Martin County Artificial Reef Update
Martin County has two grants from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) to build three more artificial reefs in the Sirotkin permitted reef area and four artificial reefs in the South County permitted reef area. The reefs in the Sirotkin will be placed to create a dive trail between the Railroad Tie reef and the Tetrahedron Black reef in 70-80 feet of water. The reefs in the South County area will be just north of the 2014 artificial reefs. The concrete that will be used to create these reefs has been collected from an agreement the County has with FP&L for all of its old concrete, as well as the clean concrete that is taken to the transfer station (landfill) by contractors. Currently there is enough concrete stored to complete these seven reefs. (PDF of Martin County Artificial Reefs.)
St. Lucie County Artificial Reef Update
The St. Lucie County Artificial Reef Program provided additional recreational opportunities for watermen this summer. McCulley Marine Services deployed one additional 1,500-ton secondary concrete reef as well as 25 locally-produced limestone special artificial reef modules on the Lee E. Harris Memorial Site off shore North Hutchinson Island.
All materials were deployed in depths of 55 feet to 60 feet. Twelve modules were deployed in a group near the 1,500-ton reef, starting what will become a St. Lucie County Memorial Reef Site. To disperse pressure on the modules, the other 13 modules were scattered around 5 other artificial reefs within the Harris site. Deployment coordinates will become available after post-deployment inspections confirm all of the numbers.
Two memorial reef modules were deployed on the memorial site. The Kyle Wahl Memorial Module remembers Kyle who passed away from cancer at the age of five. Kyle’s memory was kept alive through the dedicated efforts of his mother, Sasha, and Bruce Hrobek, who sponsored a fundraiser for Kyle’s module at Billy Bones Bait and Tackle. The second memorial module was dedicated to Shirley Starbird Dubois, a 39-year veteran teacher of the Orange County School System, who had been a two-time cancer survivor and moved to Fort Pierce in 2008. Memorial reefs are a great way to remember individuals while serving to enhance the environment which they loved. The program wishes to offer its condolences to these families and prayers in remembrance of their loved ones.
Reefs in 55-foot depths have resulted in diverse fish assemblages. Eighteen species in the snapper-grouper complex, including black grouper, black seabass, gray snapper, mutton snapper, cubera snapper and yellowtail snapper have been documented on artificial reefs at these depths. Juvenile and adult amberjack, gag, goliath grouper, lane snapper, and snook also inhabit these reefs. This is important because as fish are harvested by fishers and divers it is important to have juveniles that can replace the harvested individuals and then grow to maturity.
The Lee E. Harris site is well known for producing large schools of baitfish. Baitfish are an important component of St. Lucie County artificial reefs in that they provide forage for other fish to grow. Baitfish are also used by anglers in targeting larger fishes. At least five species of schooling baitfish have been detected on this site including goggle eyes, blue runners, and cigar minnows. Photographs from the memorial reef show large schools of baitfish already inhabiting these modules one week after their deployment.
The St. Lucie County Artificial Reef Program was assisted in this artificial reef construction grant through the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). Grant funding will be used to deploy an additional 1,000 tons of secondary concrete as materials are collected and a second memorial reef deployment (up to 25 modules) is scheduled to be deployed next year.
For more information on the St. Lucie County Artificial Reef Program, contact Jim Oppenborn, St. Lucie County Coastal Resources Supervisor at oppenbornj@stlucieco.org or (772) 462-1713.
