State Agriculture Secretary Charles Bronson and other opponents of a federal plan to decrease the pollution of Florida's rivers, lakes and bays say the restrictions would generate billions of dollars of costs for businesses and local governments. ...more

December 3, 2009

It has been almost 22 years since this editorial page detailed the devastating damage boat propellers were doing to Tampa Bay and questioned why no government agency would take action to protect the sea grass meadows that filter water and sustain marine life. ...more

February 14, 2009

Scientists have long known that the nitrogen that makes your lawn green also chokes the oxygen out of water, making it hard for fish, crabs, shrimp and other marine life to breathe. ...more

January 11, 2009

Many who own flats boats and bass rigs would rather go fishing without their tacklebox than without a hydraulic jackplate in place on the transom. Functioning as a sort of "outboard elevator," the plates make it possible to raise and lower the entire powerplant vertically up to 6 inches at the touch of a button. For those who frequently boat in shallow water, the benefits are obvious; you can putt across water only inches deep without dinging your prop, and also without cutting up environmentally important sea grasses. ...more

November 23, 2008

Tampa Bay is Florida's largest open estuary and as such plays an important role in the fishery that exists along the west coast of Florida, as well as the economic well-being of our area. Twenty-four years ago, when Frank Sargeant took up a pen at The Tampa Tribune, the state of the bay was not good. He immediately grasped the situation and used his columns to improve Tampa Bay. ...more

August 7, 2008

After 24 years with the Tampa Tribune, outdoor columnist Frank Sargeant is calling it a day. ...more

July 27, 2008

Twenty years ago, many of the nation's great freshwater-fed bays were on the brink of collapse. Victimized by decades of pollution, once-bountiful oyster and crab fisheries were dying, sea grasses were receding and multimillion-dollar seafood-based economies were at risk. ...more

November 23, 2007