Cortez, an 1880s Florida Fishing Village

CORTEZ VILLAGE SIGN

Barrier Islands South of Tampa Bay

Just on the other side of the Skyway Bridge from St. Pete (see map immediately below), is a string of barrier islands stretching from Anna Maria at the northern end all the way down to Venice, Florida, with just a short break at Lido Key.

Toward the north end of that chain, just south of Anna Maria, at Bradenton Beach, the barrier islands connect to the mainland by bridge at the small village of Cortez, which occupies a peninsula jutting out from the mainland and the small city of Bradenton. There’s an excellent arial shot and more information on that entire area–Anna Maria Island, Longboat Key, Bradenton and Lakewood Ranch plus many smaller communities as such Holmes Beach, Coquina Park, etc.–at the Bradenton Area Convention & Visitors Bureau.

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Cortez

The village of Cortez, is the oldest surviving fishing village in Florida. It dates from at least 1880 when it was settled by a number of people from North Carolina. As you might imagine for such an historically rich area, there are strong preservationist organizations. Primary among these is the Cortez Village Historical Society. This preservationist attitude extends to the land, wildlife, water, and fish since it is upon those that the historical economy of the region depends, and still does, although to a lesser extent than at one time. F.I.S.H. (Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage) is a non-profit that has as its mission “preserving the character and heritage of Florida’s traditional waterfront communities within the natural environment that has nurtured people in fishing communities for thousands of years.”

For more links on Cortez and the adjoining area, see the Manatee County Historical Village page. There’s also a very nice (PDF) article on Cortez (in English) from the Mainichi Daily News, a Japanese newspaper.

AP BELL FISH CO. TRUCK

AP Bell Fish Company and Star Fish Company

An important part of the Cortez community is the Star Fish Company which dates back to the early 20s. In 1996, Karen Bell, of the adjoining AP Bell Fish Company, bought Star Fish and added a restaurant to the fish company and docks. FL-Seafood.com, has some pictures of Star Fish Company and other items of interest from the early days. Another commercial highlight in Cortez is the Cortez Market

STAR FISH FRONT SIDE

Grouper Sandwiches

Don’t be fooled by the tourist-trap look of the Star Fish Company restaurant. It’s the real thing and a very good friend who lives near there swears it’s the best group sandwich in the world, period. (I haven’t had a chance to confirm that yet but will soon.)

Grouper is an important fish in Florida. I remember my father telling me about it when I was in grade school and we’d come south to visit relatives. Its quality is legend. There have been periodic scandals involving restaurants that served talapia but called it grouper and have had to pay a hefty fine. There are strict laws against this and they are rigorously enforced. Once you’re had fresh grouper, though, there’s no mistaking another white fish for it. Anyway, because of the intense attention this issue has gotten in recent years, you can be pretty well assured that if it says “grouper,” it really is grouper!

My preferred method of preparing grouper is blackened which requires a heavy, cast-iron blackening skillet or griddle such as the Lodge Logic 12-Inch Pre-Seasoned Skillet or the Lodge Logic Pro 20-by-10-7/16-Inch Cast-Iron Grill/Griddle. More on blackened fish in this coming Saturday’s Inkwatu post.

For now, I highly recommend these three grouper sandwich recipes from, FoodBuzz (with whom I’m a featured publisher):

a nice step by step grouper sandwich with Cajun jalapeno aioli;
a step by step video for baked cornmeal crusted grouper sandwich with tartar sauce; and,
a recipe for a grouper sandwich with curry mango mayonnaise

STAR FISH BACK SIDE

Florida Anglers

Of course, if you visit or live in Florida, everyone (even me) fishes, at least once! It’s an atavistic urge that we’ve never lost and will always need. One good friend surf fishes. The mainstay for most folks is fishing off a pier or bridge. Some, of course, use john boats, or perhaps something a little bigger. Maybe, if you’re flush, a charter.

