The deplorable condition of post-replenished Martin and St. Lucie county beaches should raise a red flag for all Florida surf anglers and beach-goers. As pointed out in Part One of Florida Sportsman’s three-part investigative series about beach replenishment (April issue, page 144), this temporary fix seems to be all about protecting shoreline development, with little or no regard for beach ecology and both short- and long-term impacts on fishing.

Martin County has a permit to use nearshore dredging and sand pumping, while neighboring St. Lucie County has no such permit, and has allowed contractor Dickerson Florida to truck in material from old sand deposits from a pit west of Interstate 95. This is the same firm that could be fined $36,000 by Florida DEP for allowing topsoil to erode into the nearby Indian River during the construction of a controversial CBS block hard embankment to repair hurricane damage to the west shoreline along Indian River Drive.

The trucked-in material is not compatible with natural beach sand, and may not be suitable for turtle nesting, which starts in early May. It’s composed of quite a bit of clay and rock, which was exposed during last week’s strong nor’ easter. Inexplicably, the trucked-in fill was also steamrolled into a hard-packed, 6-foot-tall “road bed” close to the waterline. Stay tuned for further coverage in the May and June issues of Florida Sportsman.

FS