Biscayne Bay is in trouble. Biologists say about 21 square miles of its seagrass have died off in the past decade.
It’s contaminated with litter and runoff from storm drains.
Organizers of a summit taking place Wednesday at Florida International University’s Biscayne Bay campus are hoping to change that.
Luiz Rodrigues is the former director of the Environmental Coalition of Miami and the Beaches. He decided to organize the summit in part because he got frustrated that cleanup efforts by his group and others just didn’t work.
"Day after day, month after month, you’d go back to the same spot that we had just cleaned a week ago and that place was full of trash once again," he said.
Steve Sauls is a retiree and avid kayaker who’s volunteering at the summit. He worked in Washington for former Sen. Bob Graham and also was a vice president at FIU, and he said the time has come for a big-picture collaboration among local leaders, researchers and activists.
"We need to begin to take a look deeper at the policy, why trash is continuing to flow into the bay in such huge volumes, and what can we do if we resolve to do something about it," Sauls said.
Summit attendees will learn about the challenges the bay faces and begin developing a 10-year plan for restoration.
