Program Goals
On November 21, 2003 the FWC adopted a state
artificial reef strategic plan developed by an advisory board of
interested stakeholders. The plan has six general goals:
- Ensure that long-term social, economic, and quality of life
values of artificial reefs benefit the local and regional economies
of Florida.
- Utilize artificial reefs in scientific research to obtain a
mechanistic and predictive understanding of how artificial reefs
function ecologically and physically across spatial and temporal
scales.
- Use artificial reefs as a component of fisheries
management
- Identify, procure and maximize new and existing sources of
funding for artificial reefs
- Improve intergovernmental coordination and public/private
cooperation in artificial reef development.
- Foster public and private sector marine ecosystem stewardship
and accurate understanding of artificial reef issues.
Program Funding
Artificial reef development in Florida only began
with any regularity in the late 1970's when more state funded and
sponsored projects were conducted and more dependable funding
sources began to be established. However, consistent annual
reef funding at the state level was unavailable until 1986.
Today, approximately 70-100 public artificial reefs
are constructed annually off Florida using a combination of
federal, state, local government and private funds.
Approximately 40%-75% of the money used annually from all sources
for artificial reef related development in Florida annually is
administered through the FWC artificial reef program. From
1996 through 2005, the construction and monitoring project
component of the state artificial reef program was level funded
with $300,000 in Federal Aid and $300,000 in State Saltwater
Fishing License revenues.
In 2006, the state artificial reef program funding
was increased by an additional $100,000 in Federal Aid, from the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for a combined total of
$700,000 in Federal and State funds available for artificial reef
projects state-wide. In 2007 the state reef program was again
appropriated $400,000 in Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration from
the USFWS that was augmented with $300,000 in state saltwater
license revenues from the Marine Resource Conservation Trust
Fund.
The FWC artificial reef program administers
grants-in-aid pass through funding derived from U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Program and
state salt water fishing license revenues. The money is used to
reimburse local government and nonprofit participants for funding
transportation and deployment of reef material, construction of
modular reef units, reef monitoring, pre-deployment site
assessments, and special projects, such as planning (socio-economic
studies) and research. Depending on the year approximately
70-80% of the grant project funding goes to artificial reef
construction with the remainder utilized for monitoring, research,
or other reef planning oriented projects. The selection
process for construction and monitoring projects is
competitive.
Over the last 28 years, the State of Florida has
distributed more than $17,593,888 for artificial reef related
activities. From 1979 through fiscal year 2006-2007 Florida's
artificial reef program provided at least $13,219,608 in state and
federal funding to local coastal governments for public reef
construction projects. Another $3,289,259 has gone towards
statewide artificial reef research projects, $708,021, towards reef
monitoring, and $377,000 towards four regional reef socioeconomic
studies.
Research and monitoring projects have included
studies on reef spacing and design, material stability, storm
impacts, long-term studies of reef community succession, residency
of benthic species on artificial reefs, juvenile fish recruitment,
comparison of artificial reef fish communities with those on
adjacent natural reefs, and the impacts of directed fishing
mortality on artificial reef biomass and species diversity. A 2001
special legislative appropriation of $550,000 (in addition to the
2001-02 regular $600,000 appropriation) funded a low profile
unpublished patch reef project consisting of over 500 patch reefs
utilizing three different material designs. These units were
deployed in permitted large areas in federal waters off Northwest
Florida in the winter and spring of 2003. Some of these units
continue to be used in ongoing research projects.
In 2005 the program received an additional $250,000
appropriation to support monitoring of nearshore natural and
artificial reefs on the east coast using both conventional sampling
and DIDSON sonar. During 2006-07 FWC received a $1,250,000
grant from the U.S. Maritime Administration to assist the City of
Key West with partial financing of the preparation of the military
vessel General Hoyt Vandenberg to be placed as an artificial reef
off Key West in 2008.
During the current 2007-2008 fiscal year FWC is
providing $700,000 in funding for reef construction projects off
five counties (61 patch reefs) as well as four monitoring projects,
one ongoing research project, and one ongoing (year two of two)
multi-county Southwest Florida socioeconomic benefits of artificial
reef study. Participants in this fiscal year's reef grants in
aid program activities include nine county governments, the West
Coast Inland Navigation District, and two universities. Projects
cover the following county areas: Flagler, St. Lucie, Martin,
Miami-Dade, Escambia, Taylor, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Sarasota,
Lee, and Charlotte Counties.
The 2007-2008 fiscal year individual projects range
in cost from $10,399-$40,000 (research and monitoring), from
$54,000 to $256,000 (reef construction), and $100,000 (regional
socio economic study). The 2007-2008 reef construction projects
will include a mix of fabricated concrete modules, and pre-cast
secondary use concrete materials.
Program Personnel
From 1991 through fiscal year 2006-07 state reef
program Tallahassee based staff consisted of an Environmental
Administrator working 3/4 time on artificial reef issues and 50%
federally funded, and two Fishery Management Biologists funded with
state fishing license dollars. In fiscal year 2007-08, the salaries
of the two Fishery Biologists will be 100% funded under a Federal
Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Grant applied for annually. FWC
artificial reef program staff provides technical assistance to
local coastal governments, and state and federal regulatory
agencies. Staff disseminates artificial reef related
information to all of these entities and assists the general public
by answering questions related to artificial reefs. Staff
carries out a legislative requirement of maintaining a statewide
public artificial reef database (on the FWC marine web site) and
remains in contact with other state artificial reef program
managers.
