RESOURCE STATUS AND MANAGEMENT ISSUES 
OF SARASOTA BAY, FLORIDA 
Ernest D. Estevez 
Mote Marine Laboratory 
Sarasota, Florida 
John Merriam 
Department of Natural Resource Management 
Sarasota County 
INTRODUCTION 
Sarasota Bay is a small, subtropical embayment on the west coast 
of peninsular Florida. It is connected to the Gulf of Mexico and to the 
southern end of Tampa Bay via Anna Maria Sound. Like much of coastal 
Florida, the Sarasota Bay area is experiencing rapid population growth, 
although most of its development having adverse environmental impact has 
occurred only in the last 50 years. Barrier islands between the bay and 
gulf are completely developed as residential, light commercial, and 
tourist areas. Nearly the entire upland watershed of Sarasota Bay is 
also developed, mostly as suburban residential and commercial areas. 
There are no heavy industries in the watershed, and the amount of 
agricultural land is low and decreasing due to urbanization. The local 
economy is driven primarily by retirees, tourism, and the services 
industry which have developed because of the bay, warm climate, and 
historical circumstances. The bay supports an extensive recreational 
industry and is showing signs of overuse. For all practical purposes, 
there has been little more than a century of modern settlement in the bay 
area, with 3 periods of major development (the Florida land boom of the 
1920’s; the post World War II boom; and the present "sunbelt" period of 
population growth.) 
The bay and its watershed are situated equally in Manatee and 
Sarasota Counties (Figure 1). The combined population of these counties 
was 420,500 people in 1986 (Collins 1988). The largest cities --and 
county seats-- are located near the bay at Bradenton and Sarasota, in 
Manatee and Sarasota Counties, respectively. Bradenton Beach and the 
Town of Longboat Key are two small municipalities on the barrier island 
of Anna Maria and Longboat Key, respectively. Two other islands separate 
the bay and gulf south of Longboat Key (Lido, Siesta); Lido Key and a 
small portion of the northern-most tip of Siesta Key are within the city 
limits of Sarasota, and the balance or Siesta Key is part of 
unincorporated Sarasota County. Manatee County participates in the Tampa 
Bay Regional Planning Council, whereas Sarasota County is a member of the 
Southwest Florida Council, meaning that Sarasota Bay is divided across 
the middle into two separate planning bodies. Both counties and the 
whole bay are within the Manasota Basin of the Southwest Florida Water 
Management District and the Southwest District of the Florida Department 
of Environmental Regulation (Sauers and Patten 1981). 
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