[dropcap]W[/dropcap]ill Benson, World Angling and Jekyll Works have teamed up to create an extremely important and visually stunning film about saving Key West Harbor from the irreparable damages that will surely occur if the proposed dredging for Mega-Cruise Ship access is allowed to proceed. As migrational tarpon are a barometer of the general wellbeing of an ecosystem, much of the film focuses on there historic presence there and lack thereof after the 2005 dredging that took place in Key West Harbor.
Key West is a community connected to the ocean. It’s in its soul, history and surrounds the island city. In 2005 the Arms Corps dredged Key West harbor back to its controlling depth and in the process removed the sponges, sea fans, grass beds and coral that constituted the “live bottom” that made the deep waters of the harbor a virtual tarpon magnet.
[vimeo id=”59767477″ width=”620″ height=”360″]For millions of years tarpon have been drawn to the shallow waters of the Florida Keys in one of nature’s great migrations. They appear by the thousands in the spring and leave anglers from all over the world awestruck by the violence of their acrobatics and enormous holes they put in the ocean. Now, the amazing fishery around Key West in facing a threat from a different sort of hole– one inspired by a gamble with an uncertain claim that the Cruse ship industry is shifting to “Mega- Cruise Ships” and therefore requires dredging a wider channel to accommodate them. The location of the proposed dredge site is precisely where the main congregation of tarpon stage in the spring. After the effects of the dredge in 2005 which removed the natural structure and filtering mechanisms of the harbor, the fishery surrounding Key West has seen a decrease in the number of fish and duration of their stay. At what point is enough enough? The tarpon fishery is a major factor in Key West’s economy and the fish themselves a barometer for the overall health of the ecosystem. The tarpon fishing is still good in Key West and will likely survive the 2005 dredge, but what would happen if the Army Corps again destroyed the sensitive habitat? What would be the overall economic cost to the Keys above and beyond the 35 million proposed taxpayer bill to accomplish the widening? What would happen to the natural treasure that is the breathtaking beauty of the tarpon migration if even bigger cruise ships with even bigger engines caused even more siltation in an area dredged clean of the natural balancing mechanisms? The identity of Key West is being questioned and a decision is going to be made this October. Film maker Will Benson asks this question in the brand new WorldANGLING documentary set to release this month… “Do we consider the natural value of the shallow water ecosystem, grass flats, coral reef and the fishery that is supported by them and choose a balanced approach for the future…or, do we stake our future on an industry that doesn’t care what environmental tracks it leaves behind?”
