Tampa Bay's seagrass destruction by boaters is inexcusable and irresponsible. There are two thoughts about stopping this destruction. The majority side says do nothing and leave the responsibility for changing boater behavior to law enforcement. The other side says take action with a management plan that's positive and meaningful. Cost associated with enforcement in today's financial climate is a "pie in the sky attitude," not reality. To those guides and sport fishermen who support enforcement over management, policies stopping outboard destruction of seagrasses amounts to saying, "We care little about the bay's underwater habitat, the nurseries for juvenile fish." ...more

February 4, 2009

Jim Igler is retired - sort of. His sailboat sits behind his coastal home, snuggled against the red mangroves and rocky shoreline that replaced his environmentally unfriendly sea wall. Most of the time, though, the sailboat sits idle, unused. There just isn't time. ...more

August 27, 2008

Experts sometimes describe the swishy underwater habitat as a nursery, other times a fish factory. ...more

June 4, 2008