Panama City Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office

We use applied sciences and innovative technology to drive today's management practices and enable the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to work effectively with our partners to meet today's complex conservation challenges.

Gulf Sturgeon Recovery

The Panama City Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office is the recovery lead for the Gulf sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrhynchus desotoi) and has worked extensively on the injury assessment from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to address Gulf sturgeon recovery needs. We assess and monitor the populations using the latest scientific advances to ensure the recovery of the species. Currently, we are leading multi-year projects from Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) funds to examine adult spawning habitats and juvenile foraging dynamics in designated critical habitat.

Okaloosa Darter Recovery

The Panama City Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office is the recovery lead for the Okaloosa darter (Etheostoma okaloosae). Due to the partnership between the Panama City Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office and Eglin Air Force Base, the Okaloosa darter has achieved recovery goals and population targets and was officially delisted from the Endangered Species List in July 2023.

Striped Bass Recovery

The Gulf striped bass (Morone saxatilis) is an inter-jurisdictional species native to rivers throughout the northern Gulf of Mexico. A cooperative agreement was formed in 1987 between state and federal conservation agencies to "restore a self-sustaining stock of striped bass to the maximum extent possible" in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River system through various management and conservation strategies.

Freshwater Mussel Recovery

The Panama City Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office works together with the Florida Ecological Services Field Office in supporting recovery objectives for 16 federally listed freshwater mussels in Florida. Through the development of meso-habitat mapping, quantitative sampling methods, and stream restoration, the team addresses recovery objectives to maximize conservation delivery. In addition, the Panama City Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office hosts and coordinates mussels workshops to provide information (biology, genetics, habitat, systematics, and identification) to local, state, and federal agencies, consultants, and non-governmental organizations working with freshwater mussels.

Amphibian Habitat Restoration

The Panama City Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office works to restore and improve ephemeral wetland habitats to benefit species such as the Frosted flatwoods salamander (Ambystoma cingulatum), Reticulated flatwoods salamander (Ambystoma bishopi), and Gopher frog (Lithobates capito). Restoration work includes groundcover and hydrological restoration of these important habitats.

Stream Restoration

The Panama City Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office works with partners to restore identified watershed threats that are impacting listed species of freshwater mussels and fish through the use of natural channel design and stream geomorphology to stabilize stream banks, reduce sediment transport, and remove fish passage fish passage
Fish passage is the ability of fish or other aquatic species to move freely throughout their life to find food, reproduce, and complete their natural migration cycles. Millions of barriers to fish passage across the country are fragmenting habitat and leading to species declines. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Fish Passage Program is working to reconnect watersheds to benefit both wildlife and people.

Learn more about fish passage barriers.

Dive Program

The Panama City Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office leads the region in providing dive support with the Regional Dive Officer Channing St. Aubin (Fisheries Biologist) stationed in Panama City, Florida. The regional dive program provides biologists with the technical skills and abilities to monitor and evaluate populations for listed and at-risk species in low visibility river conditions and assists in Lacey Act enforcement cases with the Office of Law Enforcement.