Richard Artificial Reefs

Joe Nolin Earlier this year at the
Artificial Reef Seminar I attended

I continued my research this week and realized that placing artificial reefs is an engineering feat that requires much time and collaboration. As part of our local history, a few members of the Halifax Sport Fishing Club were interested in keeping our Volusia coastline beautiful, they petitioned the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (U.S.A.C.E.) to step in and oversee local regulations. It should be noted that the Halifax Fishing Club and the Volusia County Research Team have a common interest in keeping our ocean beautiful and work together by helping each other with their events on a regular basis. The major undertaking that is going on now is updating the chart locations of area reefs. (I hope they remember Latitude 1st than Longitude! LOL!) The problem before these regulations were in place was unknowledgeable anglers would dump all kinds of debris in order to create a secret fishing spot in our ocean. One of the dangers of these practices is that during a violent storm these debris would dislodge and create havoc with vessels and the shoreline. This practice is still going on unfortunately, but heavy fines are now in place. All artificial reefs need to be permitted and charted. The artificial reefs off our coastline are in federal waters. Future projects to deploy artificial reefs closer to shore are in the planning stages. Some of the major obstacles  being discussed are erosion, sea turtles and the effect on the shrimping industry. When placing an artificial reef it needs to be placed in an area free of any other natural reefs. The theory behind this is we don’t want to simply move species from one location to another. Several other factors are researched before placing a reef.

This is where the Volusia Research Team comes into play along with the Port Authority management headed up by Joe Nolin. Joe receives hundreds of request for artificial reef deployments that need to be permitted. Artificial Reefs are regulated by local governments but must be approved by (U.S.A.C.E). Funding for these projects come from a small percentage of the tax on tackle. Secondly, Joe has to survey commercial fisheries and tourism dollars to see if there is any positive impact.  If you look at your property tax bill Ponce Inlet/ Port Authority has a separate entry. A request is put in for part of that money, but it is not always approved. The biggest contributor is from private citizens and contractors donating their time, equipment and boats. Fishing tournaments are also used as fund raisers for various deployments.

Juvenile Cocoa Damsel
 (note blue dot near fin)

Squirrel Fish

After Placing a reef it is very important to track what species are inhabiting the reef. This is a picture of a squirrel fish (right) which is very unique to be found near an artificial reef.

Lion Fish invading our reefs!

Pictures are courtesy of the Volusia County Reef Team.