NO TIME TO WASTE

On the heels of chilling new research into the health of Florida’s redfish population, an international cohort of researchers says it isn’t too late to save the state’s fisheries from pharmaceutical contaminants—at least, not yet.

BY ALEXANDRA MARVAR

In back-to-back studies into two of Florida’s most important sportfish, researchers found that behavior-modifying drugs meant for humans are leaching into coastal waters—and messing with aquatic life. At Bonefish & Tarpon Trust’s recent International Science Symposium & Flats Expo, experts traveled from as far away as Sweden to present new findings on the presence of chemical substances—from caffeine to acetaminophen, antidepressants to opioids—up and down the food chain, from predators like bonefish and redfish to crabs, shrimp, and barnacles—and even seagrass—all across the state.

In the summer of 2022, researchers from Dr. Jennifer Rehage’s Coastal Fisheries Lab at Florida International University, with the help of expert fishing guides, set out to catch redfish from nine major Florida estuaries in order to test them for 95 common psychoactive and heart medications, antibiotics, pain and allergy relievers, opioids, and other medications.

Catching the individual redfish didn’t always come easy— particularly in the Indian River Lagoon—but the FIU team, including lab manager Andy Distrubell and graduate students Nick Castillo and Shakira Trabelsi, caught their target number in each fishery and sent plasma and muscle tissue across the Atlantic to Umeå, Sweden.

Redfish are an important part of Florida’s recreational saltwater fisheries, which are worth more than $11 billion annually.

There, their collaborators, including Dr. Tomas Brodin, a professor of behavioral ecotoxicology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, tested the samples. Rehage’s team in Miami anxiously awaited the results, wondering how they’d measure up to the team’s 2021 BTT study on pharmaceutical contaminants in Florida Keys bonefish.

When the numbers came back, they learned Florida redfish didn’t have as many pharmaceuticals as bonefish. But that’s where the good news ended, Rehage said. Drugs were found in nearly every sample—94 percent of the 113 fish tested—across all nine fisheries and when found, the levels were high and concerning in half of the fish tested.

What really piqued Distrubell’s interest was that, according to the data, different estuaries seemed to specialize in different contaminants. In the Everglades: caffeine. In Apalachicola: an opioid painkiller often prescribed to patients after a surgery, tramadol. Other drugs, like cholesterol-lowering ezetimibe, were “scattered everywhere,” he said.

Meanwhile in Umeå, Brodin said that while redfish numbers may have been a little less extreme than in the previous bonefish investigation, the samples were still raising eyebrows among his team: “We are actually re-running a few samples now from one redfish that had extremely high levels of caffeine,” Brodin noted. “We want to know if it’s really possible. Have they been drinking Cuban coffee or something? We’ll see.”

Ecosystems At Risk

The future of these species could lie in these data. Fish have some of the same key receptors in the brain and body as humans do, and drugs affect their behavior in some surprisingly similar ways, Brodin explained. In 2013, he and colleagues published a groundbreaking study on the behavioral changes in perch exposed to drugs such as a benzodiazepine called oxazepam, with an eye to activity, sociality, and boldness. The data showed that when exposed to the anti-anxiety medication, the fish became less social and tended to take more risks.

Since that revelation, human drugs and their associated behavioral changes have been studied in fish, such as European hatchery salmon. The problem of pharmaceutical contamination in marine species is much more widespread than previously believed, Brodin said, and the effects could influence everything from predation to migration to spawning—key behaviors that have a bearing on entire ecosystems.

Meanwhile, what happens to the substances themselves once they trickle into waterways and oceans? How far can they travel? How long do they last? These are big unknowns, Rehage explained.

“Only a small number of the substances we are testing for have information about half-life,” she said. “What’s their persistence in the marine waters? Nobody knows. That’s really scary.” Meanwhile, the amount of contamination flowing from land to sea is ticking upwards year after year as a growing number of people around the world take pharmaceuticals and new drugs are constantly being added to the mix.

“We have this tremendous amount of production of pharmaceuticals,” she said, “and they’re really important to our quality of life, but we need to start thinking about: ‘How do we make them so they don’t pollute our environment and have side effects on wildlife?’ And if we’re not going to make them better, we need to clean them up.”

Floating New Solutions

Is there more to learn about pharmaceuticals and fish than the studies so far have been able to reveal? Definitely. Why are the otoliths (the calcium ear “stones”) of the redfish Distrubell and Dr. Aaron Adams caught in Indian River estuary different from all their other redfish samples? What do benzos do to bonefish breeding behavior? Are these pharmaceutical cocktails harmful to the health of reds and bones? Are herons and other marine birds across the Everglades hopped up on caffeine? What about sea turtles? Dolphins? Manatees? Only further study can get to the bottom of these questions, but according to BTT Director of Science and Conservation Dr. Aaron Adams, Bonefish & Tarpon Trust and other research entities have already gathered the data they need to see there is a big problem—and to understand what needs to happen to address it: more and better wastewater treatment.

