Red tide continues to linger off the Southwest Florida coast with outbreaks just offshore in Collier, Lee, Charlotte and Sarasota Counties. Red tide is a naturally-occurring algae that kills birds, fish, manatees and causes breathing problems in humans. The noxious fumes drive people away from the beach and hurts tourism. Fort Myers Congressman Connie Mack says the government needs to create a red tide clearinghouse so that research funding is handed out and tracked better.

“There’s only so much money out there and there’s a lot of duplication. And I think we would be much better off and we’d be much closer to solutions if we used a process that went in that direction.”

Mack said scientists would review all of the red tide funding requests and give money to those that show the most promise. He says several federal agencies including NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration could easily oversee the project.