\n\t\t\t\t\t\tConstruction near mangroves at Tarpon Point Marina is sparking both concerns and excitement. Along the mangroves, heavy equipment and a barge can be seen working on a project that will add 41 new boat slips to the marina, expanding its capacity from 225 to 266. While it\u2019s a relatively small expansion on paper, people who kayak and fish in the area say it\u2019s a big deal because of what lives just below the surface.\u201cMy initial thought was, that\u2019s going in front of wetlands,\u201d said Joan Perkett, who often kayaks near the marina. \u201cThey\u2019re extending in front of wetlands. What\u2019s going on there?\u201dPerkett calls herself a \u201ctree-hugging nature lover\u201d and says even lawful projects deserve public attention. She worries the work could disturb endangered smalltooth sawfish, which use this stretch of water in the Glover Bight area of the river, as a nursery.The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission confirms that Glover Bight is one of only a handful of remaining nurseries for sawfish in Florida.\u201cIt\u2019s a very sensitive area, but the project itself doesn\u2019t have direct impacts \u2014 they\u2019re not clearing mangroves or dredging,\u201d said Joe Cavanaugh with Calusa Waterkeeper. \u201cMy biggest concern is that there\u2019s no further development of the basin. After these 41 new slips, that area\u2019s at capacity in terms of impacts to sawfish.” According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the marina followed all required permitting steps and must comply with environmental safeguards, including construction outside sawfish pupping season and manatee protection measures.Perkett understands Tarpon Point Marina\u2019s expansion followed the rules, but believes the community should keep an eye on development that edges close to the mangroves.’You need to keep your ear to the ground as far as the developments around here, because things do happen quietly,” she said.For boaters, the Tarpon Point Marina expansion project represents long-awaited progress. The marina sustained major damage during Hurricane Ian, and larger yachts have been left with limited docking options across the region.\u201cIt\u2019ll be another destination for some of these bigger boats,\u201d said Capt. Darrell Gregorio. \u201cIt\u2019s good for our economy. It’ll bring people back to this area. We don\u2019t have many marinas left that can handle bigger boats, especially after Ian.\u201dWhether you\u2019re in a kayak or at the helm of a yacht, most agree, Cape Coral\u2019s future depends on keeping these waters clean and thriving.Gulf Coasts News reached out to the construction company and the owner of the marina for comment, but they didn’t respond in time for this story.DOWNLOAD\u202fthe free\u202fGulf Coast News app\u202ffor your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tCAPE CORAL, Fla. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Construction near mangroves at Tarpon Point Marina is sparking both concerns and excitement. <\/p>\n
Along the mangroves, heavy equipment and a barge can be seen working on a project that will add 41 new boat slips to the marina, expanding its capacity from 225 to 266. While it\u2019s a relatively small expansion on paper, people who kayak and fish in the area say it\u2019s a big deal because of what lives just below the surface.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy initial thought was, that\u2019s going in front of wetlands,\u201d said Joan Perkett, who often kayaks near the marina. \u201cThey\u2019re extending in front of wetlands. What\u2019s going on there?\u201d<\/p>\n
Perkett calls herself a \u201ctree-hugging nature lover\u201d and says even lawful projects deserve public attention. She worries the work could disturb endangered smalltooth sawfish, which use this stretch of water in the Glover Bight area of the river, as a nursery.<\/p>\n
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission confirms that Glover Bight is one of only a handful of remaining nurseries for sawfish in Florida.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very sensitive area, but the project itself doesn\u2019t have direct impacts \u2014 they\u2019re not clearing mangroves or dredging,\u201d said Joe Cavanaugh with Calusa Waterkeeper. \u201cMy biggest concern is that there\u2019s no further development of the basin. After these 41 new slips, that area\u2019s at capacity in terms of impacts to sawfish.”<\/p>\n
According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the marina followed all required permitting steps and must comply with environmental safeguards, including construction outside sawfish pupping season and manatee protection measures.<\/p>\n
Perkett understands Tarpon Point Marina\u2019s expansion followed the rules, but believes the community should keep an eye on development that edges close to the mangroves.<\/p>\n
‘You need to keep your ear to the ground as far as the developments around here, because things do happen quietly,” she said.<\/p>\n
For boaters, the Tarpon Point Marina expansion project represents long-awaited progress. The marina sustained major damage during Hurricane Ian, and larger yachts have been left with limited docking options across the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019ll be another destination for some of these bigger boats,\u201d said Capt. Darrell Gregorio. \u201cIt\u2019s good for our economy. It’ll bring people back to this area. We don\u2019t have many marinas left that can handle bigger boats, especially after Ian.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether you\u2019re in a kayak or at the helm of a yacht, most agree, Cape Coral\u2019s future depends on keeping these waters clean and thriving.<\/p>\n
Gulf Coasts News reached out to the construction company and the owner of the marina for comment, but they didn’t respond in time for this story.<\/p>\n
DOWNLOAD\u202fthe free\u202fGulf Coast News app<\/a>\u202ffor your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app<\/a> to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Construction near mangroves at Tarpon Point Marina is sparking both concerns and excitement. Along the mangroves, heavy equipment…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7678,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":["post-7677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7677","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=7677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}