A coalition of groups challenging a proposed cruise port in Manatee County registered opposition with the Florida Board of Internal Improvement Trust Fund.
The coalition of conservation, fishing and community organizations sent the board a letter stating how the port proposal on the Knott-Cowen tract conflicts with state law, local land-use protections and the long-term public interest in safeguarding one of Tampa Bay’s most productive and intact coastal ecosystems.
The issue for the groups begins with the possible rezoning of the property, which is geographically located within the state-protected Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve and described as vital to Florida’s biological and aesthetic heritage, as well as the productivity of the wider Tampa Bay estuary.
“Existing regulations were put in place to ensure treasures like this remain unspoiled,” said Dr. Abbey Tyrna, executive director of Suncoast Waterkeeper. “If the law won’t protect the TCAP, it won’t protect anything. This is a litmus test for Florida’s future: either our environmental regulations have teeth, or no critical habitat in this state is truly safe.”
Florida protected the preserve to safeguard 21,736 acres of interconnected ecosystems.
“Dredging for a cruise port and increased vessel traffic would destroy and degrade these habitats, disrupting tarpon migration and spawning-related activities for both Tampa Bay and the Gulf,” Jim McDuffie, Bonefish & Tarpon Trust president and CEO, said in a news release. “With much of Florida’s juvenile tarpon habitat already lost to coastal development, protecting the remaining habitat is critical to the future of the fishery.”