BY JENNY STALETOVICH
Using the iconic skiffs created to navigate Florida Bay’s shallow waters, about 40 guides and anglers set out from docks behind World Wide Sports in Islamorada to spell out a simple missive in Little Basin: Help.
With winds blowing at more than 20 mph, their letters were a little less than perfect. But the floating tiki that punctuated their point more than made up for it.
The flats fishing industry, which pumps an estimated $465 million a year into the Florida economy according to a 2012 report, has been slammed by ongoing water troubles. In the fall of 2015, a regional drought coupled with lack of freshwater from decades of flood control triggered a seagrass die-off that eventually covered 25 square miles. The grass provides critical habitat for bonefish and other flats fish that draw anglers from around the world.
