Tampa Bay
Reduce Propeller Scarring of Seagrass Beds
Category: Submerged
Cost: $ 122,500/year for Sheriff patrol; since 1992, $ 622,000
has been spent
Description: Agency and local government partners in the
Tampa Bay Estuary Program have installed channel markers and warning signs,
and provided educational materials at boat ramps and tackle shops as part
of a strategy to reduce loss and damage to seagrasses. The effectiveness of
various techniques and different levels of restrictions used at Pinellas County's
Fort DeSoto Park, an area of extensive seagrasses used heavily by boaters,
was evaluated through a Tampa Bay Estuary Program study. As part of the overall
strategy to protect seagrasses around the bay, the Tampa Bay Estuary Program
also updated and reprinted its very popular Tampa Bay Boaters' Guide.
Outcome: An evaluation of seagrass proptection techniques
in the Fort DeSoto Park area of Pinellas County indicates that the establishment
of caution and restricted grassbed zones at Fort DeSoto is successful in protecting
the resource. Based on several years of monitoring including aerial photography
of grassbeds, the County increased the overall area under protection and changed
some zones from boat exclusion to boater caution zones. The presence of law
enforcement officers on the water is also believed to be an effective deterrent
to violation of seagrass protection zones.
Contact: Eric Fehrmann, Pinellas County Department of Environmental
Management (727) 464-4761; Holly
Greening, Tampa Bay Estuary Program, email: hgreening@tbep.org
Citation: "Results of Analysis of Prop Scar Damage at
the Fort DeSoto Aquatic Habitat Management Area 1992/1993," 1994, Technical
Publication #05-94, Tampa Bay Estuary Program, prepared by J.N. Ehringer,
Hillsborough Community College and Pinellas County Department of Environmental
Protection.
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