Port St. Lucie News

STUART ? Members of a local environmental group said on Friday that state and county officials aren't doing enough to control the spread of an exotic algae they say poses a threat to life in the Indian River Lagoon.

"Here we've got a fire going in the river, but we're not doing anything about it," said Henry Caimotto, the Martin County Anglers representative at Friday's Rivers Coalition meeting.

Concern about the plant began to grow in early March, when Brain Lapointe, a senior scientist with Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution specializing in exotic algae, confirmed the presence of Caulerpa brachypus, an algae native to the Pacific Ocean, in Jensen Beach waters.

Originally found killing coral reefs in deep waters off Juno Beach, the algae grows rapidly in nutrient rich conditions, shading sea grasses from necessary sunlight and overtaking critical aquatic habitat.

Caimotto and other coalition members said they were disappointed to learn the officials with the state Department of Environmental Protection have done little to solve the problem.

But Willie Puz, a spokesman for the department, said there's little the agency can do.

"It's thick, really thick," said Mark Perry, executive director of the Florida Oceanographic Society. "It's going to outgrow everything. It's a big threat."

The state DEP was not present at the Rivers Coalition monthly meeting on Friday, but Puz said researchers have disagreed whether the exotic species known to kill reefs and sea grasses is actually in local waters.

The issue could be discussed at a meeting of the Harmful Algal Bloom Task Force, formed in 1998 by the Florida Marine Research Institute, Puz said.

"I don't think we've experienced something like this. We're monitoring the situation," he said. "There are still a lot of studies that need to be done and are looking to be funded."

But the estuary activists say it is only a matter of time before the algae could kill most of the native species in the lagoon. Perry said the state should conduct a survey to determine where the algae is, but Caimotto said the county should get involved.

"I've not heard one word from the county. It's like the Indian River Lagoon is not in the county," he said. Deputy County Administrator Dan Hudson said the county did not have jurisdiction to address exotic species problems in state waters.

The topic is set to be discussed at the coalition's May meeting, but its members, including Kevin Stinnette, the Indian River keeper with the Treasure Coast Environmental Defense Fund, said something has to be done before that.

"By then, it'll be too late," he said.

- suzanne.wentley@scripps.co