Cortez Village (Manatee County) - Designated: 1999
Nestled along the shores of Sarasota Bay in Manatee County, Cortez is the last remaining fishing village on Florida's Suncoast. Still active commercially, Cortez faces a number of pressures as a result of increasing regulation of the commercial fishing industry, encroaching residential development, and incompatible redevelopment interests by outside investors. Unlike many coastal communities that desire tourism-based economies, the village of Cortez remains a family-oriented fishing village where boats can be found on dry docks, where signs still stand in yards opposing the 1994 net ban, and where crab traps can be seen stored under pole barns and carports ready for their next voyage.
Program Contacts
- Ryan P. Murphy, Site Manager
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