WELCOME TO
Cortez
A PLACE WE TREASURE
Welcome to Cortez. We hope you appreciate our historic fishing village and enjoy the delicious fresh-caught seafood provided by a healthy Sarasota Bay, Cortez commercial fishermen, and our wonderful bayfront restaurants. Sarasota Bay sustains a rich community of fish, dolphins, manatees, seabirds, and the people who live, work, and play here. Humans have enjoyed this bay’s bounty for thousands of years.
​We all share this beautiful bay and are responsible for its wellbeing. The ways we play on the water and live on the land all shape its future. Click here to keep in touch with the Cortez community, and continue reading to learn how we can preserve this bountiful resource together.​
THE JOY OF A HEALTHY BAY
WE LOVE LIVING ON SARASOTA BAY
Sarasota Bay is one of the nation’s most important estuaries, where fresh water from rivers and streams mixes with salt water from the sea, creating a highly productive environment that supports a rich array of animal and plant life.
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Seagrass Meadows – Gentle underwater gardens feeding fish, crabs, and manatees.
Wildlife Everywhere – Birds overhead, fish leaping, and dolphins at play.
A Shared Heritage – Fishing, boating, and gatherings by the water for generations.
Image Credit: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; Illustration by E. Paul Oberlander, Oct. 2008
THREE WAYS TO CARE FOR THE BAY:
SMALL CHOICES, BIG DIFFERENCE
RESPONSIBLE RECREATION
Enjoy the water while helping protect invertebrates, fish, dolphins, and birds
No discharges (fuel, chemical, waste)
Don’t anchor or run propeller through seagrass beds
Keep a safe distance from wildlife, including manatees, dolphins, and bird nesting areas
Help with bay cleanup initiatives
Image Credit: Paul Dryfoos
BAY-SAFE GARDENING AND LANDSCAPING
Rethink the design and management of yards and neighborhoods to help save the bay while giving us more beautiful and durable landscapes.
Plant beautiful low-impact landscapes using native plants which require less watering, fertilizers, and pesticides.
Reduce runoff by replacing pavement with porous surfaces like shells and stones. Landscape and stormwater runoff can trigger harmful algal blooms, damage seagrass and harm aquatic life.
Work with your landscaper and HOA to use bay-friendly practices.
Image Credit: Paul Dryfoos
BE A COMMUNITY UPSTANDER
Here in Southwest Florida, the population has grown faster than our capacity to handle the tremendous demand on public wastewater treatment facilities. Climate change adds to the problem when storm surges overwhelm our already overtaxed treatment systems. This is a problem we need to solve together as a community.
Let your public officials know that you care about upgrading public wastewater systems.
Support organizations such as Suncoast Waterkeeper, Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, and Captains for Clean Water, who work tirelessly to inform lawmakers and the public about ways to reduce pollution and improve water quality.
Manatee County Water Treatment Plant. Image courtesy Manatee County Utilities
EXPLORE HISTORIC CORTEZ VILLAGE
Cortez is a working fishing village on Sarasota Bay, registered since 1995 on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district. Our village is home to commercial fishers, artists, and others, to six restaurants, two seafood markets, two museums, annual stone-crab and commercial-fishing festivals, and significant waterfront businesses – a commercial-fishing fleet, two fish houses, two boatyards, several tour-boat services, and dozens of recreational fishing-guide tour services.
For all its history, one element is crucial to the Village's survival-- its location on the north edge of Sarasota Bay. The bay's estuary has been a food source for humans for thousands of years and the backbone of our fishing village for over a century. Bottom line - a healthy estuary is essential to our cultural and economic survival.
Please explore our village and its beautiful bay.
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History and Environment:
Sarasota Bay Estuary Project Signs-located throughout the village
National Register of Historic Places Historic District (walking map)​
Image Credit: Cynthia Rodgers
