Week of april 17, 2024 FLIER INSIDE
Hibiscus! The Pine Island Garden Club’s monthly meeting on April 18 will feature a talk on hibiscus by Beth Meehan. pineislandgardenclub.org pineisland-eagle.com
Volume 47, number 50
Celebrating Pine Islanders: Rhonda Dooley By PAULETTE LeBLANC
pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com
Pine Island gained both a lover and a fighter when islander, Rhonda Dooley came here in 1974 and married local commercial fisherman, Mike Dooley. She said her love for the island was immediate and runs deep, even today. After having always been on the move growing up, since her father had to follow the next Rhonda Dooley construction job continuously, Dooley admits she never felt grounded, until she moved here.
“I stopped making friends because I knew I’d have to move, so, I had this wall up for a long time. In school, I wouldn’t even try to talk to people because I knew I was going to have to leave and it was just too heart-breaking. When I came to Pine Island, I knew this was my home. Now, I feel like I have roots,” Dooley said. In addition to being the wife of a commercial fisherman and mother to son, Shane and daughter, Summer, Dooley found herself knee-deep in a battle to keep commercial fishermen out on the water after the 1995 net ban. Currently, she said she has no idea how any young person would even begin to make a living at what was once a thriving local market for commercial fishermen. “There are very few left. There’s a few old-timers left in the in-shore fishery on Pine Island. With all the restrictions and regulations, we still can’t keep our fisheries
operating. Our younger generation can’t make a living doing what their fathers and grandfathers did—producing fresh, local seafood in our communities,” Dooley said. Holding onto the solid belief that Pine Island fisherfolk and in fact, the island itself is made up of families feeding families, Dooley said it’s of the utmost importance that islanders keep focused on food production. “Farmers and fishermen, not only feed our communities, but the world,” Dooley said. According to Dooley, in the 1990s, Lee County, and more specifically, Pine Island, had become a top producer of fish for the state of Florida. Still holding a good place in the seafood industry for Stone Crab, Blue Crab, See RHONDA DOOLEY, page 6
THE SCIENCE OF OYSTERS
Calusa Waterkeeper talks building vertical oyster gardens By PAULETTE LeBLANC
pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com
Bobby Holloway Jr. tourney results are in By PAULETTE LeBLANC
pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com
E
rnestine Holloway Squires described herself as tired but happy after this year’s annual Bobby Holloway Jr memorial Fishing Tournament, which she said went very well. “We were in a new location and the venue was beautiful. It was nice to be back on the water again,” Squires said.
This year, 85 adult boats and 12 Lil bobber boats registered for the fishing tournament, with approximately 40 kids, Squires said. “We had one little boy who caught his very first fish. He was so excited. We get a few of those every See HOLLOWAY, page 2 Mark Allen holds one of his catches. PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY
On Monday, April 8, the Calusa Waterkeeper sponsored an event at the Saint James City Civic Center, wherein they gave a presentation on the science of oysters and how to build a Vertical Oyster Garden. Waterkeeper Susan Dahod offered the presentation to group of Saint James City Civic Association members as well as having a table set up with examples of some of the things they do, Dahod said. “We do sampling, once a month for fecal indicator bacteria (FIB). We had examples of data sheets and bottles and sampling gear along with results from the last couple of months,” Dahod said. According to Dahod, the five steps to building an oyster garden are, collectPROVIDED ing the oysters from restau- A freshly made vertical rants, bio-cleaning them, oyster garden. drilling the shells, assembly of shells with crab trap rope, and then deploying from a dock. “Between low tide and high tide, you want to put a hook on the edge of a dock and then tie your oyster string with another piece of rope so it dangles down in between low and high tide. Oysters that are wild will spawn out in the estuary and the baby oysters are attracted to the oyster shells and that’s the point of this garden. Eventually, you get baby oysters called oyster spat that will attach and begin to build a shell and grow about one inch per See VERTICAL OYSTER GARDENS, page 7
Athlete of the Week.........16 Cat of the Week.................8 Local Tides......................10 insidetoday Dolphin Tales...................10 Bridge Beat......................10 On the Water....................14 Classifieds & Obituaries