Discovering the Suncoast - The Last Working Fishing Village of the Suncoast

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - In the tug of war between coastal development versus historic Florida fishing villages, the fishing villages are losing.

But in Cortez, business owners and scientists are working together to preserve their way of life that spans five generations. Back to the 1800s when fishermen out of North Carolina, following the mullet fish, settled there. Now the F.I.S.H. Preserve (Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage) is being restored to a pristine Florida shoreline. The funding for that restoration comes from the Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival. The 40th Festival is this weekend, Feb. 19-20.

Learn more about the Festival at http://www.cortez-fish.org/

Do you have an idea for Discovering the Suncoast? Send me an email to Discovering@MySuncoast.com! Tell me what’s unique and interesting in your part of Paradise!

You can watch previous episodes of Discovering the Suncoast online here: https://www.mysuncoast.com/content/community/discovering-the-suncoast/

Discovering the Suncoast airs live on ABC7 on these dates and times:

• 6:40am Wednesday on Good Morning Suncoast
• 9:00am Wednesday on Suncoast View
• 4:00pm Wednesday on ABC7 News
• 7:40am Saturday on Good Morning Suncoast Weekends
• 11:00pm Sunday on ABC7 News

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