Bonefish & Tarpon Unlimited, www.tarbone.org, and the University of Miami are asking for help from area guides and fishermen across the Keys to pick as many bones as possible Thursday, April 3. That’s when a spring bonefishing study takes place to track bonefish populations throughout the Keys.

Each of the last five years Bonefish & Tarpon Unlimited and the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science have asked fishermen to hunt down and count bonefish each fall. Researchers now want to use a spring census to “calibrate” the fall estimate and determine if there is a seasonal component to the bonefish population size estimates.

For bonefishermen, this is a call to action. The census needs as many participants as possible, and in as many different zones from Key Biscayne to the Marquesas. All the information collected during the census will remain confidential and will be used only for scientific research purposes.

If you are able to participate, contact Dr. Jerry Ault at jault@rsmas.miami.edu or (305) 421-4884. Once contacted, you will be mailed a datasheet which asks at each location fished to record the zone, distance poled and bonefish seen. Census datasheets will also be available from Florida Keys Outfitters or can be downloaded at www.bonefishresearch.com.

From the most recent census, results have indicated a population of just more than 300,000 bonefish in the Florida Keys fishery. But researchers want to know if population changes occur year to year, or even season to season.

“We hope you can help us determine the population size of this very important sportfish,” says Jerry Ault of University of Miami.