News by and about Rusty

Observer opinion piece on the evolution of Rusty's conservation focus

My View

Protecting our natural resources is a moral responsibility

We can have all the rules protecting nature we want. Until we enforce them, red tide and other examples of nature degradation will continue.

By Rusty Chinnis | 12:00 p.m. March 16, 2023

I have been fortunate to live on the Suncoast in the Longbeach Village on Longboat Key for over four decades. In those 40-plus years, I have enjoyed the coastal bounty as an angler and been rewarded financially as a building contractor.

Over time, I have experienced a decline in the environment that has compelled me to work to protect it. That experience began in the late 1980s in fisheries conservation, progressed to saving land (the Sister Keys), and now centers on protecting water quality and coastal habitats (Suncoast Waterkeeper) including seagrasses and mangroves.

Read the article.

Man fishing
Rusty Chinnis

ABC7 report on post-Ian cleanup of canals in Englewood organized by Suncoast Waterkeeper

Group of volunteers stands by canal they cleaned up.
Suncoast Waterkeeper organized volunteers from Sarasota Baywatch and other groups to clean up canals in an Englewood community devastated by Hurricane Ian. Photo by Rusty Chinnis

ABC7 report quotes Rusty on ways to minimize macroalgae and lyngbya

Algae fills water around boats in a marina.
As scientists and environmentalist monitor the presence of type of blue green algae called Lyngbya in our water ways, Manatee County officials are looking to minimize it. Photo provided by Sarasota Bay Estuary Program

A feature article with story and photos by Rusty in the inaugural issue of American Fly Fishing magazine’s September-October 2020 publication.

A June 2018 article Rusty wrote for Edible Sarasota magazine about the Sister Keys Conservancy.

A portion of the Edible Sarasota web page showing Rusty's article