As the "tarpon capital of the world", charlotte harbor draws thousands of anglers annually to experience the region's vibrant recreational fisheries, including both snook and tarpon

This Cooperative Agreement award of $114,058 from the Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will support habitat conservation efforts in Charlotte Harbor, Florida through August 2023. Funded under NOAA's Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Science, Observation, Monitoring, and Technology program, the award recipient Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida will engage local stakeholders to help preserve vulnerable nursery ponds that support recreationally and economically important fisheries like snook and tarpon. Place-based decision-making and input on habitat considerations in fisheries management are needed to sustain these natural resources, upon which the local community relies, amid threats from imminent development. The products will include conservation of specific inland estuarine ponds on Florida's Cape Haze Peninsula that research shows are critical nurseries for prized gamefish in the "Tarpon Capital of the World."

Groundbreaking work funded by restore discovered that these two species use a small number of inland estuarine ponds as nurseries. Specific ponds embedded along the upland margin of the cape haze peninsula are vulnerable to imminent human development. Place- based habitat conservation through local decision-making processes is necessary to ensure persistence and sustainability of the community's ecologically and economically valuable natural resources. When considering habitat in statewide fishery management, local stakeholder input is required as local government decisions directly affect habitat through development, water quality, land acquisition, and restoration policies. Decisions on how to preserve and restore recreational fish nursery habitat within the cape haze peninsula, charlo