Invasive Fish Removal

Joe and Trisha spent a day on the lower Silver River and at the confluence with the Oklawaha River, scouting for invasive plecos and assessing a large fallen tree that is diverting water flow and creating a tussock. The male plecos should be wrapping up their burrow-building season for the year. After three hours of searching, only six plecos were removed, which is encouraging news. This suggests that continued monitoring and opportunistic removal efforts are helping keep the population at a manageable level.

In 2026, they’ve removed a total of 467 tilapia and 70 plecos. While thousands of tilapia remain, it is encouraging to emerge underwater in the morning and see hundreds of native fish swimming throughout the headsprings. That hasn’t been the case for many years, making this a particularly encouraging sign of progress.