Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
TAMPA - Manatees should have less to fear from things that go bump in the day and night in Cockroach Bay.
Hillsborough commissioners Wednesday approved mandatory slow-speed zones for boaters passing through Cockroach Bay Aquatic Preserve. County officials have said the voluntary zones in place and supported by the Cockroach Bay Users Group, known as C-BUG, were not curtailing derelict boaters.
C-BUG opposed the mandatory rule, saying the voluntary measure was working fine, while environmental groups supported making the slow speeds the law.
The new zones require boaters to produce a minimum wake while motoring from the mouth of the Little Manatee River to the Manatee County line. Existing zones already require boaters to travel at slow speeds (5 mph) along the eastern Tampa Bay shoreline from the Alafia to the Little Manatee rivers.
Boaters may still travel at normal speeds in marked channels. Professional guides and fisherman may apply to be exempted from adhering to slow speeds while working, to minimize the time they must spend traveling to prime fishing spots.
The county estimates it will cost $34,212 to enact the ordinance, largely to make and install signs alerting boaters to the slow speed zone.