CORTEZ – The Cortez Village Historical Society (CVHS) rolled out a new community educational initiative in partnership with Sarasota Bay Estuary Program (SBEP) and with support from the Florida Maritime Museum.
The “It Takes a Village” initiative was introduced during the Cortez: Coffee, Culture & Conservation event held at the Cortez Cultural Center on Saturday, Jan. 31.
Funded by a grant from the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, the collaborative project focuses on the connection between a healthy estuary, sustainable seafood and the Cortez working waterfront. The educational initiative features bilingual signage, restaurant table cards, walking guides, a new web page and public events, all designed to encourage residents and visitors to take actions that protect Sarasota Bay.
Speakers at the Jan. 31 program included representatives from SBEP, CVHS, the Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage (FISH) and the Florida Sea Grant/UF/IFAS Extension.
“We’re really happy to have been part of this,” SBEP Executive Director Dr. Ryan Gandy said. “There are very few places we can actually engage with the environment in this area and this is a great place to do so.”
Dr. Angela Collins, of the Florida Sea Grant/UF/IFAS Extension, spoke about the importance of healthy estuaries and the FISH Preserve.
“Local seafood exists because we have estuaries like Sarasota Bay right here in our backyard,” she said. “If you look at a satellite image of the state of Florida, you’ll see that most of the coastal systems here are highly developed, highly urbanized. That’s what makes the FISH Preserve so incredibly special. It’s 100 acres of undeveloped land on Sarasota Bay and it really is one of the last true stretches of undeveloped habitat around. Probably 30% of the seafood that’s landed in the Gulf comes through this general region.”
“The fishermen in Cortez are literally feeding the world,” AP Bell Fish Company owner Karen Bell said, noting that mullet and mullet roe coming through Cortez are shipped to Colombia, Taiwan and Italy.
FISH Treasurer Jane von Hahmann spoke about the FISH Preserve.
“There’s one thing that’s remained constant in Cortez for 140 years, and that’s the fishing industry,” she said. “They were challenged with development. They were challenged with the 1995 net ban that took over half the fishing businesses in this community. It could have gone the way of so many other coastal communities but they chose to continue what was a passion for them, what was so historic for them, which was the industry that carries them through even to this day.”
Von Hahmann said CVHS and FISH have the same mission: the promotion, education and preservation of Cortez, Florida’s commercial fishing industry and the maritime culture and environment on which the community depends.
“That environment is that 100-acre (FISH Preserve) right here,” she said.
“We’re excited it is now open for you,” von Hahmann said. “We were designated a waterfront community back in 1999. And where every other waterfront community was saying we want to bring tourism, we want to build the financial base of our community, we want to build stores and hotels, we said no. We want to maintain the historical value that will always be Cortez.”
The Jan. 31 program included a guided tour of the restored FISH Preserve.
Attendees were also invited to take a self-guided tour of Cortez, using the new map featuring places of interest, key environmental features and boat-to-table restaurants and markets.
