Residents who fish, boat, or swim in Sarasota Bay have until Friday, Aug. 7, to weigh in on a developer's plan to fill more than three acres of wetlands on the bay's eastern shore.

Aqua by the Bay, a 529-acre master-planned community just west of El Conquistador Parkway in unincorporated Manatee County, already has approval for roughly 2,468 residential units and 200,000 square feet of commercial space. Many townhomes are already occupied. But the developer is now seeking to modify the project in ways that would remove wetlands and their natural buffers along the Sarasota Bay shoreline, WWSB reported on July 30.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District issued a public notice on July 17 for a permit application to discharge fill into 3.07 acres of wetland systems and construct an 8- to 10-foot-high gabion wall along the Long Bar Point/Sarasota Bay shoreline, according to AMI Sun. The applicants listed are Carlos Beruff and Peter Logan, through Long Bar Pointe LLLP and CARGOR Partners VIII.

Ryan Gandy, executive director of the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, said the bay's fragmented ecosystem cannot afford another loss.

"We have such a fractured ecosystem here with mangroves and wetlands that every little bit that we have right now is highly important," Gandy told WWSB.

Fish, birds, and dolphins all depend on the productivity of remaining mangrove habitat, Gandy told the station. A fact sheet the Estuary Program published July 29 states that more than 220 miles of hardened shoreline have already replaced mangrove and wetland habitat around Sarasota Bay, eliminating nursery grounds for juvenile fish, shrimp, and crabs. Florida's recreational fishing industry supported 120,000 jobs and generated $9.2 billion in total sales in 2025, the fact sheet notes. The loss of natural buffers shifts costs to residents through greater flood damage, higher shoreline-stabilization expenses, and reduced fisheries productivity.

The project has drawn organized opposition. Former Manatee County Commissioner Joe McClash filed a 12-page opposition document with the Army Corps on July 23, arguing the permit should be denied and a full environmental assessment conducted. Cortez Village Historical Society Vice President Paul Dryfoos wrote on July 26 that the project "directly impacts the immediate ecosystem that enables Cortez to survive as a working fishing community" and called on Suncoast Waterkeeper to help generate several hundred public comments.

The developer did not respond to WWSB's request for comment.

Sarasota Bay is shared between Sarasota and Manatee counties, meaning the environmental consequences of development on either shore affect residents on both sides.

Public comments on the Army Corps permit can be submitted at rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs/public-notices by scrolling to the Long Bar Pointe item. The deadline is Friday, Aug. 7.