Zlio.com

about : Basically we are the wierd guys on the really wierd research vessels who you see towing folks home all the time (Been Us too many times for us not to stop and help). We are studying micro-crustaceans and we replenish the intercoastal waterway with corals and sponges we rescue dry from the beaches, bring back to health in tanks we keep for that purpose and then re-plant them in the inter-coastal waterways between Tarpon Springs and Everglades City, Fl. Our studies have led us to do species counts of common fishes in tha area at times but our main focus is the relationship between micro-crustaceans and improving the health of our inter-coastal waterways by attracting said micro-crustaceans to whatever plants/sponges/corals they would normally seek out but we do not have an abundance of in our area. In the greater scheme of things we are probably not going to accomplish much more than prettying up just a little bit of Floridas waterways with over 200 mini coral and plant gardens we have put out in the intercoastal so far - But hey we are having fun, towing folks home a lot, and definitely noticing improvements in the areas we have already planted sponges and corals in (all native to Florida by virtue of the fact we either gather them dry on the beach or accidentally when we gather plants to gather our beloved micro-shrimps from). We also tow junk boats and give the ones we cannot use for our studies to homeless people - if we do keep a boat we give one of ours away in its place. Anyway not much else to say for now. The store is just one of a handful of things we are trying to get revenue to keep the project going with. We do accept donations in any amount - as well as tanks, pumps, fish food (always in short supply). Donations in any amount can be sent to: Gulf Coast Crustacean Research 791 Porpoise Rd Venice, Fl 34293 If you are needing a boat towed out or wanting to make a boat donation you can make arrangements with Todd at 941-497-3580 after 6:30pm Eastern Time We are not a non-profit organisation at this time but are working towards that goal - right now we are licensed as commercial fishing vessels just to keep our gathering of critters legal and aboveboard - we are working towards getting a real accounting system in place but have not accomplished this due to the fact that we are just a couple of retired guys who took on a project we had no idea would get this big this quick and were completely unprepared for it as we mostly finance the project out of our own pockets but are getting overwhelmed