There is plenty of bad news about the lagoon out there, but every once in a while something hopeful pops up. That is what happened last week when charter boat captain and fishing guide Brendan Burke called to tell me about a group of kids who are organizing a youth fishing tournament to make other young people more aware of the lagoon’s woes and encourage them to help restore the waterway to the vibrant health it enjoyed not that long ago.
“I feel like it is important for kids to reach out to kids, because not many kids want to listen to adults talk about stuff like pollution and water quality, but if they see people their age caring about it, they are much more likely to want to get involved,” says co-organizer Steven Croom of the Croom Construction family.
Other organizers include Quinn Hiaasen, son of Fenia Hiaasen and author Carl Hiaasen, Bryce Hauser, Barrett Ryhmes, Tommy Hammond and Michael Villafuerte. Four live on the island, two in Country Club Point.
The boys, who will be high school freshmen next fall, hatched the idea for an ecofriendly tournament at a birthday party earlier this year and began planning in April. They are motivated by childhood memories of a thriving lagoon where they learned to fish and swim and by an understanding that what happens to the lagoon affects everyone who lives near it.
“When was about 3, my mom got a boat and she taught me how to wakeboard,” says Bryce Hauser. “It was great back then, but now it is not safe to go swimming anymore because of the infections people have gotten. We have had to stop wakeboarding because of health concerns. I would love to be able to do that again.”
Quinn Hiaasen remembers the early-morning beauty of the lagoon seen from one of the bridges on the way to school: “The water would be like glass. It looked like you could walk on it.”
“The lagoon is where we have grown up physically and mentally,” says Michael Villafuerte. “We are motivated to give back and repay the favor to our lagoon for giving us a great childhood and countless, unforgettable memories.”
“At this point it would be very hard to restore the lagoon to full health,” says Quinn. “But it would be great if the water quality could be restored to 70 or 80 percent where it would be safe to swim and wakeboard and eat the fish.”
“The way they feel about the lagoon comes from a place deep inside them,” says Fenia Hiaasen. “I think I speak for all the parents when I say we are really proud of the boys.”
Hiaasen, Burke, ORCA founder Edie Widder and other adults have joined the effort, offering tips for organizing the tournament, providing information about the lagoon, and helping secure sponsors and partners.
Chipotle will donate the food for a post-tournament awards banquet at the A.E. Backus Gallery in Fort Pierce and the gallery is donating the use of its facility.
Burke found a source for numbered foam discs and plastic yardsticks fisherman can use to document their catch in the no-kill, catch-and-release contest.
“They will put the fish on the yardstick and place the medallion that identifies them on the fish and take a picture that will be e-mailed back to the headquarters in their county,” Burke says. “That way the monitors can keep track of who is doing what as things are happening.”
The day-long, tri-county tournament – Indian River, St. Lucie and Martin – will began at 7 a.m on October 18. It will be open to K-12 anglers. Registration is $25 and money raised will go to ORCA and the Everglades Foundation.
To register or learn more, go to http://www.linesinthelagoon.com/