The largest mangrove restoration project in Florida history was recently completed on Fruit Farm Creek in the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. In the 1940s, construction of the road between Marco Island and the town of Goodland cut off natural flow to the, resulting in the loss of 60 acres of mangrove habitat. Mangroves are known for their ability to provide flood protection benefits for the communities they border and serve as important nursery grounds for fish.
To reconnect the natural hydrology, two new culvert pipes were installed under the road, restoring flow to more than 209 acres of stressed mangrove forest. While the project is widely recognized as a win for the trees, the reserve managers wanted to know, What do the fish think? Rookery Bay Reserve partnered with NCCOS to find out.
NCCOS scientists surgically tagged recreationally important game fish, including grey snapper and hardhead catfish, with transmitters to track their movement before, during, and after the installation of culverts. An array of data loggers were strategically placed throughout the study area, and fish behavior was monitored over the course of 30 months.
There were few changes in movements on both short timescales (days) and over longer timescales (weeks or months) during the pre- versus post- restoration period, indicating that habitat use was not disrupted by construction. While most fish did not venture through the culverts, some fish increased use of downstream areas after restoration was completed. This demonstrated that mangrove restoration not only benefits the forest itself, but also the habitat value for fishes in downstream areas.
This work follows another successful partnership between NCCOS and the Rookery Bay Reserve, which evaluated the impact of changes in freshwater flow following the Picayune Strand Restoration to juvenile fish abundance in the mangrove-lined bays of the Ten Thousand Islands, Florida. NCCOS scientists were hired to analyze two decades of data from the Reserve’s primary fish monitoring program to help fully comprehend the potential impacts of watershed restoration.
This interagency partnership demonstrates how NCCOS fills National Estuarine Research Reserves’ short-term scientific needs, providing specialized analytical support and capacity that the reserves do not retain in-house. This work helped answer key management questions for Rookery Bay, and findings can inform future watershed and fisheries management throughout Southwest Florida.
This research supports the goals of the Coastal Zone Management Act, which established the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (16 USC § 1461).
Citation: Kendall, M. S., Williams, B. L., Siceloff, L., O’Donnell, P. M., Rowell, T. J., & Roach, N. (2026). Fish movements before, during, and after restoration of tidal flow through culverts in two southern Florida USA mangrove creeks. Ecological Solutions and Evidence, 7, e70244. https://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.70244