ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Red tide is killing more than just fish in the Bay area, it is also killing business for most places along the water.
Fresco's owner David Scokol feels like lately, nature has a personal thing against his restaurant.
"We shut down for the hurricane and then we opened after there wasn't any damage, but then we could not open because the red tide smell was so bad," he said.
Once he was finally reopened after a couple of days, Scokol said business has only been 10% of what it normally is.
However, if you go a few miles south where Big Catch restaurant sits on Salt Creek just off the Bay, General Manager Mike Delvin said you can hardly smell the fish at all.
"Here on Salt Creek we actually are fed as the tide goes out from Lake Maggiore," he explained. "So it's primarily fresh water on the outgoing tide and when it comes in, it's a little brackish, so we do mix with the Bay, but our whole water source gets replenished on a daily basis."
Despite the lack of dead fish, he has still seen a 25% drop in business because people assume it's bad everywhere on the water.
Even where the smell is bad, Scokol isn't letting the fishkill get the best of his business. He has hired people to go under his deck to scoop out dead fish.
"And then we have our own people scooping up fish on a regular basis and a bunch of fans blowing the wind in another direction," he said. "Today it's not as bad. People are sitting outside for the first time in 4 or 5 days, so that's a plus."
Both businesses say it's just a matter of getting folks to come back.
"We're hoping people are just willing to come back out and give it a shot, regardless. And realize how unaffected we really are," Delvin said.
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July 17, 2021 at 05:30PM
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Red tide killing more than just fish as businesses struggle - Bay News 9
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