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Glades communities: 'Lake Okeechobee open for business'

Posted at 4:38 PM, Jul 17, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-02 10:48:24-04

Community leaders around Lake Okeechobee say the lake is "open for business."

That's the message despite the images of algae blooms on the lake.

"We caught maybe 8, maybe 12, 15 fish," said Skip Simmonds at Roland and Mary Ann Martin's Marina in Clewiston.

"Guess what? They're catching big largemouth bass," said Mary Ann Martin.

But they say the perception of the lake is hurting business, especially with an ongoing algae crisis going on on both coasts.

"When they hear toxic lake they cancel reservations and folks don't show up in our community," said Clewiston Mayor Mali Gardner.

Gardner is also reiterating the message #SlowtheFlow for storage north of the lake to stop nutrients coming into Lake Okeechobee.

"That all has to be addressed so blaming Lake Okeechobee as a toxic lake is incorrect," said Gardner.