Storm reels in Longboat Key fish kills

Longboat Key beaches were scoured of red tide by storm winds and waves.

Island canals were not.

Longboat Key officials went to work Monday on a fish kill cleanup in select canals north of Putter Lane where the heaviest concentration of dead fish washed up. The cleanup will move north until as much of the dead fish are removed as possible, according to a town report.

A handful of Longboat Key canals are still burdened with redolent red tide remains, said Juan Florensa, Public Works Department director. Red tide occurs in the fall when algal blooms grow out of control while producing harmful respiratory effects on people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals and birds.

“There’s a certain amount of dead, stinking fish in the canals,” Florensa said. “The beaches were cleaned up. No one is complaining about the beaches. But we’ve gotten complaints about the canals and are monitoring the canals on a daily basis.”

The canal cleanup was planned even before Bay Isles Harbor Association President Tim Clarke wrote Longboat Key Town Hall over the weekend to complain on behalf of 67 property owners.