BY MARCY SHORTUSE -

The other day a couple, Ken and Pat Birt, stopped by the Boca Beacon office with a copy of their new book about Useppa Island. When they asked if we would be interested in possibly running a story or promoting it, I was immediately drawn to the book.

Many island residents have spent time on Useppa, considering a boat trip there is only about 20 minutes. Pat Birt has been involved with the development of Useppa for more than a decade. She started as the administrative assistant to the developer of the island, and has now co-authored this book with her husband, Ken.

Boca Grande is the historical birthplace of the tarpon fishery, the center of tarpon reproduction, and a way-station for tarpon that make up the fishery for much of the region. The modern-day recreational fishery for tarpon stretches from Chesapeake Bay, throughout the Gulf of Mexico, and through the Caribbean – a fishery worth billions of dollars a year.

BY MARCY SHORTUSE - I’ll bet you weren’t prepared for another tarpon column in the end of November, but it’s time again for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to meet on December 5 and 6, this time in Apalachicola, and one of the items on the agenda is to talk again about whether tarpon should be considered a sport fish.

BY MARCY SHORTUSE - Some days, it really pays to go to work. Like a day when you pick up the phone to find Jack Damioli on the other end saying, “We’d like the Beacon staff to sample our new bakery menu ...