They’re casting lifelines to Pine Island.
By land and sea, Cortez-based fishing captains Nathan Meschelle, Lance Plowman, Brian Lacey and others delivered supplies to Pine Island residents and businesses devastated by Hurricane Ian.
Ian hit the island as a Category 4 storm, destroying boats, dozens of homes and collapsing the bridge to mainland Florida.
Beginning Oct. 1, private boat owners, the U.S. Coast Guard and Florida National Guard provided aid and transportation to stranded residents.
In an Oct. 2 Facebook post, Organized Fishermen of Florida-Cortez Chapter executive director Alexis Meschelle, wife of chapter president and commercial fisher Nathan Meschelle, called for donations of canned goods, medical supplies, clothes, blankets, diapers and baby formula for Pine Island residents, many of whom are commercial fishers.
Pine Island fisher and St. James City Fish Co. owner Roy Kibbe had reached out to his OFF contacts in Cortez after the storm wiped his third-generation fish house off the map.
“People couldn’t get to them,” Alexis Meschelle said Oct. 4. “So, we decided we couldn’t wait any longer.”
Later that day, Nathan Meschelle and other fishers loaded Meschelle’s boat, the High Roller, with donations, ice and gasoline, and Oct. 3 made their first delivery.
“We served over 4,000 people today with our first drop,” Alexis Meschelle wrote in an Oct. 3 Facebook post. “Keep sharing, tagging friends and donating. We are taking more trips. Dates, times, and needs are TBD.”
Plowman, owner of Florida Fishing Fleet, a charter fishing company, transported OFF donations to Pine Island — approximately 67 miles away from Anna Maria Island by boat — aboard the Savage Lady the afternoon of Oct. 3.
On Oct. 4, Swordfish Grill and Tiki Bar general manager and OFF member Adam Sears trucked a load of donations to the Pine Island area.
By the evening of Oct. 3, Lacey, a commercial fisher, had trucked three loads of supplies to the mainland near the island.
“One of our suppliers, a good friend is on the south end of Pine Island,” Lacey said Oct. 3. “They lost everything. Gone. I could show you the videos and pictures — it looks like a third-world country.”
Lacey, an eight-year fisher, had planned to drop thousands of stone crab traps in the water Oct. 5, the first day permitted by the state, but is putting the needs of Pine Islanders first this season.
“I’m hoping to be able to drop traps but I’ve got to make sure they’re good before we worry about that,” Lacey said. “A lot of people are hurting right now.”
Chipping in
As of Oct. 4, Cortez fish house owners Karen Bell, of A.P. Bell Fish Co., and John Banyas, of Cortez Bait and Seafood, had donated approximately 80,000 pounds of ice to the Myakka City Community Center at the request of the Manatee County Emergency Operation Center.
Hurricane Ian caused the Myakka River to flood and its waters submerged homes, farms and businesses in the area, leaving residents in dire straits.
Bell’s A.P. Bell Fish Co. provided 15,000 pounds while Banyas’ Cortez Bait and Seafood provided 18,000 pounds, according to West Manatee Fire Rescue Fire Marshal Rodney Kwiatkowski.
Swordfish Grill and Tiki Bar, Banyas’ restaurant adjacent to the Cortez Bait and Seafood docks, provided 36,000 pounds.
To inquire about OFF donation needs and trips, visit the OFF Cortez Chapter Facebook page or call 941-241-9171.