The Florida Institute For Saltwater Heritage (FISH) is restoring the “kitchen”, an important fisheries habitat for the section of shallow Sarasota Bay bottom south of  Cortez.  For villagers during the Depression, the kitchen provided food for the tables of their struggling families and was critical to their survival.  In 1999, FISH raised money through community festivals to purchase 100 acres of environmentally-sensitive waterfront property that was slated for large scale development immediately east of the village.  This historically-significant area became known as the FISH Preserve and is one of the last remaining undeveloped parcels on northern Sarasota Bay.
                                      
                                          
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                                                  SARP Projects W2B