FORT MYERS, Fla. — Red Tide is an ongoing problem Southwest Florida is experiencing and struggling with in the wake of Hurricane Ian.
While Red Tide does bring a lousy stench and dead fish along, the problem is bigger than merely that.
Captain Ozzie Fischer is a second-generation boat captain and has been showing people the way of the water for 27 years.
“By age 10, I pretty much knew I wanted to be a charter captain,” Fischer said.
“But the whole rest of my life, I’m 51, I lived on Sanibel Captiva,” Fischer said.
As he’s watched Southwest Florida grow he’s also watched the water change and decline.
“You don’t see near the things you you saw when I was a kid, the wildlife,” Fischer said. “It’s not just affect the fishing, it affects everything in southwest Florida from real estate to restaurants. It’s our whole livelihood.”