Hillsborough Plans to Rehab Run-Down Fish Farm

GIBSONTON, FL – While Gibsonton may be most known historically for its communities of circus performers, many may not realize its importance to the tropical fish industry.

According to Hillsborough County, 95 percent of tropical fished raised in the United States comes from Florida. More than half of those tropical fish are raised in Hillsborough County, and mostly on farms of stocked ponds in Gibsonton, Ruskin and Riverview.

One such farm was Bramco Tropical Fish, which was one of a handful of fish farms on the west side of U.S. Highway 41 in the area. Now, Hillsborough County wants to restore the 220 overgrown ponds on the long-abandoned tropical fish farm to an ecosystem designed to help restore Tampa Bay’s eastern coastline.

Hillsborough County will host a public information meeting for people to review the proposed plan to rehabilitate the property on Thursday, Sept. 21 at the Suncoast Youth Conservation Center, 6650 Dickman Road in Apollo Beach.

At the meeting, attendees can review the proposal and speak to county and Southwest Florida Water Management District professionals about it.

The farm that became Bramco Tropical Fish in the 1950s on 25 acres near the Adamsville area of Gibsonton and closed in the mid-1970s. While aquaculture remains a strong business, many smaller tropical fish farms have closed or have been bought by larger companies.

Over the years, invasive Brazilian pepper and other brush have overrun the property. Mosquitoes are pervasive on the property, according to Hillsborough County. The dead-end of Kracker Avenue, which skirts the property’s southern border, also attracts people who illegally dump trash.

Hillsborough County bought the property in 2012 under the Jan K. Platt Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program. County land and water resource managers plan to eliminate stagnant ponds and dilapidated buildings; reconfigure the land; plant native vegetation; and create wetlands, a tidal lagoon and native uplands that collectively filter water as it flows toward the bay.

Also, Public Utilities plans to pipe highly-treated recycled water to the east side of the property near U.S. Highway 41. The treated water would ensure the shallow coast has enough low-salinity water, an ideal habitat for wading shorebirds, juvenile redfish and tarpon, and other native animals, according to Hillsborough County.

While the refuge will be designed primarily to appeal to wild creatures and native plant life, the county plans to include a few amenities like a park bench and maybe a butterfly garden.

The county also reports the rehabbed parcel also would benefit the 134-acre Fred and Ida Schultz Preserve. That property, managed by Conservation & Environmental Lands Management, lies southwest of the former Bramco farm.

Image via Hillsborough County Government website