South Florida’s coral reef is being overfished. Nearly a dozen species are nearing unsustainable numbers

WUSF reported on a University of Miami and NOAA study — two decades of data across 15 species — finding that 85% of popular grouper and snapper on South Florida’s reef have been overfished below sustainable levels, with nearly all studied fish falling under 40% of historic spawning numbers and some as low as 5%, imperiling a $6 billion fishing industry. Miami Waterkeeper Executive Director Rachel Silverstein pressed regulators to act on it: “Managers are required to use the best available science, and that includes recently published studies.”