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Harbormaster details mooring counts, a Buccaneer Lagoon fish kill and funding gap for enforcement boat
Summary
At the March 23 Anchorage Advisory Committee meeting, Harbormaster Curtis Ludwick reported rising mooring and anchorage use, a recent concentrated fish kill in Buccaneer Lagoon under investigation by FWC and county partners, and an enforcement boat that is operational but lacks budgeted funds for long-term slip storage.
Harbormaster Curtis Ludwick told the Anchorage Advisory Committee on March 23 that anchorage and mooring use is increasing as the season begins, that the town is investigating a concentrated fish kill in Buccaneer Lagoon, and that the committee still lacks funds to pay annual dockage for its enforcement vessel.
Ludwick said the town currently has roughly 18 vessels in the back anchorage, about nine in the front anchorage and “about 45 boats on the mooring ball,” a number that rose into the upper 50s on weekends. He said three sunken or abandoned vessels are tagged and moving through the Lee County Sheriff/FWC process and that engineers found the town’s 89 mooring systems to be “solid” after recent maintenance work.
On the fish kill, Ludwick said oxygen readings in the affected canal were reported at zero and that town crews and outside partners collected water samples. “We took various water samples … what was reported that the O2 … the oxygen levels were zero in there,” he said. He listed partners involved in the response as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Lee County environmental staff, Sanibel and Florida Gulf Coast, and said the town is still gathering data to determine a cause.
Ludwick said crews returned last Friday and saw improvement — “it looks like things are starting to get better” — but that a milky appearance remained in concentrated areas of the lagoon. He urged residents to report any sudden increases in dead fish to the town immediately so officials can respond quickly.
On equipment and facilities, Ludwick said Town Council approved a contract with the Matanzas Inn for upland dockage and a small office at the Harbor House, and he confirmed that the enforcement boat is “up and running.” He added the committee is exploring storage options for that vessel but has not budgeted the roughly $1,600 per-year slip rental needed at one marina option. “Right now, we don’t have the money for it in our budget,” Ludwick said, and committee members discussed sharing costs with code enforcement or asking council to consider the expense in next year’s budget.
The harbormaster also said the committee will run mooring maintenance semi-annually going forward and that replacement of several special-purpose buoys and sea-grass buoys is planned as coastal engineering schedules the work. He reported a planned Coast Guard mission related to replacing six mooring balls was delayed after a cutter suffered engine trouble and went to dry dock.
The committee took no regulatory action at the meeting on the fish kill or enforcement-boat funding; members documented the operational updates, asked Ludwick to follow up with council about budgetation for the enforcement boat slip, and requested further information as water-quality testing continues.
