{"id":129209,"date":"2026-01-23T15:07:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T15:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/129209\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T15:07:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T15:07:13","slug":"proposed-manatee-county-cruise-port-draws-concerns-from-environmental-groups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/129209\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposed Manatee County cruise port draws concerns from environmental groups"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2121\" height=\"1414\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Sunshine-Skyway-Bridge-in-St-Pete-by-Sean-Pavone-via-iStock-for-WMNF-News.jpg\" class=\"attachment-252277 size-252277 wp-post-image\" alt=\"Sunshine Skyway Bridge Tampa Bay Florida St. Petersburg\" large=\"\" decoding=\"async\"  \/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSunshine Skyway Bridge by Sean Pavone via iStock for WMNF News.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\tListen:<\/p>\n<p>A cruise company wants to build a new cruise port adjacent to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge that\u2019ll take in ships that can\u2019t fit under the bridge.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Environmental groups are expressing concern about the Manatee County project.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The cruise company, SSA Marine, is working with Tampa-based Slip Knott LLC on plans to develop the port that would be built on a 328-acre\u00a0 tract in Manatee County.<\/p>\n<p>The company\u2019s website states that the bridge will support tourism and create over 31,000 jobs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But <a href=\"https:\/\/www.suncoastwaterkeeper.org\/stop_skyway_cruise_port_petition\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">environmental group Suncoast Waterkeeper<\/a> said it will threaten the health of watersheds, disrupt a key recreational and fishing area, and could be built too close to a key aquatic preserve.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA change to our ecosystem, as proposed by this port, would significantly alter our way of life. So our economy, our environment, and also the communities that live nearby.\u201d Abbey Tyrna told WMNF.<\/p>\n<p>Tyrna is the executive director of Suncoast Waterkeeper and started a petition against the project.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis proposal is talking about a very direct net loss of 300 acres of mangroves, which just cannot be afforded if we\u2019re going to deliver on water quality and habitat goals for Tampa Bay in the surrounding area.\u201d Tyrna said.<\/p>\n<p>A representative for the project declined an interview and directed WMNF to the <a href=\"https:\/\/knottcowencruise.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">website of the proposed port<\/a>, where they write that environmental stewardship is central to this project.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The proposal is still in its early stages and must go through various approvals from Manatee County.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sunshine Skyway Bridge by Sean Pavone via iStock for WMNF News. Listen: A cruise company wants to build&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129210,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1563,7088,30415,41192,63764,135,137,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-129209","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-manatee-county","10":"tag-news-and-public-affairs","11":"tag-port","12":"tag-suncoast-waterkeeper","13":"tag-tampa","14":"tag-tampa-headlines","15":"tag-tampa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}