Captain Dylan Hubbard has been fishing his whole life.
“I’ve been fishing since I was old enough to hold a fishing pole,” Hubbard said.
As the owner of Hubbard’s Marina in John’s Pass, the waterways are his livelihood. With red tide and blue-green algae threatening bodies of water across the state, Hubbard felt compelled to join the group, Hands Along the Water.
They’re calling on lawmakers to take action with a statewide protest planned this weekend.
"The statewide event has thousands of people going to each event and there are multiple events. Over two dozen across the state.”
While John’s Pass is in no way impacted, Hubbard wanted to show support by hosting this event.
“The idea of the Hands Along The Water is we’re going to be holding hands in solidarity, showing unity and calling attention to the fact that we need to take care of our waterways.”
At issue is toxic algae blooms beginning at Lake Okeechobee. It's caused by rain, heat, and pollutants. Much of it is runoff from commercial agriculture and development.
While its nothing new, it’s the worse algae bloom we’ve seen in years, impacting businesses, tourism, and killing wildlife.
“The blame has to stop being put on one party because, in my opinion, we’re all at fault here. We all let this happen. The toxic algae is just now starting to get news and media coverage when this has been happening now for two decades,” Hubbard said.
The issue is so bad, Florida’s governor declared a state of emergency. Many say it’s not enough.
With no one solution and funding for a long-term fix nonexistent, Hubbard hopes this weekend’s protest will lead to a positive change.
“This is a problem that’s going to take my entire lifetime and probably my son’s entire lifetime to address, but might as well get started on it now.”
If you’d like to take part in the Hands Along the Water protest Sunday, August 12, click here.
They start at 10 am. Local protests in the Tampa Bay area include Clearwater Beach, St. Pete Beach, Sarasota, Nokomis, Venice, Anna Maria, and Gulfport.
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