New Biscayne Bay License Plate to Raise Funds For Local Wildlife

At times, the streets of South Florida can feel like fashion runways, with colorful motorists showing off flamboyant cars, auto upgrades, and vanity plates.

According to The Miami Foundation, Floridians will soon have yet another license plate to choose from when the "Protect Biscayne Bay" plate becomes available in a few months. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) offers Sunshine State residents nearly 300 license plate options to choose from. Many of them, like the Biscayne Bay plate, raise proceeds for various charitable organizations.

Money raised through sales of the "Protect Biscayne Bay" plate will help the Miami Foundation restore the bay, including through water quality improvements, marine debris cleanup, and critical habitat restoration grants.

Sen. Ileana Garcia and former Rep. Nick Duran led a triumphant bipartisan initiative to create the plate to combat those issues during the 2021 Florida legislative session. The project garnered the requisite 3,000 voucher signatures to enter production.

According to The Brady Hunter Foundation, an animal welfare nonprofit, the group made a donation to cover the $33 voucher requirement for those who signed up during the voucher phase.

The first plates will be available to those who signed up during the voucher period, and the general public will be able to purchase them in the following weeks.

According to FLHSMV, purchasing a specialty plate in Florida costs anywhere between $15 and $30. Specialty license plates can be purchased online, or at local DMV or tax collector's offices.

Biscayne Bay is a lagoon brimming with wildlife just south of Miami. According to the National Parks Service, more than 600 species of fish, tropical birds, and other wildlife live in the bay, including sea turtles, stingrays, sharks, crocodiles, and the beloved South Florida manatees.

According to Miami-Dade County officials, the bay is imperiled by water cycle changes, water management practices, development and aged infrastructure. County studies indicate freshwater runoff from development in Miami degrades the quality of water entering canals and the bay.

County officials say Seagrass is the foundation of all life in the bay and has declined significantly in many basins. In the south, Barnes Sound and Manatee Bay basins have lost nearly all seagrass coverage — about 93 percent. The underwater flora provide a habitat for fish species like shrimp and lobster, and stability to sediment during storms. 

"All of these factors contribute to larger ecological problems, such as seagrass decline, algal blooms, coral disease and other issues," according to county officials. "Biscayne Bay has already experienced these, and until the Bay's health is restored, the threat of more sea life dying in great quantities remains."