Little Sarasota Bay
Florida's estuaries
Loss of estuarine habitat is a serious problem along Florida's coasts. Florida is undergoing tremendous growth, and 78% of Florida's estimated 14 million residents live in coastal areas. Coastal development is damaging marine-fisheries habitats that are important in maintaining viable commercial and recreational fisheries. Dredge-and-fill operations for waterfront homes and seawall construction destroy mangrove shoreline and underwater sea grasses. Although these activities may temporarily enhance real-estate values, they ultimately decrease long-term value as natural amenities disappear, the water becomes foul, and wildlife departs.
Source: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute(FWRI)
Why are estuaries special?
"The cradle of the ocean" is an appropriate description of estuaries. More than 95% of Florida's recreationally and commercially important fishes, crustaceans, and shellfish spend periods of their lives in estuaries, usually when they are young.
Source: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI)
Midnight Pass Permit Denied in 1991
State of Florida Department of Environmental Regulation FINAL ORDER issued April 4, 1991 Finding of Fact No. 32 "The flushing and arrival of predator fishes will adversely affect the nursery habitat now enjoyed by the fish in the community currently within Little Sarasota Bay."
Sarasota Bay Is Healthier Than It Has Been in 20 Years - So Let's Destroy It for a Few Boaters.
The National Marine Fisheries Service says Little Sarasota Bay, which has become a nursery for fish, is a "nationally important aquatic resource." The state has designated Little Sarasota Bay as part of its Outstanding Florida Waters program. This is not a body of water that needs our help. Retired commercial shrimper, Wally Lewis says, "The scallops are back and I haven't been seeing those for 20 years". According to The Florida Department of Environmental Protection website, "Scallops need clear saltwater with lush sea grass beds to live. Sea grasses provide food and protection for the scallops and improve water quality." The scallops are just one clear sign of Sarasota bay's health.
Yet, the people who want to dig this massive Midnight Pass boating channel claim that this will prove water quality in Sarasota Bay. Hmmmm. It looks like that already happened.
Boating:
There is plenty of boating in Little Sarasota Bay but much of it consists of canoes, kayaks and flat boats which move peacefully through this shallow and delicate environment. There are many existing passes suitable for power boats and a famous intracostal waterway connecting them all. Power boating is fun and very popular in our area. Sarasota boasts one of the largest and most active power squadrons in the nation. However, opening Midnight Pass in the way it is proposed is just too destructive and does not serve a public benefit.
Palmer Point Park:
"This beach will give you a feeling of privacy and seclusion. It is a beautiful, gentle sloping beach with a pristine dune system. The beach is already a popular spot for boaters and people who like to walk along the shore from Turtle Beach. Palmer Point Beach offers 30 acres of land with 2,400 linear feet of natural gulf beach frontage." Sarasota County Parks and Recreation
Palmer Point Beach begins at the southern tip of Siesta Key and continues onto the north end of Casey Key. Visitors enjoy fishing, bird watching, shelling and on special nights, small guided tours of turtle nesting. Mangroves, sea grapes, saw palmetto, sea oats and sea purslane are plentiful. Little Sarasota Bay is a wonderful nursery for turtles, snook, redfish and even tarpon.
Birds love this nesting habitat too. Cormorant, Osprey, Brown Pelican, Great Blue Heron, Great White Egret, Roseate Spoonbill, Anhinga, Heron, and other Florida birds find refuge here.
New Midnight Pass would chop the park in half, cut right through the Jim Neville Restoration site, through the bird islands, dig up the mangroves and seagrasses, and fill in acres of waterway with eroded beach sand. In the future we might read, "Palmer Point Beach consists of a large boating channel and a 260,000 square foot sand trap which gathers sand to renourish the eroding beaches north and south of the channel. Flanked by loud and unsightly dredging equipment, Palmer Point Channel features power boat traffic from the Turtle Beach boat ramp, a receding beach with mangroves and some birds, and pumps moving sand from the traps to the beaches.
Please, Leave Midnight Pass Alone.
What Can I Do?
If you think we should leave Midnight Pass Alone, here are three ways you can help.
