If you’re fortunate enough to bag a legal snook, once you’re done filleting it out, don’t throw that carcass to the crabs, pelicans, family cat or in the can. Biologists at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) Florida Wildlife Research Institute are expanding a study on the common snook, and could use your help.

Fresh snook carcasses will provide invaluable information on fish age and maturity, and other important data. Funding sources for the study come from saltwater fishing license and snook stamp sales. Numerous tackle shops in South Florida are designated dropoff stations, and that information is posted on the FWC website at www.myfwc.com.

Log on to the site, scroll to “Research” in the left column, click on “saltwater,” then click on “snook,” and scroll down to “Snook Anglers help with Research.”

There you will find guidelines for donating a carcass, and county-by-county listings of dropoff locations.

FS