MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — This weekend locals and tourists will be able to visit Cortez and experience their rich traditions going back more than a hundred years.
If you've ever visited Cortez, you've experienced the smells, seen the docks and tasted fresh seafood straight off the boat. But places like Cortez are disappearing, and the fight to protect them never stops.
From developers to hurricanes, Cortez is one storm, one sale away from changing forever. So the annual Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival is a way to celebrate one more year.
"The hurricane threat to a lot of these coastal working waterfronts is real, and we need to be aware that these are really special places that need to be preserved; protected," Angela Collins told ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska.
Collins is a Florida Sea Grant Agent with the University of Florida. Her work revolves around "supporting working waterfronts and working with stakeholders to conserve Florida's commercial and recreational fisheries," according to her state bio.
The theme for this year is "Cortez Kind over 100 years of Commercial Fishing."
Collins spent part of her childhood in Cortez and is passionate about protecting this slice of Old Florida.
"Tourism number one enterprise in the state of Florida for sure," Collins said. "To share this commercial fishing heritage with the public to let people that don't necessarily know where that grouper sandwich comes from. Let them see that place and the people bringing that fresh seafood to the table daily. You know, the behind-the-scenes, the white boots on the ground, a lot of these people don't necessarily know where the seafood is coming from. So the fishing festival allows the general public to come and enjoy the working waterfront."
Cortez is built off the backs of hard-working Floridians, fishermen, and generations of business owners like Karen Bell.
"We have been here since 1921, so this would be 102 years," Bell said. Bell is co-owner of AP Bell Fish Company. She is carrying the legacy of her descendants into modern-day Florida.
"Well, I think people are drawn to Cortez because of its simplicity. It's almost like you're stepping back in time, and we do things a little old school, much like they did probably 100 years ago," Bell said. "And I think in the world today; there's so much chaos and anger and bitterness that Cortez is just like a little breath of fresh air. My big goal for the festival is always to educate the public about what we do and what these fishermen do to bring seafood in, harvested and safely harvested, under really good management practices that the United States and the state of Florida have in place. There aren't a lot of people that even consider working as hard as these fishermen do. But again, they love what they do, so they're willing to put those hours and that time and money into doing what they do."
Paluska talked to Johnny Rogers, a deckhand on a boat named "High Roller," about what fishing means to him.
"The feeling of the water under me, you know, the power that the water creates and makes you feel alive. Do you know what I mean? Sometimes I have a hard time walking on the shore, just because I've been on so many boats over the years," Rogers said. "It's very fulfilling when you get in. And you know, you've done your best every day, and you can come in and get home safe and unload and get a little sleep."
