A roundup of news items related to climate change and other environmental issues in Florida:
Endangered sawfish have been found dead in Lower Keys. Other fish also dying | WLRN
More than a dozen endangered sawfish have turned up dead in the Lower Keys in recent weeks amid an unusual fish kill that has also included goliath grouper, tarpon, stingrays and dozens of other species found dead or behaving erratically.
Early testing has so far ruled out harmful water conditions like low oxygen, temperature or salinity, but did detect elevated levels of a toxic algae found in ciguatera.
Fish that feed on reefs typically carry ciguatera because that’s where the algae naturally grows. The toxin can build up, which can make eating the fish dangerous. It’s rarely fatal, but symptoms including vomiting and neurologic damage, can be severe and take days or years to go away.
What is lab-grown meat, and why does Ron DeSantis want to ban it in Florida? | Miami Herald
In tanks the size of beer vats, companies on the U.S. west coast are developing a new generation of steaks, patties and cutlets, attempting to largely cut mother nature out of the equation of producing your dinner entrée.
And in Florida, lawmakers want to kill the concept before it grows in their state.
Lab-grown meat, approved last year for sale in the U.S. by federal agencies, is being targeted by Florida Republicans over safety concerns. Bills that would make selling or distributing the product illegal are moving in the House and Senate, even though experts in the biotech industry say it is far from being shipped to grocery stores for retail sales.
The Florida Senate has approved the shooting of bears in self-defense | News Service of Florida
A controversial effort to strengthen self-defense arguments for people who shoot bears on their property is headed back to the Florida House.
The Republican-controlled Senate voted 24-12 on Wednesday to approve a bill (HB 87) that critics contend will result in increased deaths of the once-threatened species.
The House passed the bill last week. But the Senate made a change to make clear the self-defense protections wouldn’t be available to people who lure bears with food or in other ways for purposes such as training dogs to hunt bears. The change means the bill will have to be considered again by the House.
If you have any news items of note that you think we should include in our next roundup, please email The Invading Sea Editor Nathan Crabbe at ncrabbe@fau.edu. Sign up for The Invading Sea newsletter by visiting here.
