Images of an Angler's Paradise: How the Florida Keys Lost All Its Fish

The image of the Florida Keys surrounded by pristine seas is in stark contrast to the environmental reality of overfishing and habitat destruction below the water’s surface. That a place simultaneously could be severely environmentally degraded and maintain an image of untouched wilderness is a testament to the lasting effects of early and sustained image building about the region. This paper argues that the image of the Florida Keys developed through the writings of anglers and tourist promoters during the late 19^th and early 20^th century superseded the reality observed by masses of fishermen visiting (and retiring to) south Florida in the mid 20^th century. Nineteenth-century sport-fishing was an activity for elite anglers who could afford the long distance travel from northern cities, and who had the constitution to enjoy rugged, hot, and unpredictable fishing conditions. These fishermen envisioned themselves as connected to nature through their fishing lines. They were concerned with environmental conservation, albeit with self-interested motivations. In south Florida, the writings of these anglers between 1890 and 1930, including Ernest Hemingway, captured the imagination of an American public that began to arrive in Florida with ideas of the wilderness and adventure that awaited them. The transformation of sport-fishing from an activity for "gentleman anglers" into one accessible to all hard working Americans democratized the recreational fishing industry, but simultaneously distanced anglers from the natural environment. Instead of observing the decline of fish populations through their own eyes, anglers instead envisioned themselves living out adventures described by earlier generations, so that environmental degradation was largely overlooked by the sport-fishing community. Framed in terms of class, marketing, and perceptions, this environmental history charts changes in Florida’s coastal sea that were hiding in plain sight, while noting similar stories in southern California, northern Maine, and several inland fisheries.