Fishermen and environmentalists are applauding the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's decision to temporarily stop spraying aquatic plant killers, including the controversial herbicide Roundup.

The suspension beginning Monday is open-ended and statewide, but much of the focus has been on Lake Okeechobee, where FWC sprayed more than 20,000 pounds of pesticides in 2017.

"There needs to be some herbicide spraying in Lake Okeechobee," said Paul Gray, a wetland ecologist with Audubon Florida who's been studying the lake for more than 20 years.

Without spraying, Gray said, invasives like water hyacinth and torpedo grass would choke out native vegetation and block boaters' access to the lake's marshes.

"The question is: What's the right amount?" Gray said. "What we need is a vegetation management plan that describes the habitat, the goals of spraying, how to achieve those goals and how to monitor if the goals are met.

"Right now," he added, "they just go out and spray whenever they think it's necessary."

Ramon Iglesias, general manager of the Roland and Mary Ann Martin's Marina & Resort on Lake Okeechobee in Clewiston, agreed the FWC should spray only when necessary and suggested the agency remove more plants with machinery rather than herbicides.

"The FWC says mechanical harvesting costs 10 times more than spraying," Iglesias said, "but it doesn't leave dead plants on the bottom of the lake to create sediment."

Iglesias also suggested outfitting the spraying boats with remote-controlled cameras "so we can see what they're spraying and where."

During the break, the agency's staff will collect public comments regarding the FWC’s aquatic plant management program, said spokeswoman Carli Segelson.

The FWC took action, Segelson said, because the agency has "been receiving a lot of feedback from people concerned about the use of herbicides. Some comments have been in favor of our program, some not in favor."

Among those not in favor is a petition on change.org titled "Stop the State-sanctioned Poisoning of Our Lakes and Rivers!" that had garnered 172,228 signatures by late Thursday afternoon.

The petition blasts the FWC for using herbicides containing the chemical glyphosate, sold under the brand name Roundup, "into all of our rivers, canals and lakes, including Lake Okeechobee, to kill an invasive aquatic plant called hydrilla."

TCPalm investigation: Unprecedented study finds herbicides in lagoon

In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, said glyphosate is "probably carcinogenic to humans." But the next year a report from WHO and the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization concluded exposure through diet probably didn't pose a cancer risk.

In August, a California jury ordered Roundup maker Monsanto to pay $289 million to a school groundskeeper who claimed repeated exposure to glyphosate caused him to develop cancer.

More: Should Martin County ban Roundup?

Iglesias said he favors banning Roundup because it kills plants indiscriminately rather than pinpointing invasive species that need to be removed.

"All those dead plants sink to the bottom of the lake and turn into sediment," he said.

The nutrients in those dead plants feed algae blooms in the lake, James Douglass, a marine and ecological science professor at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, told TCPalm in September.

More:Are FWC's herbicides feeding algae blooms in Lake O?

According to FWC data, here's what was sprayed on Lake O in 2017:

20,688 pounds of pesticides, about the weight of a garbage truck, which included ...

12,263 pounds of glyphosate-based herbicides, about the weight of a school bus, which included ...

11,658 pounds, about the weight of a monster truck, of Roundup.

The agency will hold several public meetings to gather community input about the program. Specific dates and locations of these meetings will be announced shortly, Segelson said.

Send comments on the FWC's herbicide spraying policies to: Invasiveplants@MyFWC.com.

You can also sign the petition protesting herbicide spraying.