crustaceans, and shellfish, which are important to commercial and recreational industries. Seagrass stabilizes bottom sediments and removes nutrients from the water, aiding the growth of other marine life.
• Seagrass loss in watersheds of estuarine and marine systems is caused by human activities such as dredge and fill activities, coastal development, nutrient pollution, and degraded water.
• If boating in shallow areas or seagrass beds, you will see a mud trail in your wake where your prop has churned up the bottom, clouded the water, and likely cut seagrass roots. If you see this trail you should:
  1. Stop your vessel.
  2. Tilt your motor out of the water.
  3. Pole or walk your vessel out of the shallow area or seagrass bed.

Protect Florida’s Waterways from Invasive Aquatic Plants

• Managing non-native aquatic plants that have been introduced into Florida’s waterways costs millions of dollars each year. These invasive aquatic plants can shade out beneficial native submersed plants and lower oxygen levels, resulting in fish kills; hamper the feeding of sport fish, producing stunted fish populations; negatively impact local economies; threaten human health by creating ideal mosquito breeding habitats; restrict water flow, resulting in flooding; reduce lakefront esthetics and property values; and increase the sedimentation of waterways.
• Non-native aquatic plants such as hydrilla, water lettuce, and water hyacinth are invasive weeds that can cause significant environmental harm. Help slow the spread of these species and prevent additional invasive aquatic species from becoming established.
• Clean all aquatic plants, even small fragments, and mud from your boat and trailer before leaving a waterway.