CLEARWATER, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis stopped by the Tampa Bay area to announce funding to combat one of the worst environmental phenomenons to plague our beautiful beaches: red tide.
The governor spoke Wednesday afternoon at Frenchy's Rockaway Grill in Clearwater along with state and local environmental leaders.
They explained that while red tide may be naturally occurring, we still need to do whatever we can to mitigate the harmful effects. That's why DeSantis is dedicating $14 million in next year's budget to "enhance state efforts to better understand, detect and mitigate red tide and its impacts on Florida communities."
Another chunk of money, $20 million to be exact, will be available to support county governments with fish kill cleanup efforts. According to the governor, that's double the funding we had set aside for this current year.
DeSantis said the center for red tide research at the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute will receive $4.8 million while $3 million will go toward the Florida Red Tide Mitigation & Technology Development Initiative which is a partnership between the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota.
Mote President and CEO Dr. Michael P. Crosby joined the governor to talk about recent strides researchers have made in red tide mitigation testing.
"This initiative is bringing together the best and brightest minds in science, not only from the state of Florida but from all around the world," Crosby said. "We’re utilizing innovative approaches and technologies to determine the most effective, but very importantly, ecologically compatible methods for mitigating the adverse effects of red tide”
Crosby said some of the projects currently underway include expanding our current beach condition reporting system so locals and visitors alike can stay up to date on the status of our beaches. He added that a smartphone app that allows fishermen and beachgoers to easily report red tide is also in the works.
The MOTE president also gave an update on the lab's latest findings.
The facility has access to more than 150,000 gallons of treated and recirculated seawater that is used to test mitigation strategies before ever applying them to the natural environment. As Crosby explained, this has help researchers identify more than a dozen different natural and manmade compounds that "demonstrate great promise" in reducing red tide cells and the toxin that causes them.
Clearwater Marine Aquarium Executive Director and CEO Buddy Powell spoke about the benefits of funding mitigation research saying.
"Those red tide organisms can bloom and become quite a catastrophic event for us," he said. "Florida’s all about our water, and our beaches, and we need to really, really do what we can to protect those.”
Gov. DeSantis also mentioned that a portion of the money will go toward efforts to control blue-green algae outbreaks in Lake Okeechobee.
You can watch the full news conference below.