As red tide lingers in the Gulf, Southwest Florida fishing captains try to save their livelihoods

Billy Norris was eager to get back to his fishing charter business in Bonita Springs and to the crystal-clear Gulf of Mexico waters in April, when he returned home from his latest tour with the U.S. Marines.

"Summer is normally our playtime," Norris said. The water "is beautiful. It looks like the (Florida) Keys and the Bahamas." 

As his fellow fishing captains welcomed him back home, they warned him of the harmful red tide blooms that have now lingered off the Southwest Florida coast for months.

Red tide happens when there's a high concentration of microscopic plant-like organisms, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. It can produce toxins that cause fish deaths and create respiratory issues in humans. 

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Red tide was the likely killer of a whale shark that washed ashore in Sanibel. It is believed to be the reason sea turtles are dying en masse. 

The National Weather Service issued an alert this week to warn potential beachgoers of the health risks of red tide: "symptoms may include coughing, sneezing, and tearing eyes."

Red tide concerns led to the postponement of an annual children's beachside sand sculpting competition in Collier County.

Norris said he didn’t believe it at first — that the red tide was as bad as his friends said — then he saw it for himself.

Recent massive fish kills because of red tide have brought Norris’ charter fishing business — and many others in the area — to a halt, he said.

“It’s apocalypse level stuff,” Norris said. “People don’t want to fish. We’re crossing a threshold we can’t recover from.”

Fishing captains gather in Bonita Springs

More than 50 people, many of them owners of fishing tour companies, met under string lights and umbrellas on the patio at The Fish House Restaurant in Bonita Springs Tuesday evening.

They listened carefully as people discussed what, if anything, the group could do about the effects of red tide.

There were questions about what environmental groups had gotten involved and about water policies at the state and federal levels of government. 

They seemed to agree that research and voting in support of clean water issues — without sticking to political party lines — would help. 

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Norris offered to start a fishing guides association for local captains so the group could continue to gather and discuss the issues that impact their businesses.

The crowd heard from Chris Wittman, a co-founder of the nonprofit Captains for Clean Water, which advocates for stopping Lake Okeechobee discharges and restoring the lake's natural flow south to the Everglades.

Wittman encouraged the fishing captains to educate themselves on the water policies that affect them and their families.

Rae Ann Wessel, the natural resource policy director for the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, urged the fishing guides to take note of the economic impact red tide is having on their businesses and to develop lists of species they’ve seen dead in Southwest Florida waters.

"This is a total ecological collapse because it's through the whole food web," Wessel said. 

'Don't come down'

Among the fishing captains at the restaurant Tuesday evening was John Glenn, a Bonita Springs fishing captain with Reel Time Charters off of Fort Myers Beach.

Glenn’s business offers backwater fishing within local bay systems and offshore gulf fishing, which takes clients further from the shore to fish in deeper waters.

Glenn said he is out on the water seven days a week during season and four to five days a week in the summer. He has canceled all his recent trips. 

"I'm calling my people and telling them don't come down," he said. 

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Glenn said he has to take his boat about 70 miles off the shore to get away from the red tide bloom and dead fish off the Southwest Florida coast. But some customers are unwilling to pay for the added fuel costs of going that far into the Gulf, so they don't go on their trips, he said.

John Gauntt, who runs Day 5 Charters on Fort Myers Beach, has one client still scheduled for an Aug. 8 trip, he said, but if water conditions remain as they are now, he’ll have to call and cancel. 

That takes money away from his family, Gauntt said.

“It’s the difference between grocery money and no grocery money,” he said. “I have seven kids.”

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Gauntt said he would like to see more attention on water issues, such as red tide, from local governments.

“Yes, red tide is natural, but there are things that fuel it,” he said.

Chris Argiro runs Sea Reaper Fishing Charters off of Fort Myers Beach, where he does backwater and nearshore fishing trips. He has been guiding fishing charters for about four years, he said.

While red tide conditions have wiped his trip schedule clean, too, Argiro said he is most concerned about fish populations that breed in Southwest Florida waters this time of the year, such as snapper and snook.

“Our coast is a nursery for every species,” he said. “They’re getting wiped out because of this.”

Norris, who runs Pale Horse Fishing Charters in Bonita Springs, said he ended a fishing charter on the Estero Bay within 20 minutes last weekend because of the amount of dead fish in the water. 

Talking about red tide is a Catch-22 for fishing tour companies, Norris said.

Some captains are concerned about exposing the problems will hurt local businesses by scaring off tourists, Norris said.

On the other hand, people need to know what's going on, he said.

“If you don’t expose it, what are you fishing for?” he said. “How do I make a living when all the fish are dead?”