The latest red tide map from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission shows a 5-25 percent increase in red tide along the Pinellas County coastline.
With that recent increase after Hurricane Michael, local business owners in Madiera Beach say it’s not good for business.
"It’s pretty crappy being that we just came out of it and just started recovering. Then we had the hurricane and now red tide is back, so it’s kind of like the perfect hurricane horror story for us,” said Will Veneziano. owner of Mad Beach Dive Bar in Madiera Beach.
“It’s tough, it’s affecting us and hurting the servers, the staff, the hours we can remain open and there’s a lot of business we are missing out on,” said John Frabotta, owner of Frabotta’s Italian Kitchen in Madiera Beach.
Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium experts say Michael blew some of the red tide onshore. But they say dead fish washing ashore doesn’t necessarily mean that’s where red tide is flourishing.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission also shows there was a 5-25 percent decrease in counties south of Pinellas including Sarasota and Manatee.
“Red tide has been pretty bad for our business. We have seen about a 30 percent decrease in customers, which is not good,” Veneziano said.
Frabotta says usually they are twice as busy this time of year but red tide’s effects are keeping people at bay.
“Yesterday, people were coughing, their throats were irritated, and their eyes were burning. It was uncomfortable sitting outside, so we lost a lot of business on the outside,” Frabotta said.
Frabotta says the city did a great job cleaning up the beach after hurricane Michael blew more dead fish onshore.
Veneziano describes what it was like before the cleaning crews got there.
“I mean, it was gross, I don’t know any other way to explain it. It was dead fish for as far as the eye could see. The sad part about it was that there were big groupers and fish that you would love to have on your fishing line or on your plate, but they were just dead, thousands of them,” he said.
Local businesses say they can't handle too many more months like this but are optimistic red tide won’t last much longer.
Mote experts say it’s too early to tell if Michael increased or decreased red tide counts in the area because they take cell counts at the beginning of the week.
►Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the 10 News app now.
Have a news tip? Email tips@wtsp.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.
