NEWS

from Anna Maria Island Sun June 22, 2022

by Anna Maria Island Sun

BEACH BEAT

4THE SUN ISLAND NEWS

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IN BRIEF

Paid parking on P&Z agenda...

The Anna Maria Planning and Zoning Board will meet at city hall on Wednesday, June 22 at 2 p.m. The board will review a site plan amendment for paid parking in the Sandbar restaurant parking lot. The board will also review proposed amendments to the city’s alcohol ordinance. The agenda also calls for board member comments on landscaping noise, livability for residents and environmental and intergovernmental collaboration. Wednesday’s meeting can be attended in person or by telephone by calling 1-929-205-6099 and entering the meeting ID: 85695567017.

...and on Anna Maria Commission agenda

The Anna Maria City Commission will meet on Thursday, June 23 at 6 p.m. The meeting agenda calls for college intern Destin Gollamudi to be introduced to the commission. Commissioners will then review a site plan approval request pertaining to paid parking in the Sandbar restaurant parking lot. The commission will be presented with the second and final reading of an amended alcohol ordinance that pertains in part to liquor sales. The commission will also receive an update on a right of way use permit needed to construct a beachfront home at 105 Elm Ave. Thursday’s meeting can be attended in person or by telephone by calling 1-929-205-6099 and entering the meeting ID: 85392000280.

Bank lot beach parking on work session agenda

Holmes Beach commissioners are planning to discuss reinstating an off-site parking option for beachgoers during their next work session. Mayor Judy Titsworth informed commissioners at a June 14 meeting that she terminated the city’s agreement for weekend after-hours beach parking at Hancock Whitney Bank on Gulf Drive after learning that beachgoers weren’t using the parking lot, while city taxpayers were paying for the insurance to have the lot available. Commissioner Jayne Christenson said she was not in favor of ending the agreement with the bank and would like the city commission to take the contract under consideration. Commission Chair Carol Soustek agreed to put the matter up for discussion at the Tuesday, June 28 work session. Manatee County Commissioner Kevin van Ostenbridge, a strong proponent of providing as much beach parking as possible in the city of Holmes Beach, was in the audience but did not offer comment.

EPA issues permit for fish farm off AMI

BY LESLIE LAKE

SUN CORRESPONDENT

A Hawaii-based company has the green light to operate an industrial fish farm in the Gulf of Mexico 44 miles southwest of Anna Maria Island, raising concerns among environmental groups.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a National Pollutant Discharge Eliminations System (NPDES) permit to Ocean Era Inc. of Kailu-Kona, Hawaii on June 8 to allow waste discharge from the proposed Velella Epsilon Aquatic Animal Facility.

The "net pen" facility will culture approximately 20,000 almaco jack over roughly a 12-month period, producing up to 80,000 pounds of finfish per year, assuming a 90% survival rate and an average weight of 4.4 pounds per fish.

The operation will consist of a supporting tender vessel and a single floating net pen cage 130 feet deep. The copper alloy mesh cage will be about 55 feet in diameter and 23 feet high.

Opposing the facility is a consortium of environmental groups, Don't Cage Our Oceans, whose goal is to stop the development of offshore finfish farming in the U.S. through federal law, policies and coalition building.

“This decision allowing construction of an industrial finfish farming facility sets a dangerous national precedent for corporate takeover of our public waters,” Director of Recirculating Farms Marianne Cufone said in a press release. “We hoped an agency tasked with protecting our environment would heed science and the negative global experience with these types of facilities, especially under the current administration.”

One local longtime fisherman and manager of Cortez Bait and Seafood, James Lee, doesn't share the environmental group's concerns. "This is more than 40 miles offshore and in federal waters," Lee said. "I don't see this as an environmental problem."

Lee said that much of the seafood sold in his shop is farmed and pointed out that farming fish has a long history. "The Egyptians farmed tilapia 5,000 years ago," he said.

According to the EPA website, it was determined that “sufficient information exists to conclude that the point source discharge from the marine aquaculture facility covered by this permit would not cause unreasonable degradation of the marine environment.”

In reviewing the application for the project, the EPA completed an Ocean Discharge Criteria evaluation and looked at the following factors in defining “unreasonable” degradation: • Significant adverse changes in ecosystem diversity, productivity and stability of the biological community within the area of discharge and surrounding biological communities • Threat to human health through direct exposure to pollutants or through consumption of exposed aquatic organisms, • Loss of aesthetic, recreational, scientific or economic values which is unreasonable in relation to the benefit derived from the discharge.

“We’re exploring various options to continue our challenge of Ocean Era’s permit, but our president and federal lawmakers need to take bold action to protect our oceans from threats like this,” Cufone said.

The final permit, fact sheet, appeal procedures and other supporting documents are available on the EPA’s website: www/epa.gov/npdes-permits/oceanera-inc-velella-epsilon-aquatic-animal-productionfacility-national-pollutant.

The permit expires July 7, 2027.

Andrianna Natsoulas, campaign director of Don’t Cage Our Oceans, said, “Meanwhile, we’re continuing to work with coastal communities to call on our members of Congress to advance legislation like the Keep Finfish Free Act to preserve clean waters and strong local economies. We’ll keep up the pressure until our oceans are protected from corporate takeover.”

Clam lease granted to improve water quality

Sarasota Bay Watch has received the state’s first underwater aquaculture lease for clam restoration and research.

“In response to increasing interest in shellfish restoration activities, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) Division of Aquaculture updated language to allow Aquaculture Management Agreements to be issued to qualified entities for restoration aquaculture purposes,” said Charlie Culpepper, assistant director of the Division of Aquaculture for FDACS.

The lease agreement provides Sarasota Bay Watch the right to raise and distribute native hard-shell clams (Mercenaria campechiensis) to continue improving regional water quality through bivalve restoration. The 4.5acre plot will be leased for five years and will also host scientific research. Sarasota Bay Watch has followed scientific advice from the Gulf Shellfish Institute’s Executive Director Steven Hesterberg in most of the activities regarding clam restoration.

Sarasota Bay Watch’s Executive Director Ronda Ryan is honored that the organization is being entrusted with the lease.

“This lease enables us to increase our restoration scope and provides a largescale project for research to advance the understanding of water quality issues and impactful approaches to restoration,” Ryan said.

The shellfish allowed by the lease are protected by law from harvesting from outside parties. The clams are not for consumption but are used for their natural filtering properties, and Sarasota Bay Watch will grow and harvest these clams within the lease area for activities directly related to restoration.

It takes about 18 months for a clam to be ready for placement within a preassessed restoration site. Meanwhile, the clams will filter water, spawn and reproduce within the lease area.

The group’s clam project began in 2018, and to date they have released more than 1.5 million clams with the help of community volunteers and plan to deploy another million clams in 2022.