FWC to Remove Derelict Vessels from Waterways
Collier county waterways the first to be cleaned up, thanks to a grant from the FWC

Posted Tuesday, March 3, 2009

 
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Officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) will assist in the removal of derelict vessels from Collier County waterways. The clean-up is made possible because of an $80,000 grant the FWC awarded to the Collier County Coastal Zone Management Department.

Beginning Thursday, FWC officers will be on hand as contractors remove abandoned, derelict vessels from the water. In the past year, the FWC and its law enforcement partners, including the Collier County Sheriff's Office, the Marco Island Police Department and the Naples Police Department, have worked diligently to track down the owners of these derelict vessels, and some are facing criminal charges. The FWC continues to pursue violators.

"It's important to get these vessels out of the water now, before the upcoming hurricane season," said FWC Lt. Mitts Mravic.

Over the next few weeks, 12 vessels will be removed from the water, including a 70-foot sailing vessel that sank in the Marco River in 2007.