Major additions to Big Bend Gulf artificial reefs deployed in Franklin County
Over 220 tons of new marine habitat were deployed Sept. 19 in the coastal Gulf waters off Lanark Village in Franklin County, Florida. Dedicated, environmentally friendly reef modules were sunk in three locations.
The modules included 10 new concrete and limestone “Super Reef” pyramids, each 15 feet tall and weighing 17 tons, and 18 new concrete and limestone “Florida Special” pyramids, each 8 feet tall and weighing three tons. State of the art, purpose-built artificial reefs expand underwater habitat and biodiversity for the benefit of marine organisms, area anglers and divers, and the Big Bend marine economy.
The reef modules are designed to mimic natural habitat for a wide variety of sea organisms, ranging from marine algae to bottom-dwelling fish, such as grouper and snapper.
The total project cost was $200,000; funding was split between the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC’s) Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) funding of $125,005, and the Organization for Artificial Reefs (OAR) memorial reef funding of $75,000.
The deployment of artificial reefs would not occur without a team effort and partnerships. The families of deceased anglers and divers sought donations as memorials and provided significant support. Carl Enis, a Staff Sergeant in the US Air Force, died in a helicopter incident on the Syrian/Iraq border.
Other memorials were dedicated to Mike Johnston, Rocky Burrous, and Robby Redding. Reefmaker (Walter Marine Services) of Orange Beach, Alabama, designed and built the patented reef structures and deployed them under observation and monitoring by the FWC, OAR, the Apalachicola Artificial Reef Association (AARA), the City of Carrabelle, Franklin County, and families and friends.
The Sept. 19 deployments added new reef modules to two existing patch reefs and one new reef area. The Buddy Ward patch reef additions, located about eight miles south of Bob Sikes Cut, included two memorial reef structures, dedicated to Mike Johnston and Rocky Burrous. It was funded by OAR, FWC, the Johnston and Burrous families and friends, and coordinated by AARA’s Grayson Shephard.
The additions to Robby’s Reef included a memorial structure dedicated to Robby Redding. It is located about 10 miles south of the east end of Dog Island. OAR coordinated the Robby’s Reef enhancement and the deployment of a new site, the Carl Enis Memorial Reef, located about 20 miles south of Dog Island.
These sites were also funded by FWC, OAR, and the Redding and Enis families and friends. In what the team believed may have been a tribute to the late Sgt. Enis and his ultimate service to our nation, during the deployment there was an emotionally moving flyover by two F-22 Raptor fighter jet pilots.
The project was the culmination of years of work, starting in 2018. The process started with OAR’s specially trained divers and FWC divers researching suitable areas for reef construction, augmented by sonar side scans. OAR sought the required area permits from the US Army Corps of Engineers and approval of specific patch reef sites from FWC. Individuals and partner organizations raised funds, augmented by government grant funding, and OAR assisted the City of Carrabelle and Franklin County, which approved the contracts to build and deploy the purpose-built reef materials.
The Organization for Artificial Reefs is a volunteer fishing and advocacy group dedicated to developing public artificial reefs within easy striking distance of local marinas and boat ramps. “Research continues to show the positive benefits of reef construction for both marine life and marine based economies throughout the world,” said Alan Richardson, OAR Coordinator.
OAR and AARA are proud and thankful to contribute to the local coastal economy and to the Big Bend marine environment. We encourage anyone interested in the locations or other information about these reefs or the work of OAR to visit oarreefs.org or email oar@oarreefs.org.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Major additions to Big Bend Gulf artificial reefs deployed in Franklin
