Things to do in Gulf County and beyond!

Vendor Form Sponsor Form 305 Reid Ave, Port Saint Joe, FL 117 Sailors Cove Drive Port Saint Joe, FL 411 Cape San Blas Rd. Port Saint Joe, FL “The Kitchen”, our food trailer will be open this week during the time the bar is open. http://www.scalloprepublic.com/the-kitchen-menu/ 8066 W Hwy 98, Port Saint Joe, FL We're a lovely dive bar offering your favorite beer, wine, liquors, live entertainment, and karaoke. 105 Good Morning Street, Port Saint Joe, FL Joe Whitmer President/CEO   Gulf County Chamber of Commerce 321B Reid Ave Port St Joe, FL gulfchamber.org 850-227-1223 Office Share This Email   Share This Email   Share This Email

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The Florida Department of Health in Franklin County has issued a water quality advisory for Alligator Point

The Florida Department of Health in Franklin County has issued a water quality advisory for Alligator Point.

Tests completed on July 10th found high levels of the enterococcus bacteria at Alligator Point.



Health officials recommend people stay out of the water at Alligator Point until the bacteria levels drop and the Department rescinds the health advisory.



The state currently takes weekly or bi-weekly water samples from beaches in 30 counties – you can see results for all beaches in Florida on-line at the Florida Department of Health healthy beaches website.

www.FloridaHealth.gov/HealthyBeaches.

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The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office is gearing up for its annual Back-to-School Backpack & School Supplies Drive and are asking the public for help

The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office is gearing up for its annual Back-to-School Backpack & School Supplies Drive and are asking the public for help.

 

There are two ways you can help.

 

You can donate cash to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Charity Fund – a 501(c)(3) organization.

 

Your monetary donations will help them purchase backpacks and school supplies.

 

Or you can Shop their Amazon Wish List – choose supplies from our list, and they’ll ship directly to the Sheriff’s Office to be packed into backpacks and ready for the Back-To-School drive for students to pick up.

 

The deadline to donate or shop the wish list is July 25th.

 

The Back-to-School Backpack & Supplies Distribution Event will be held on Thursday, August 7th from 4 PM – 6 PM.

 

You can find all of the information you need to donate to the cause on the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department Facebook page.

 

https://www.facebook.com/FL.FCSO

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Florida’s State Parks have kicked off a summer photo contest, so get out your cameras and take part

Florida’s State Parks have kicked off a summer photo contest, so get out your cameras and take part.

The annual Capture the Real Florida photo contest, will accept pictures through September the 1st.

The contest is open to all Florida State Park visitors. 

All photographs must be taken within a Florida State Park. 

Participants may submit one photo per category for a total of up to five entries.

The categories include landscapes, waterscapes, park adventures. Wildlife and historic encounters.

Grand Prize winners in each category will be selected by a blue-ribbon panel.

Each winner will receive a B&H Photo gift card, a Florida State Parks Family Annual Entrance Pass and a promotional package that includes a Florida State Parks-branded stand-up paddleboard. 
 
For contest rules, submission guidelines and prize details, visit the Florida State Parks photo contest website.

https://photocontest.floridastateparks.org/contest7

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Governor Ron DeSantis had signed an executive order re-designating our area as a Rural Area of Opportunity

Governor Ron DeSantis had signed an executive order re-designating our area as a Rural Area of Opportunity.

 

The designation, which Franklin County has held since 1999, gives our area greater access to the state’s economic development incentive programs.

 

It’s designed to bring more businesses to the area by directing more state grant money here and providing waivers that allows counties in our area to apply for money they may not normally have access to.

 

The executive order, signed on July 8^th, not only renews the designation for our area for another five years but expands it to include portions of rural Bay and Okaloosa counties

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The economic development zone now reaches from Wakulla County on the east to Okaloosa County on the west and includes 11 Northwest Florida Counties, including Franklin, Gulf and Liberty Counties.

 

The designation will remain in effect through July 8th, 2030, and will be reviewed annually by the Rural Economic Development Initiative.

 

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Hurricane Forecasters with the University of Colorado have issued the first update to their spring hurricane forecast and have downgraded their original forecast slightly

Hurricane Forecasters with the University of Colorado have issued the first update to their spring hurricane forecast and have downgraded their original forecast slightly.

Their initial forecast was released in April, and that forecast was updated this week.

Initially the group called for 17 named storms this year, including 9 hurricanes and four major hurricanes.

They have now lowered that to an expected 16 named storms, with 8 hurricanes including 3 major hurricanes.

A typical year averages about 14 tropical storms, with seven becoming hurricanes.

The primary reason for the slight decrease in the outlook is predicted high levels of Caribbean shear which are typically associated with less active hurricane seasons.

They also point out that sea surface temperatures across the eastern and central Atlantic are slightly warmer than normal, but not as warm as they were last year at this time.

But no matter how many storms there are this season, it only takes one storm to change everything, and if you live along the coast, you should be prepared.

To find out more about preparing for Hurricane Season, visit the Franklin County Emergency Management website at www.Franklinemergencymanagement.com

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NOAA Fisheries FishNews—July 10, 2025

JULY 10, 2025

Celebrate Habitat Month 2025 July is Habitat Month at NOAA Fisheries! All month long, we’re sharing how we protect and restore habitat to sustain our nation’s fisheries, recover endangered species, and support coastal communities. Washington Dam Removal Opens Lower Columbia River Tributary for Salmon and Steelhead In Southeast Washington, NOAA funding is supporting the Cowlitz Indian Tribe’s goal of restoring 30 percent or more of the salmon and steelhead habitat on its traditional lands. The project will remove the Kwoneesum Dam and restore 6.5 miles of fish passage and 1.3 miles of in-stream habitat on Wildboy Creek in the Washougal River subbasin. Return ‘Em Right: Meet the People Helping Anglers Save Fish One Release at a Time Across the United States, anglers and conservation groups are collaborating to improve fish survival during catch-and-release fishing through proper handling, hook removal, and gear selection. Programs like Return ‘Em Right provide training and outreach to help anglers reduce stress and injury to released fish. The importance of this work is reflected in the voices of boat captains, researchers, inventors, and partners in five new videos.

