Posted on August 9, 2016
By Delia D'Ambra, nbc-2.com
A major dredging project is about to get underway in Charlotte County, and it has the potential to affect thousands of boaters.
Crews will begin clearing sand out of the Ponce de Leon Inlet in Punta Gorda on Monday.
It’s a project many say is long overdue — as the inlet is the only way for boaters to access the Gulf, but some fishermen don’t support the plan.
“It makes the water turbid. It will probably be harder on the fish, and they’ll want to get away. They’ll probably go out back in the harbor where I can’t get to,” said Punta Gorda fisherman Dieter Weber.
Right now, the natural river inlet in Punta Gorda is shallower than it should be with it usually measuring seven to eight feet deep in the middle.
Without dredging, it poses a threat to many boats in the area.
“I’ve seen a lot of big boats go through there, and it does need to be dredged,” said Punta Gorda resident Damon Roy.
Isles Yacht Club assistant dock master Jim Merritt says any boat with a draft of five feet or more wouldn’t make it through the inlet if it was not dredged.
He doesn’t think operation will impact the fishing.
“I mean even the canals here are full of fish. I sit here at the dock every day, and I see every species of fish running in and out,” said Merritt.
Other people who live nearby agree with Merritt.
“I would think after a few weeks the fish will go back to finding their own homes and their own food again,” said Roy.
Contractors will offload the sand from the inlet to an area north of the channel at Sancho Panza Point.
The city of Punta Gorda says weather-permitting, dredging should be finished in two weeks by August 19th.
Source: nbc-2
