Invasive Tilapia

Over the course of six work days in the past four weeks, Oklawaha River Aquatic Preserve and Nature Coast Aquatic Preserve staff removed over 200 invasive tilapia from the headsprings of the Silver River. This is a huge accomplishment and almost 1,000 pounds of fish biomass removed! We are sincerely grateful for our team of three staff members and five volunteers for making this program such a success. If you would have asked us back in January how many tilapia we thought we could remove in a year, we never would have guessed we’d be close to 800. Not only are we helping maintain the Oklawaha River Aquatic Preserve in its essentially natural state, but each time we’re out there, visitors are asking us questions, are interested in what we’re doing, we’re educating them on the aquatic preserve and invasive species, and the regulars are noticing a difference in native fish behavior and numbers. Thank you, team!