USF scientists partner with commercial fishermen to study Gulf fish lesions

MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. - The "Brandy" is packed with buoys, baskets and bait. The commercial fishing boat is Gulf-bound Friday morning from Madeira Beach.

Captain Randy Lawser catches the fish you eat for dinner. But some of the grouper and snapper he hooks in the next four days will be sent to a lab instead of a restaurant or store.

"I take them out and they tell me where they want to do research at and I know a lot of the bottom in the Gulf."

Lawser is one of three Tampa Bay and Panhandle area commercial fisherman partnering with University of South Florida research scientists.

"There's been a lot of speculation about is there diseased fish? Are they associated with the Deepwater Horizon spill?” said Dr. Steven Murawski with USF’s College of Marine Science.

Murawski says the study is aimed at getting to the bottom of unexplained fish lesions which have been reported in higher than normal numbers after last summer’s Gulf oil spill.

"We'll be looking for the ulcers that have been reported by many people. We'll be looking for the fin rot disease, skin rot disease called lymphocystis, any abnormalities we can see," he said.

The "Brandy" will cover some of the 80,000 square miles mapped out between Louisiana and the Florida Keys. The boats will cover water from 60 to 600 feet deep.

"They're baiting them up and throwing them out of the back of the boat and clipping them on the line," explained Lawser showing us his long-line leaders.

The fish they catch could be key to explaining the unexplained.

"It's my livelihood, and that's what the consumers order at the fish markets, so we need to just make sure the fish is safe to eat," he said.