The three maps that answer the whole question are live on this page. Red tide on this coast is a bloom of Karenia brevis, and the one thing to understand about it is that it is patchy — a high count at Siesta Key public beach can sit fifteen miles from clean green water at Longboat Pass or inside Sarasota Bay. So the question is never “is there red tide,” it is “where is it, and where is it going.” These three maps answer both, and you never have to leave the page.
If you are already driving, the FWC hotline plays the recorded statewide status: 866-300-9399. Mote’s beach line is 941-BEACHES.
Where has it actually hit? — the FWC sample map
FWC red tide current status — live sample map
Florida Fish and Wildlife's official map of Karenia brevis water samples from the last eight days, updated daily around 5 PM. Each dot is a real water sample, colour-coded from background through low, medium and high concentration. Zoom and pan it like any map.
HereThis is the map of record — the counts everyone else quotes come from here. Zoom to the stretch from Anna Maria Island down to Boca Grande and read the dots nearest your launch. Background and low are a normal fishing day. Medium and high near a beach mean fish kills and respiratory irritation are likely there — but look at the dots ten and twenty miles up and down the coast before you write off the trip, because they are very often clean.
Live from FWC Fish & Wildlife Research Institute
FWC reports concentrations in cells per litre, from background through low, medium and high. Fish kills and respiratory irritation generally show up from low-to-medium on up. At background levels the algae is harmless and always present offshore — it is a natural part of this ecosystem, not a spill. The plain-language science is at FWC’s red tide hub, and Sarasota’s own Mote Marine Laboratory — on City Island, a mile from Big Pass — is one of the lead institutions studying it.
Don't fish the bloom. Move twenty minutes and fish clean water.
What does the beach look like right now? — Mote’s reports
Mote Beach Conditions Reporting System
Mote Marine's beach network. Trained reporters log conditions twice a day at named Southwest Florida beaches — dead fish, water colour, and whether people on the sand are coughing. It is eyes on the beach, not a water sample.
HereThe FWC map tells you where a sample hit; this tells you what the beach is actually doing this afternoon. It covers the beaches from Anna Maria Island down through Boca Grande, which is exactly our surf and nearshore range. If a beach shows dead fish and heavy respiratory irritation, that water is done for the day no matter what the last sample said. There is a free BCRS app for iOS and Android that carries the same reports.
Live from Mote Marine Laboratory
Where is it heading? — USF’s trajectory forecast
USF HAB tracking — 3.5-day bloom trajectory
The University of South Florida, working with FWC, runs a model that forecasts where a bloom will drift over the next three and a half days, driven by their West Florida Coastal Ocean Model. It answers the question a sample map cannot: where will it be on Saturday?
HereThis is the planning tool. A bloom parked off Venice today may be forecast to push north onto Siesta by the weekend, or to clear offshore — and that decides which direction you launch. Read it together with the wind: sustained onshore wind holds a bloom against the beach, and a few days of east wind pushes it off. That is the same wind you are already checking in the weather and wind tools guide.
Live from USF College of Marine Science
NOAA also publishes a Gulf of Mexico HAB forecast focused on beach-level respiratory irritation risk — the tool for deciding whether a family beach-and-fish day is on. It cannot be embedded here, but it is one click away.
Does red tide mean I can’t fish?
No. It means fish somewhere specific. The working rules:
- Don’t fish in the bloom itself. Discoloured water, floating dead fish, or a cough starting on the beach means the fishing there is already dead. Fish leave bloom water when they can; the ones that couldn’t are the ones floating.
- Move, don’t cancel. Use the three maps above to find the clean edge. Running twenty minutes north, or ducking into clean upper-bay water, has saved plenty of trips — and the tides work exactly the same in clean water.
- Eating your catch. FWC’s guidance is that finfish caught live and healthy during a bloom are safe to eat once filleted, because brevetoxins concentrate in the gut, not the muscle. Never eat a dead or distressed fish, and never harvest shellfish — clams, oysters, mollusks — from bloom water at all. Read the specifics at the FWC red tide FAQ before keeping fish, and when in doubt, release.
- Health. Respiratory irritation from the sea spray is real and worse for anyone with asthma or COPD. Onshore wind blows it up the beach; an offshore-wind day can leave the same beach clear.
After severe blooms, FWC has at times imposed temporary catch-and-release rules for snook and redfish to protect recovering stocks — one more reason to check the current regulation on FWC’s site before keeping anything. Verify current rules before you fish.
Who monitors water quality on Sarasota Bay year-round?
Red tide is the headline, but day-to-day water quality — clarity, seagrass health, bait presence — is what actually sets the fishing.
- Mote Marine Laboratory — red tide research, fisheries science, and the BCRS beach network, headquartered right on Sarasota Bay.
- Sarasota Bay Estuary Program — the federal-state partnership tracking bay habitat and seagrass; its reporting is the long-term scorecard for the flats you fish.
- Tampa Bay Waterkeeper — water-quality advocacy for the bay to our north.
- Angler Action Foundation — its iAngler log feeds catch data into FWC stock assessments; logging your trips is a direct contribution.
The simplest habit of all: look at the water. Clean Sarasota inshore water runs green to clear. Rusty-brown streaks, a fish-kill smell, or birds sitting out a flat that should be working are all reasons to keep running.
FAQ
Is there red tide in Sarasota right now? Read the FWC sample map at the top of this page, updated daily around 5 PM with the last eight days of samples, or call 866-300-9399 for the recorded status. Conditions change weekly; no static page can answer this.
What beach conditions app covers Sarasota? Mote’s Beach Conditions Reporting System at visitbeaches.org, also the free BCRS app on iOS and Android. Twice-daily reports of dead fish, water colour and respiratory irritation at individual Southwest Florida beaches.
Is it safe to eat fish caught during red tide? Per FWC, fish that were alive and healthy when caught are considered safe once filleted — toxins concentrate in the gut, not the muscle. Never eat dead or distressed fish, and never harvest mollusk shellfish from bloom waters. Verify current guidance at myfwc.com/research/redtide.
What time of year is red tide worst in Sarasota? Blooms historically start most often in late summer through fall and can persist into winter, but they have occurred in every season. Check before every trip in bloom season rather than trusting the calendar.
Does red tide affect the whole coast at once? Rarely. Blooms are patchy — one beach can be hit while water ten to twenty miles away, or inside the bays, stays clean. The FWC sample map and the USF trajectory forecast show where the edges are.
Related
The red tide check is step six of the pre-trip routine — steps one through five are in the weather and wind tools guide, and timing the water itself is the tides and currents guide. Clean water found, go fish it: snook along the beaches, redfish on the bay flats, or tarpon off Anna Maria Island when the water runs green and the bait is thick.