from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Ocean 
and Coastal Resource Management, National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida Department of Environmental 
Regulation, and the Florida Department of Natural Resources. 
Only through cooperative federal, state, and local programs and 
research can the fishery in Tampa and Sarasota Bays be understood and 
managed effectively. For further information on fisheries programs, 
contact Frank S. Kennedy, FDNR Bureau of Marine Research, 100 8th Ave. 
SE, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. 
RESTORATION 
One logical approach to revitalizing the bay and ultimately the 
fishery is to enhance the existing habitat. Restoration projects are not 
new to the Tampa Bay region. They have generally been coupled with 
mitigation of permitted habitat destruction or small independently 
sponsored projects. No overall systematic approach has been taken to 
monitor and evaluate the results of restoration. 
In 1985, the Department of Natural Resources developed a 
legislatively-mandated Marine Habitat Restoration and Research Program, 
focusing on the restoration of natural vegetative components of marine 
fisheries habitat (saltmarsh, mangrove, and seagrass). The program was 
facilitated by commercial mullet fishermen who sponsored legislation 
requiring a $300 per annum County Gill-Net License. The legislation 
targeted the Tampa Bay region and overcame the major obstacle to 
implementing a marine habitat restoration program -- lack of funding. To 
date, four counties in Florida have adopted this legislation, providing 
the local initiative critical to the recovery of the bay: Pinellas 
(1983); Manatee (1984); Hillsborough (1987); and Pasco (1984). All of 
these counties are in the Tampa Bay region, and the first three encompass 
Tampa and Sarasota Bays. Revenues over $100,000 per year are 
administered by the Florida Department of Natural Resources and are 
legislatively mandated to be used for "marine habitat restoration and 
research". In addition, local state legislators have provided seed money 
for specific restoration research on seagrasses, but these funds are not 
on a continuing basis, such as the county net bill funds. 
The Tampa Bay restoration projects have been designed to 
facilitate significant contributions toward understanding the dynamics of 
habitat restoration and resource recovery. Without valid project design, 
results from one project cannot be transferred to another, a factor often 
overlooked by those seeking comprehensive planning solutions to complex 
environmental problems. 
Activities in 1986-87 have involved transplanting of saltmarsh, 
mangroves, and seagrass at several sites in the bay. Some experimental 
plots have been monitored only for survival and growth, whereas other 
experiment sites are intensively monitored for planting unit survival and 
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