In addition to administrative duties, staff
conducts statewide compliance and performance monitoring of grant
funded reef projects using SCUBA. The section's assessment
dive team conducts fish censuses, mapping, video, photography, and
materials evaluation. Staff may also inspect materials
proposed for deployment, or monitor actual deployments. Other
monitoring techniques such as sidescan sonar have been used on a
contractual pilot study basis. In the course of over 150 staff fish
censuses taken statewide at depths from 10-140 feet since 1992, 220
species of fish have been identified on Florida artificial
reefs.
The top five fish species most likely to be seen on
artificial reefs during those censuses were 1) tomtate (grunt); 2)
gag (grouper); 3) gray snapper 4) white grunt and, 5) gray
triggerfish. Fish noted in the greatest densities when they
occurred were 1) scads (cigar minnows); 2) clupeids (herrings); 3)
tomtate (grunt) and, 4) vermilion snapper (beeliners).
Approximately $50,000/yr is received through the USFWS under an
artificial reef grant to support reef staff field monitoring
operations, and other operating costs.
Artificial Reef Program Stakeholders
Artificial reef stakeholders in Florida include
users, interested parties, and those entities impacted by reef
development activities. Stake holders include recreational
anglers and associated businesses, federal, state, and local
governments, tourism and economic development interests,
recreational and commercial SCUBA divers, commercial hook and line
and trawl fishermen, academia, volunteer reef research and
monitoring groups, artificial reef module manufacturers, marine
contractors, environmental organizations and the media.
Permitting
The FWC artificial reef program does not issue
permits for artificial reef sites. This regulatory responsibility
is carried out by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) for
proposed artificial reef areas in federal waters, and by both the
ACOE and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
in state waters. Both of these regulatory agencies accept
comments from FWC and other interested parties during the
artificial reef application review process. Due to liability
issues, associated with siting and placing materials on the sea
floor, permits are not issued permits directly to private
individuals or clubs for building artificial reefs. The local
coastal governments who are applicants for new reef sites undergo a
rigorous individual permit application process that may span a 6-9
month period.
A review of all of Florida's permitted artificial
reef sites on record, permitted between the late 1960s and early
2006, identified 448 unique permitted artificial reef areas,
covering a total of 664.13 nm2. Of the 448 sites permitted to
date, approximately 300 are currently active. The average
size of the 448 permit polygons is 1.48 nm2. The smallest
permit polygon is 1.06 x 10-6 nm2 (48.44 ft2), and the largest
permit polygon is 98.09 nm2. 90% of the permit polygons fall
between the sizes of 1.06 x 10-6 nm2 (48.44 ft2) and 1.69 nm2. The
wide range of permit sizes is a result of 8 large area artificial
reef sites (LAARS) located in the Panhandle and Florida Big Bend
(off Escambia, Okaloosa, Bay, and Taylor counties). Each of the
LAARS encompasses significantly more area (60.87 nm2) than the
average of all other permitted sites in Florida (0.39 nm2). The 8
LAARS account for 73% of Florida's total permitted artificial reef
area. As a result, the Gulf coast of Florida includes more total
permitted area than the Atlantic coast of Florida (539.38 nm2 and
124.74 nm2, respectively).
Reef Materials Use
Allowable materials for artificial reef use are
determined by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) and Florida
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) permit criteria and
tend to emphasize heavy, stable, durable and non-polluting
materials. These criteria are based upon requirements for the
use of non-hazardous material of sufficient stability and
durability to insure that the materials and their component parts
remain within permitted areas and last long enough to provide the
intended habitat enhancement. These criteria are based upon
direction provided by the National Artificial Reef Plan, developed
under the Secretary of Commerce by direction of the National
Fishing Enhancement Act of 1984 and by the Environmental Protection
Agency based upon federal and international law.
Also, guidance is provided by the Guidelines for
Marine Artificial Reef Materials, Second Edition (2004) produced by
the Gulf and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commissions, a copy
of which can be found
online 
.
DEP has specific materials limitations for
artificial reef use in state waters. Under DEP state general
artificial reef rules, for example, in state waters of peninsular
Florida (62-341.600 F.A.C.) materials are limited to clean concrete
or rock, clean steel boat hulls, other clean, heavy gauge steel
products with a thickness of 1/4 inch or greater and prefabricated
structures that are a mixture of clean concrete and heavy gauge
steel. In state waters in the Florida Panhandle (62-312.807
F.A.C.), allowable materials under the general permit are limited
to clean concrete materials, rock, or steel boat hulls.
An assessment of material types used in 709
publicly funded Florida artificial reef deployments (all funding
sources) from 1994-2000 showed that secondary use concrete
materials dominate (43%) followed by concrete modules (24%),
military equipment- mainly armored combat tanks (11%), steel
vessels and barges (11%), scrap steel (6%), limestone (3%)
and miscellaneous materials (2%). In the last several years
there has been increasing use of designed modules. Though more
expensive they can be more effectively placed, be designed to
resist major storm events, target specific species or life history
stages, and can serve as standardized units for follow-up
monitoring or research.
Additional Information
For more information on Florida's Artificial Reef
Program, please contact:
Jon Dodrill, Environmental Administrator
Division of Marine Fisheries Management - Artificial Reef
Program
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
620 South Meridian Street, Box 4B2
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1600
phone: (850) 922-4340 x207
fax: (850) 922-0463
e-mail: Jon.Dodrill@myfwc.com
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