need for a management program for Sarasota Bay. The 1986 workshop 
recognized the value of such a program and endorsed a public symposium 
similar to that held for Tampa Bay (Estevez 1987). The symposium, known 
locally as SARABASIS 3 was held in 1987, and written proceedings will be 
available in 1988. Material from SARABASIS has been distilled for use by 
local planning agencies in preparing state-mandated comprehensive plans. 
Late in 1987 an estuarine seminar was held in Washington, D.C. on Tampa 
and Sarasota Bays under the sponsorship of the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration; SARABASIS materials also aided in preparation 
for that seminar and these proceedings. 
In 1987 the 100th Congress reauthorized the Water Quality Act, 
which contained a part (Section 320. National Estuary Program) 
instructing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to identify and 
protect nationally significant estuaries and to encourage development of 
comprehensive conservation and management plans. The Act states that the 
Administrator of the EPA is to give priority consideration to 12 coastal 
systems including Sarasota Bay. The Governor of Florida formally 
nominated Sarasota Bay to the EPA in May 1987, and in July 1987 Florida 
and EPA entered into a State/EPA agreement by which the EPA and DER 
continued the nomination process for inclusion of Sarasota Bay in the 
National Estuary Program (NEP). In July 1988 Sarasota Bay was designated 
by the Administrator of EPA as a component of the NEP. 
PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION 
A total of 120 resource management problems and issues were 
identified from historical references, workshop and conference 
proceedings, local government plans, and other sources. As used here, 
"problems and issues" are in reference to both the causes of management 
concerns (such as nutrient enrichment) and also the symptoms or effects 
such concerns can take (such as algae blooms). In most cases the 
problems can be identified but not described or detailed. Indeed, the 
inability to understand the specifics of an issue contributes to the 
problem. 
Problem descriptions can only be developed once they are ranked by 
importance and studied in greater depth. This process is part of a NEP 
Management Conference but would also occur in a non-federal management 
initiative. In either case, key questions to address in the process of 
problem review will include (1) is the perception of the problem 
accurate; (2) does the problem influence a large part of the estuary; 
(3) can the likely cause of the problem be identified; and (4) is it 
feasible to correct the problem? 
3 for Sarasota Bay Area Scientific Information Symposium. 
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