01/24/2026
Trust me when I say this, I do not like getting political on my social media pages. However, as the owner of Palmetto Bait and Tackle, I have to use whatever small voice I have to shout as loud as possible to stop a cruise port going on Rattlesnake Key in Manatee county. This will completely destroy our way of life and why we love this part of the Palmetto/Manatee County area. This preserve is home to numerous habitats, including snook, red fish, gag grouper, trout, sharks, rays, manatees, dolphins and so many other species that I don’t have space to list. By the way, 3 saw fish were recently tagged in this area and did you know that saw fish are on the extinct list?? Not the endangered list, the extinct list. Well this cruise port will certainly make them extinct. It will also extinguish gag grouper spawning, snook spawning, red fish spawning, sheepshead spawning and so much more. Tampa Bay and This nature area is so crucial to the health of our fishery, I don’t think people understand the depth of the devastation that will happen. You know those million dollar homes that are on terra ceia island and across terra ceia bay? Guess what, welcome to all of your homes, pools and boats being covered daily in soot from the mega ships smoke stacks that run 24 hours a day. The deisel generators that run those ships will be emitting millions of tons of toxins hourly into our water. Have you seen traffic on 19 and 275? Well imagine having 4,000 more cars trying to get thru the toll both just to merge over to an area where there is no traffic lanes. What a cluster!! Don’t get me started on infrastructure…. Both Pinellas and Manatee county can’t handle the amount of raw sewage we currently have and often it ends up getting dumped in the bay (don’t get me started on that, that is its own project to tackle) but how could they current system possibly handle more? The answer is simple…. It can’t. This ridiculous “project” needs to be stopped. Fishing will be gone, clean water will be gone, beauty will be gone. And don’t even think for one second that this will bring tourism to our area. It will NOT. The people will be driving into the port, getting on the ship and leaving. They won’t be visiting our restaurants, they won’t be taking a fishing charter, they won’t be using VRBO homes in the area, they won’t be spending money in our county. They will board the ship, leave and then go home. Please use your voice to stop this death train. Please look at who you’re voting for this November. Jordan Varnadore is running for State Representative district 71 which this debacle falls in and I have talked to him directly and he is 100% opposed to this happening. Jordan Varnadore is not only a good friend but he grew up in Palmetto and he does not want to see this cruise port happen. If you want to see our fishery thrive and our way of life remain, we have to do whatever it takes to stop this cruise port.
