The numbers are in.
Despite the Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival’s second-day closure due to inclement weather, Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage treasurer Jane von Hahmann said the nonprofit garnered $43,000 from the event.
Von Hahmann said 5,300 attendees entered the festival Feb 17, marking a 30% decline compared to a typical Saturday turnout.
The income also came up short, as the prediction for heavy rain for the second day, Feb. 18, drove FISH to halt the festival.
In 2023, FISH made just over $100,000 from the festival.
In 2022, the festival netted $119,174.
Nevertheless, von Hahmann told the FISH board March 4 that the group would meet its expenses and mortgage obligations for the year.
Festival proceeds go toward mortgages for Fishermen’s Hall and the Lemaster’s property, which the group purchased in 2016 and added to the FISH Preserve.
The preserve, 11655 Cortez Road W., is a 95-acre parcel owned by FISH and purchased as part of an initiative to protect the coastal estuary habitat along the bay, as well as create a buffer for the village from development pushing west.
In other matters, Capt. Joey Sweet, a licensed tour guide representing the new Habitat Guardian Group, sought support from the FISH board to thwart shellfish poaching in Sarasota Bay.
Sweet said poachers are organized and have been working flats and sandbars systematically for the better part of two years, leading to significant losses of benthic sea life.
“We’ve seen our sandbars completely go barren,” Sweet said. “If you think about it, they are undoing all of the shellfish seeding and everything we are doing for restoration and trying to keep our water clean.”
“My feeling is that we really are on the edge of a habitat collapse if we don’t start to take this issue seriously,” he said.
He mentioned the FWC has been issuing citations to poachers due to the group’s efforts.
HGG members Capt. Katie Tupin, Jeff Smith and George Stellas, also attended.
FISH president Kim McVey and board member Nate Meshelle advised Sweet to pursue an audience with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission during its meeting May 1-2 in Daytona.
Von Hahmann told HGG members to consider what form of support they wanted from FISH and to reach back out to the nonprofit.
The FISH board also announced plans to clean up the Curt Johns net house south of the A.P. Bell Fish Co., 4600 124th Street Ct. W.
Meschelle said the camp is an eyesore.
“I feel like it’s very iconic for Cortez,” Meshelle said. “
“People that come and visit, this is what they see and that is what they think of us,” he added.
Net camps were used by fishermen to dry and store hemp and cotton fishing nets.
Board members said the net building is in a state of disarray because of an occupant who for several years has been moored to the structure and storing equipment and salvage in the house without permission.
Members agreed that as the owner of the camp, FISH action is needed.
Meschelle motioned to trespass the occupant to begin the restoration of the structure. He was seconded by Steve Baker and the motion passed 8-0.
Meschelle said perhaps the cleanup can coincide with an Organized Fisherman of Florida Cortez Shoreline Cleanup on Earth Day, which is April 22.
About FISH
FISH, a nonprofit run by a 12-member board of directors, manages several properties in Cortez, including the 95-acre preserve, a boat shop, Fishermen’s Hall, the old volunteer fire station and a net camp.
The nonprofit, formed in 1991 and is dedicated to the promotion, education and preservation of Cortez and Florida’s commercial fishing culture.
The group also oversees the annual Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival.