Sarasota Bay to continue receiving funds for conservation

On a sun-kissed afternoon at the outskirts of Leffis Key, the mangrove forest shuts out the sun from reaching its roots. Fiddler crabs disperse at the sound of humans into their hiding places carved out from dark brown dirt. Sarasota Bay, which stretches from the tip of Anna Maria Island down to Lido Key, is where boaters glide across its surface and manatees cruise among the grass beds.

Sunbathers and sea creatures alike can continue to enjoy the bay’s benefits following the reauthorization of the National Estuary Program, signed May 21 by President Barack Obama.

The program allocates $26.5 million per year to the 28 estuary programs in 17 states and territories. Florida has the most estuary programs, with Tampa Bay, Charlotte Harbor, Indian River Lagoon and Sarasota Bay to each receive $770,000 for conservation and maintenance programs. Although there was a technical delay in the program from 2010 to 2016, Sarasota Bay Estuary Program still received $600,000 each year.

The priority of Sarasota’s program, said Sarasota Bay Estuary Program Executive Director Mark Alderson, is to improve water quality. The program does that by emphasizing tidal creeks, tributaries, living shorelines and public outreach. Two of the program’s success stories include creating an artificial reef and lowering nutrient amounts in the water, which is a contributing factor to red tide blooms.

With the funding comes praise and concerns from locals.

Glenn Compton of ManaSota-88, a local environmental group, says the the estuary program brought attention to Sarasota Bay and put it in a good light, but local politicians need to make protections based on data already completed by the program.

“They’ve done their jobs,” he said of the program, “and now it’s up to the policymakers to pay attention to the recommendations.”

Compton said he’d like to see the focus and funds turned to an area more in need.

Ecotourism concerns

Laural Kaiser, owner of Island Style Watersports in Sarasota, has been taking tourists around Sarasota Bay since 1993. Her business, directly affected by the health of the bay, specializes in small educational tours with a limit of 10 people at most to one guide.

Kaiser has seen large groups of ecotourists negatively affect bird populations.

“Overcrowding is the biggest thing,” she said. “By the time (large tour groups) go through, the wildlife has fled.”

Compton said overcrowding is the single most important issue for the bay, because where there’s people, there’s pollution.

According to the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program website, annual bay-related tourism spending is $1.15 billion.

“It’s one thing if you do ecotourism and you do it with sensitivity to what it is that you’re bringing the people to see,” Kaiser said.

Overall, Kaiser said it’s great the program has been reauthorized and she has personally seen the effect of healthy grassbeds in the bay, but she also wants to see how ecotourism will affect future conservation efforts .

Alderson said he thinks ecotourism groups have an appreciation for the environment and tend to be careful about its quality. It’s a good thing for the area, he said.

“We certainly have some traffic issues, but commissions are trying to deal with it,” Alderson said.

This story was originally published May 26, 2016 at 3:48 PM with the headline "Sarasota Bay to continue receiving funds for conservation."