For half a century, anglers flocked to the Lake Worth pier for a rare, land-based opportunity to catch sailfish and other pelagic species, which the Gulf Stream current bring in. On every opening day of snook season, a line of anglers stood outside the chain link fence for hours before the pier opened. Cobia, African pompano and lots of pompano were routinely caught. And, a variety of snappers lurked near the pier pilings and nearshore reefs on the pier’s south side. The fish are still there, but the access isn’t. In 2004, Hurricane Frances destroyed the pier.

Winter surf breaks on the south side of the Lake Worth pier. Note the nearshore reefs in the foreground.

But after Frances destroyed the pier in 2004, Lake Worth Mayor Marc Drautz came to angling community’s rescue and fought to get federal funds to have the pier rebuilt. The new pier is currently under construction (off site), and will be assembled in May. As many as 400 people per day would fish from the pier on a weekend day, and local anglers can’t wait to wet a line from the new structure.

“All of us that fish, surf and dive here want to thank Marc Drautz for working so hard to get the pier rebuilt, and for protecting our beaches and reefs from the Town of Palm Beach,” said pro surfer and angler Baron Knowlton. Knowlton’s father, Jim, worked on the pier for decades, and often decried the Town’s “beach nourishment” projects which have buried or harmed area reefs offshore and inshore, in both in the project “footprint” and down drift.

Last year, the Town buried many acres of nearshore reefs just north of the pier with material that was full of reef chunks, but otherwise only slightly larger than silt. Then they tried to get a permit to bury the next “Reach 8” the next stretch of beach to the south, which includes Lake Worth beaches--with the same incompatible material. Citing inevitable impacts to marine and recreational resources, Drautz and the Lake Worth City Commission voted unanimously to deny the Town’s request for construction access through the city’s beaches. The City of Lake Worth continues to oppose the Town’s aggressive efforts to dredge-and-fill this reef-rich shoreline, and the fishing, surfing and diving communities are stacked up like cordwood behind Drautz and the city commission.

Recently, Drautz as well as a diverse cast of activists representing the fishing, surfing, diving and environmental communities attended a meeting that brought together the condo residents clamoring for the project and agency officials. Drautz explained why the city stands opposed to the dredge-and-fill project, and showed how he was working with the town to identify property-protecting alternatives. At a previous meeting that FS staff attended, some of the condo residents, talking among themselves, threatened to hit Army Corps officials over the head with a 2X4, and espoused political intimidation. This time, they booed Mayor Drautz in unison.

“Trying to reason with those people took incredible courage,” said Lake Worth teacher and angler, Brett Fitzgerald. “We are so lucky to have Mark as our city’s leader.”

And, it’s clear that the residents’ behavior has only galvanized the diverse water folk.

“The Surfrider Foundation and allies want to thank Mayor Drautz and the City of Lake Worth for getting the pier rebuilt and for protecting our priceless natural resources from yet another poorly executed dredge-and-fill operation,” said Ericka D’Avanzo, Florida Regional Manager for the Surfrider Foundation. “And we want the city, the town, and the agencies to understand that we will take every ethical means necessary to stop another disaster on Reach 8.”