223 



The Bay of Tampa has been badly treated by the merchant marine 

 and by the people of the Tampa area. 



Last month when I was home, I took a tour of the bay, and it was 

 the filthiest body of water I have seen. It has gotten progressively 

 worse. It is a combination of things of sanitary sewage dumping, run- 

 oif from the streets, and also dumping from plants in the area, as well 

 as the merchant marine ships in that area. 



As you recall, we had one of the largest oil spills in my bay last year, 

 and we have had very serious repercussions from that. 



On the gulf coast of Florida, as far as the committee jurisdiction 

 is concerned, you will find the bay scallops, and the small fish that used 

 to grow in the bays around there no longer exist. 



For years I have fished, and retrieved scallops and things of that sort 

 from this area, and they no longer exist. 



The whole opportunity to catch fish and use the estuary qualities of 

 the bay has practically ceased to exist in my part of Florida. 



It is a very hardy fish that can survive in the kind of pollution that 

 has been created there. 



The gulf beaches of Florida have become littered with broken bot- 

 tles, with trash of all kinds, with all kinds of floating things from 

 ships, and from people who are careless in their use of the beaches, and 

 from people who use fishing piers in that area. 



I think that in drawing a law, you must make sure it touches all of 

 these things. 



At Christmas time, I was using my boat, and I landed on a little 

 island in the mouth of one of the passes, and there had been quite a bit 

 of erosion. 



Frankly, it was almost impossible to use the beach in a barefooted 

 condition, because there were so many broken bottles on it. 



I realize that is not completely within the jurisdiction of this com- 

 mittee. 



It is not something the IMerchant Marine and Fisheries Committee 

 ordinarily would be taking up, but I think someone in the Congress 

 must do so. 



Some method must be found, either by putting a tax on bottles, 

 requiring them to be returned, or to require them to be made from 

 material that does not shatter, so that the beaches won't be a complete 

 boobytrap for people. 



I know of these hazards personally. A few years ago, I went in 

 swimming in front of my house on the Gulf of Mexico, and I tripped, 

 fell down, and put my hand down on the bottom, and cut myself on a 

 very jagged piece of glass. 



This is the kind of thing that is happening today. I say today 

 because it is something that is happening more f requentlj^ 



For years I have fished in the gulf waters, and I find that there is 

 more and more trash in these waters, beer cans, bottles, everything 

 you can think of. 



. , . Fishing fleets have been putting out for years, and I have watched 

 nets retrieved on my shore, and frankly now, you catch a few fish, and 

 an awful lot of bottles and can. These are coming from not only people 

 but from boats on the sea, from fishing piers, and from party boats. 



