Tampa Bay Waterkeeper tried to get Senator Jim Boyd to narrow the bill’s scope. Boyd stuck with his version.
By Alice Herman/Suncoast Searchlight
Original Air Date: April 15, 2026
State lawmakers drafted a measure to stop a cruise port in Manatee County. But new reporting shows that environmental watchdogs warned the bill could leave the door open to large-scale development in the Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve. Alice Herman with Suncoast Searchlight has the details.
Alice Herman: Conservation groups publicly praised state Senator Jim Boyd, who took the lead on the legislation, for his efforts. And Boyd has repeatedly emphasized his opposition to the controversial cruise port idea.
But emails obtained by Suncoast Searchlight show that Tampa Bay Waterkeeper, a prominent environmental group that led efforts to quash the cruise port plan, urged Boyd to strike key provisions from the measure. The group asked the senator to replace much of the amendment with language to specifically restrict dredging to accommodate commercial vessels.
Environmental and land use attorneys who compared the two versions of the bill at Suncoast Searchlight’s request said the one that ultimately passed was weaker.
John Thomas is an environmental and land use attorney in St. Petersburg. He went so far as to say it could lay the groundwork for developers to still build a “substantial” commercial marina in the area.
“The idea of a port is just pie in the sky,” Thomas wrote in a six-page analysis provided to Suncoast Searchlight. “It looks to me that the owners gained a path forward with the legislation. And the marina, etc., could be approved by the [the state], potentially without notice to the public.”
A bill that passed last month sought to stop the creation of a cruise port in Manatee County. Photo by Alice Herman via Suncoast Searchlight
In response to a request for comment, Boyd defended his work on the bill and said he is committed to maintaining the natural areas in and around Terra Ceia.
“When a recent proposal threatened the future of the islands and coastlines that border the Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve, I made a commitment to stop it,” Boyd said in an emailed statement. “With Senate Bill 302 signed into law, this region, the precious coastlines, pristine waters and wildlife habitats are effectively protected from massive transformations that would have destroyed them.”
When SSA Marine, a multinational logistics company, and its local partner, Slip Knott LLC, announced their intention to build a cruise port on the southern end of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, the backlash was widespread.
Scientists, conservationists and anglers warned that building a large commercial port there—and dredging deep channels through seagrass to accommodate the ships docking—would irreparably harm the water and wildlife.
State legislators representing Manatee County were swift to disavow the project. A community group quickly mobilized opposition, rallying hundreds to reject the plan.
Manatee County officials said their staff had even received threats related to the controversial proposal.
In promotional materials for the project, SSA Marine and Slip Knott argued building a port would stimulate the local economy and that the companies would preserve Rattlesnake Key, calling “environmental stewardship” central to the proposal.
Representatives for SSA Marine did not return repeated requests for comment regarding the status of the cruise port proposal.
Amid the public outcry, Boyd sought to introduce legislation aimed at deterring the project. He did so by adding an amendment to the broader Senate Bill 302, which focused on coastal conservation.
Environmentalists worried that a proposed cruise port in Terra Ceia would have threatened the Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve, which stretches from the south end of Port Manatee into Tampa Bay. Photo by Alice Herman via Suncoast Searchlight
Boyd’s amendment prohibits further dredging in Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve, with caveats for public navigation projects and to clear stagnant water. It also allows for “minimum dredging” for the creation of marinas, boat ramps and piers.
After Boyd drafted the language, public records show, Tampa Bay Waterkeeper Executive Director Justin Tramble reached out to him with a suggestion to narrow its scope.
In a February 27 email, he wrote that the senator could strike the majority of the listed caveats. Instead, he suggested adding a line specifying that “dredging to accommodate commercial vessels is not in the public interest.”
He added that “the Legislature should explicitly” name commercial vessels rather than leaving the public interest determination to what he called “politically-influenced” state officials.
Boyd stuck with his version of the bill, and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed it into law during a March 19 press conference in Bradenton, saying it would prevent the kind of dredging required to allow large ships to pass through the preserve.
A spokesperson for Boyd’s office said Tramble had offered his suggested language too late in the process.
In an interview with Suncoast Searchlight, Tramble said Boyd had had “genuine conversations” with his organization and added that he appreciated the senator’s efforts. He said Tampa Bay Waterkeeper is continuing to monitor the issue and would push for expanded protections.
Jaclyn Lopez, a law professor at Stetson University and director of the Jacobs Public Interest Law Clinic for Democracy and the Environment, said she thought Boyd clearly intended to protect the preserve.
But she said “if the Legislature wanted to be super clear about that, they could have just put those exact words right in the amendment,” she said. “But they didn’t.”
Thomas, the land use attorney, was even more skeptical about the law’s impacts. He pointed to the line in the amendment specifying that some dredging to accommodate a marina would be permissible.
“At a minimum, the statute clarifies the path forward for a marina application in the Terra Ceia preserve,” he said.
Thomas also noted that the amendment requires public notice before dredging for water quality and aesthetic purposes—but not for building marinas, boat ramps or docks.
He was blunt about the new law.
“I don’t think that this adds protection,” he said.
Reporting for Suncoast Searchlight, this has been Alice Herman. To read the full article, go to suncoastsearchlight.org/cruise-port-bill-tera-ceia-environmentalists.
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