'It's great': Bay County installs more artificial reefs in Gulf of Mexico

Nathan Cobb, Panama City News Herald
·2 min read

PANAMA CITY BEACH — For Chantille Weber, the Gulf of Mexico is more than just a tourist attraction.

It's also the home of many marine species that deserve to thrive.

As coastal resource coordinator for Bay County, Weber said crews have made multiple trips over the past couple of weeks to install more artificial reefs in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Bay County. The latest trip was on Friday.

The reefs are located about five miles southwest of the Saint Andrew Bay pass.

Concrete elliptical pipes are seen at the Bay County Roads and Bridges facility in Panama City. The material will be placed in about 75 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico in coordination with the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences to create habitat for marine life.
Concrete elliptical pipes are seen at the Bay County Roads and Bridges facility in Panama City. The material will be placed in about 75 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico in coordination with the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences to create habitat for marine life.

"The site that the materials are in ... is the closest location for our recreational fishers," Weber said. "It (also) opens up a plethora of diving opportunities. ... For our tourism, I think it's great because it's a huge draw. You've got folks who rent pontoons, and we don't want them going out to some of our deeper sites, so this enables them to rent out for a quick trip."

The artificial reef program in Bay County began about a decade ago. Weber noted it is funded by the RESTORE ACT related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.

She also said every trip to install more artificial reefs costs approximately $50,000.

"This is a way to give back to our community, and we're proud to have it," Weber said of the artificial reef project. "With the sites being in state waters, this is going to make it readily available for our locals (and tourists) to make trips more frequently."

Along with boosting tourism and giving locals more fishing and diving options, the artificial reefs also improve the overall ecology of the Gulf, according to the Bay County Artificial Reefs' website.

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The reefs not only help existing marine species, but also help set up an environment for their future populations to thrive.

"I'm a native Floridian, so I'm thrilled to be able to give back to our marine ecology," Weber said. "I couldn't ask for better. We've got a lot of other projects lined up this year for everyone."

For more information on the artificial reefs, visit https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/bay/bay-county-artificial-reefs/.

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Bay County installs more artificial reefs in Gulf of Mexico