industries and user groups often carry out their respective activities 
independently. The effect of bay management by a multitude of 
overlapping and often conflicting interests and jurisdictions had 
contributed to a number of environmental and growth management problems 
in the bay area (TBRPC 1985). 
In May 1982, the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council established 
the Tampa Bay Management Study Committee. The Committee was charged with 
the task of identifying critical bay management problems and evaluating 
potential solutions for those problems. By December 1983, the Tampa Bay 
Study Committee had identified 40 specific bay issues. Because of the 
large number and complex nature of the issues affecting Tampa Bay, 
however, the Committee did not reach a consensus regarding the approach 
to the management of the bay. 
As a result, a 15 to 20 member interim steering committee provided 
for effective representation from a wide range of Tampa Bay’s business, 
environmental, and industrial interests, as well as from the local 
regulatory agencies having jurisdiction over the bay. During its six- 
month tenure, the steering committee concentrated primarily on a 
comprehensive survey and review of all entities having management 
responsibility for Tampa Bay, with the objective of documenting all major 
jurisdictional gaps and overlaps (TBRPC 1985). 
The conclusions reached at the BASIS conference underscored the 
importance of approaching estuarine management at the ecosystem level. 
In recognition of the need for a credible and structured form within 
which to pursue a more unified management scheme, the Florida Legislature 
created the Tampa Bay Management Study Commission under a special act 
adopted in 1984. The Commission received a one year mandate to recommend 
a bay management plan and work program to address priority bay management 
issues (in conjunction with ongoing efforts by the U.S. Congress, the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, state agencies, port authorities and 
other regulatory entities) for submittal prior to the 1985 legislative 
session. 
In its final report entitled Future of Tampa Bay , the Tampa Bay 
Management and Study Commission recommended to the Florida Legislature 
the establishment of a coordinating and advisory committee as an interim 
solution to the management inconsistencies plaguing Tampa Bay. Although 
no legislative action was taken, the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council 
(TBRPC) created the Agency on Bay Management in June 1985 as an advisory 
committee of the TBRPC. 
Sarasota Bay 
The history of resource management in Sarasota Bay has not been as 
extensive as that for Tampa Bay. The first true effort was a September 
1986 workshop organized by Mote Marine Laboratory. At the workshop 
approximately 60 officials and staff members from Sarasota and Manatee 
Counties, local scientists, and educators gathered to discuss the 
management needs of Sarasota Bay and how these needs might be met through 
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