Phone call with Gary Gilliland, my uncle, an avid fisherman and former staff member of the Mote Marine Laboratory. He was born and raised on Siesta Key and knows the Bay and Gulf waters more than anyone else I know. Here’s some notes on what he had to say about Midnight Pass:

 

- he remembers how much he enjoyed pulling his boat up along the shore of the Pass and casting into the shallow inlet

- mullet, snook, and the occasional shark were reeled in

- there was an abundant shellfish population in the tidal basin, completely wiped out by the closing of the pass

- resentment still exists, feels as though closing Midnight Pass was an injustice to Little Sarasota Bay and that it is a perfect example of how development at all costs is the County Commission’s mantra

- he is a member of the Midnight Pass Society, its mission is supported by almost every fisherman he knows

- recollected on how he used to walk across the Pass with my cousin on his shoulders as dozens of fish darted by out towards the Gulf

- waters used to be crystal clear, now murky and turbid

- hopes that one day Midnight Pass will be restored, but has little faith in the local government to get the job done any time soon

- this has been a problem confronting the area for over 2 decades now, and there is no end in sight