Red tide impacts go beyond bloom

Sarasota County’s most recent red tide bloom has subsided, but some business owners say blooms can linger in the public consciousness long after they fade.

“Without a doubt it has some bearing on business,” said Bob Nikla, owner of I Kayak Sarasota, a kayak and paddleboard tour company that operates out of Lido Key’s Ted Sperling Park, who experienced several slow days in October that he believes were the result of red tide concerns.

Concentrations near shore have diminished, with the exception of a portion of Sarasota Bay east of Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium.

When reports of red tide surface, the pattern is predictable: People start calling Nikla to ask if they will be impacted, although some change their plans without calling.

“We haven’t felt (red tide) over here,”  Nikla said. “But we worry about the media not getting it right sometimes or sensationalizing it. We do get worried because it spooks people away.”

Russell Matthes, co-owner of Daiquiri Deck, which has Siesta Key, Venice and St. Armands locations, said that in 2005, when the county experienced its longest, most intense bloom in recent history, sales were down 25% over the previous year. But 2006 was also a dismal year, he said, due in part to coverage of the phenomenon.

Nicholas Froelich, owner of Double Nickel Charter Fishing, which operates out of locations on Siesta Key and at Marina Jack, said red tide blooms don’t have to impact plans.

“It stays in small pockets,” he said, “and satellite images can help us track it. Obviously, we don’t go fish where the red tide is. We have to run farther and catch bait deeper.”