My favorite kind of fishing, which I haven’t done in a long while and which I intend to do again, soon, is night fishing under the Gandy Bridge. Here’s a neat YouTube video, Night Fishing at gandy bridge in Tampa Bay Florida, of someone (not me) doing exactly that. It’s short and worth watching. Another good one, just a couple guys in a john boat out on Tampa Bay, is Tampa Fishing by apollobeachsam. They really get excited and for good reason: they catch some good sized fish! If you enjoyed those, while you’re at YouTube, just do a search of their site for [florida fishing] or [tampa fishing] and you’ll see dozens and dozens of good ones. One I enjoyed, mainly because it’s the typical mix of people you see on any public bridge or pier, is this one of Fort Walton Florida Fishing Pier Jack Fishing.

As I mentioned in an earlier post on the St. Petersburg Pier, my understanding is that any child under the age of 16, whether or not they are a Florida resident, and all Florida residents, of any age, do NOT need a fishing license for salt water fishing (fresh water is a different story). However, non-Florida resident 16 and older DO need a license unless they are fishing on a charter boat.

However, I strongly recommend you read the relevant pages for yourself since I could be in error and regulations might change.

Here are the current rates for 16 and older Non-resident Saltwater Recreational Fishing Licenses:

• Nonresident 3-Day Saltwater Fishing = $17.00
• Nonresident 7-Day Saltwater Fishing = $30.00
• Nonresident Annual Saltwater Fishing = $47.00

BOATS AT THE STAR FISH DOCK

Florida commercial fishing

If you can, take in the Cortez Annual Commercial Fishing Festival. It is one of quite a number of seafood festivals in Florida.

Although there is a small shrimper fleet left and there are picturesque events like the Blessing of the Fleet in Tarpon Springs, the reality is that shrimp fishing in the USA has been throttled by farmed imports (see this news article for figures). Recreational shrimp fishing, however, is still a flourishing sport. (Bet you didn’t know there was such a thing…I sure didn’t until researching this post.)

Mullet is another fish heavily identified with Florida. It’s not to everyone’s taste, but I love it. It’s usually smoked and is one of the foods I typically order at Ted Peters Famous Smoked Fish (see my Inkwatu post on that fine institution).

Although stocks of mullet are high in the Gulf, due to folks preferring white fish, the sales of mullet are way down. As a consequence, like the shrimp fleets, mullet fisherman are also going out of business, although for entirely different reasons. I’d love to see a resurgence in preference for mullet. Maybe if folks realized that mullet contains 1.1 grams of omega-3 essential fatty acids per 100 grams of fresh uncooked fish, which isn’t much less than sardines, they will start to request it.

CRAB TRAPS ON STAR FISH DOCK

One of my childhood memories is “fishing” for crabs in the Gulf off the seawall at Biloxi before there was a beach there. (That’s a long time ago.) You “fish” for crabs with a trap of string that lays flat on the bottom under the water. When you see or feel motion on the trap, you pull it up and the sides come up, trapping the crab. However, I have seen my daddy catch crabs by just tying a bit of bacon on a string and walking it along the bottom, yanking up the string at just the right moment with a crab stubbornly clutching the bacon. Commercial fisherman use traps too.

Florida has the Florida Stone Crab seen on many local restaurant menus, and the Blue Crab, also a favorite of local eateries. I like any kind of crab prepared any way I can get it. Absolutely no preferences—just give me some crab! I’m a little picky about soft shelled crab, which is a blue crab right after it’s molted its shell. It’s deep fried and you eat the whole thing since there’s no shell (hence the term “soft”). Cooked correctly, it is awesome.

FLORIDA GREAT BLUE HERON

Florida birds

The Florida Great Blue Heron, pictured above waiting for his grouper sandwich at the Star Fish Company, is one of several birds closely associated with Florida. There is a monster list of Florida birds at Wikipedia, but the ones that come to my mind are the flamingo (the type depicted by plastic birds on Florida lawns is really a Caribbean bird and doesn’t normally come this far north; often, however, the Roseate Spoonbill is mistaken for it), the snowy egret (a type of great heron), the ibis, and the pelican (the brown and the white).

The Cornell University website, to which most of those links go, is terrific. It gives you pictures, videos, bird sounds, and facts. You can get lost in there for hours.

A special thanks to two friends. One who first told me about the historic fishing village of Cortez, and another who lives near there and showed me the highlights. Thanks to you both for sharing your knowledge and pleasure in Florida with me so I could share it here.