This widespread pharmaceutical contamination across Florida’s marine habitats is just one dire consequence of the state’s current wastewater infrastructure, which is being increasingly challenged by everything from sea level rise and tropical storms to rapid population growth and increasing urban density, Adams said. It’s a challenging situation. At this point, Adams said, “asking for more research is delaying the inevitable.” Right now, Florida needs action.

It’s time to clean up Florida’s water, and Adams says next steps are clear: the state needs to install upgraded water treatment technology in existing water treatment plants that can remove pharmaceuticals and other contaminants (like PFAS), bacteria and viruses, and more from treated water.

“Fixes have already been found,” he said. “These retrofits have already been tested and implemented in Sweden, Switzerland and Germany. It’s not a quick fix, and at this point it will be expensive. But we can’t really afford to not address this problem.”

Back From The Tipping Point

Within four years of Brodin and team’s 2013 study on contaminants and perch, work was already underway to remediate the problem in Sweden. Wastewater treatment plants across the country, with the help of Sweden’s environmental protection agency, had pulled together plans and funding for pilot studies on processes like ozonation, granular activated carbon filtration and more. As of 2022, approximately eight fullscale retrofits of wastewater treatment facilities are already in operation, Brodin said, yielding “clear positive effects on certain, more sensitive aquatic species.”

These positive outcomes include an inspiring population bounce-back among some of key food resources for fish like mayflies and caddisflies, which are also among the world’s most threatened insect species.

“The methods are out there,” to clean up Florida’s marine environment, Brodin said, “and I think Florida has a unique opportunity to be at the forefront of North America.”

According to BTT VP for Conservation and Public Policy Kellie Ralston, the state is already laying the groundwork for forwardthinking solutions like these.

“Statewide, we’re at $300 to $400 million in the last four years towards water resources and Everglades restoration projects,”

Ralston said. “It really is kind of unprecedented. With significant federal contributions, there’s a lot of momentum to tackle these challenges.” Measures like a new and expanding wastewater grants program and other investments in modernizing wastewater infrastructure are also underway. And the new redfish study could shed light on a roll-out strategy that will have the biggest water quality impacts.

“The redfish data indicate that some specific locations could be prioritized over others,” Ralston said, citing comparatively higher numbers and higher concentrations in Tampa and Apalachicola, while previous data from the bonefish study pointed to Biscayne Bay as another “hotspot,” she added.

Besides upgraded water treatment facilities, moving more of Florida’s wastewater into treatment facilities, rather than into leaking septic systems, is critical. The Florida Keys made the switch from septic to sewer systems transporting wastewater to treatment plants. The Keys started the conversion 20 years ago, and the major effort was completed just a few years ago. According to available data, this has already brought about lower levels of hazardous nutrient and fecal markers—along with observations by community members and fishing guides on improved water clarity, fish health, biodiversity and more. However, even in the Keys, the wastewater treatment plants do not include technology needed to remove pharmaceuticals and other contaminants.

At a minimum, other communities need to follow the Keys’ lead, retire ancient leaking septic systems, and convert to updated and innovative wastewater treatment systems that address existing pollutants as well as the newly identified pharmaceutical residues. Statewide, one in three households use septic systems, with over 100,000 septic systems in Miami-Dade County alone. “It’s great to see this growing realization of the need to address Florida’s water quality and habitat issues,” Adams said. “We’ve had a great start, but a lot more investment is needed.” Accordingly, BTT will continue to push for increased funding and policy changes to address these issues. Right now, the organization is actively seeking public and private partners to retrofit one or more waste treatment facilities as a proof of concept.

“We have the knowledge to do it,” Adams said of tackling chemical contamination along Florida’s coast. “We just need the dedication—and the funding—to get it done.”

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust and the FIU Coastal Fisheries Lab wish to thank the following guides and anglers for their invaluable assistance with the Redfish Pharmaceutical Contaminants Study.

Danny Allen

Rami Ashouri

James Beers

Jim Brown

Frank Catino

Don Downs

Josh Greer

Chris Hong

Jason Kendall

Tom King

Scott MacCalla

Gary Malstrom

Hayden Malstrom

Andrew Marks

Brandon McGraw

Cristian Minami

Anthony Morgan

Chad Osteen

Dustin Pack

Travis Pack

Joe Tanksley

Troy Weaver

David White

Mike Yankee