Highlights What Your Birth Month Says About Your Next Seafood Recipe It’s Culinary Arts Month, and we’re celebrating with seafood recipes matched to the traits of your birth month! From January’s trailblazers, to July’s optimists, to December’s free spirits, we’ve got you covered with sustainable seafood flavors to inspire every month of the year.

National Department of Commerce Announces 2025 Appointments to the Regional Fishery Management Councils On June 30, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the appointment of 20 new and returning members to the eight regional fishery management councils. Council members represent interested groups including commercial and recreational fishing industries, environmental organizations, and academia, along with state and federal agencies. They are vital to fulfilling the Magnuson-Stevens Act’s requirements to end overfishing, rebuild fish stocks, and manage them sustainably. Logging into Efficiency: Modernizing Atlantic Coastwide Permit and Vessel Logbooks NOAA Fisheries is modernizing our Atlantic Coast logbook reporting systems, moving from paper to a single electronic reporting platform. The new integrated database system will combine five existing programs covering commercial and for-hire vessels from Maine to Texas. The effort supports more efficient, less costly reporting that eases burdens on fishermen. NOAA Launches New Ocean Modeling System for West Coast and Alaska As part of the Changing Ecosystems and Fisheries Initiative, NOAA researchers developed a new model that helps us better understand past ocean conditions so we can predict future ones with greater accuracy. The West Coast model configuration stretches from the Baja Peninsula through the Bering Sea, providing a cohesive picture of coastwide ocean conditions.

Alaska Late Spring Brings Sun, Flowers—and Harbor Seal Pups to Alaska’s Glacial Fjords Each spring in Alaska’s glacial fjords, harbor seals give birth on ice floes that provide a platform to rest, molt, and care for their young. During the same time, tourism for glacier and wildlife viewing increases in the region. To protect harbor seals from disturbance, we established voluntary vessel approach guidelines in 2015. From kayaks to cruise ships, these measures help balance wildlife protection with growing visitor interest.

West Coast Anchovy-Dominated Diets Off the West Coast Pose New Dangers for Salmon Researchers from NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center and partners have found that a vitamin deficiency likely killed nearly half of newly hatched fry of endangered winter-run Chinook salmon in the Sacramento River in 2020 and 2021. The newly published research reports on the cause, extent, and impact of thiamine deficiency in salmon in California’s Central Valley. Blog: Hawai‘i Teacher Sets Sail on Integrated West Coast Survey On June 28, Teacher at Sea Jojo Chang from Hau‘ula, Hawai‘i, set sail from San Francisco aboard NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada. She joined scientists from the Northwest and Southwest fisheries science centers for the second leg of the new Integrated West Coast Pelagic Fisheries Survey. Partner Spotlight: NOAA Volunteer Becomes TikTok-Famous Necropsy Biologist The team at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, California, have responded to hundreds of marine mammal strandings amid the region’s worst domoic acid harmful algal bloom. Necropsy biologist Cristina Robinson shares her career success story and perspectives on inspiring others to care for and protect marine wildlife through educational content.

Pacific Islands Clues From the Catch: How Small Samples Lead to Big Fish Insights When a record-sized gindai showed up at the Honolulu Fish Auction, NOAA Fisheries scientists carefully collected samples to better understand how the species grows over time and how long they can live. These “fish detectives” collect clues from some of the region’s most valuable (and tasty!) commercial fish species to help scientists maximize harvest opportunities for fishermen.

New England/Mid-Atlantic Blog: Texas Teacher Sets Sail on NOAA Ship Pisces On July 7, Teacher at Sea Sinh Nguyen from Fort Worth, Texas, set sail from Norfolk, Virginia, aboard NOAA Ship Pisces. He joined scientists from the NOAA Fisheries’ Northeast Fisheries Science Center for the Larval Bluefin Tuna Slope Survey.

Upcoming Deadlines July 27: Applications due for the Department of Energy’s Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project August 29: Proposals due for the Fisheries Innovation Fund solicitation from the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries September 5: Proposals due for NOAA’s Cooperative Institute Fostering Aquaculture Research and Marketing September 10: Applications due for the Department of Transportation Maritime Administration’s 2025 Port Infrastructure Development Program View more news and announcements

Upcoming Events July 10: Atlantic Shark Identification Workshop in Virginia Beach, VA July 11: NOAA Grant Competition Informational Webinar for the Cooperative Institute Fostering Aquaculture Research and Marketing   July 22: Gulf Council Public Comment Session  August 7: Safe Handling, Release, and Identification Workshop in Vero, FL August 9: Woods Hole Science Stroll at NOAA Fisheries August 11–14: Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council Meeting in Annapolis, MD August 21: Atlantic Shark Identification Workshop in Mount Pleasant, SC September 4: Safe Handling, Release, and Identification Workshop in Kenner, LA View more events

Federal Register Actions Visit NOAA Fisheries' Rules & Regulations web page to learn more about recently proposed and finalized regulations in your region.

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