Do You Think We Can Start An Artificial Reef?

[Forsaken77]

I think this is the site I was looking at:
http://www.reefmaker.com/artificial-reefs.

They are in Alabama and say that artificial reefs are only legal in the Florida panhandle and Alabama, and you're able to fish it.

 

[sghera64]

I would think the cost of permits & lease of state lands,(Yes here in Florida You need to submit a business plan etc, etc. ) this is just get on a waiting list . It goes on & on. The cost & illegalities are mind boggling.Now fr an artificial reef the issues are much less. There would be no private collecting. then You would not be allowed to plant any corals that are not native. Check out FWC requirements .
Not saying it can't be done. Just it would take a lot of work & $$$.
Even if you do this in Federal waters, any tranport over state waters then state laws apply. I have looked into this . It's very complicated. Just contact TBS they will tell You all they went thru.

So maybe the trick is to turn the problem on itself. Maybe a company does not make this happen. Maybe Florida State does after some swift talking hobbiest convinces them of the ecological and economic (read profit center) benefit: think state park with educational and ecological value. The state could boast of its good deed to oceanic preservation while making a tidy profit AND increasing tourism.

 

[Gareth elliott]

If you look at the pace of the current coral gardens for rebuilding the florida reef. I dont think you could make it large enough to make much of dent in the demand for corals.
The work being done with spawning is promising though both for reef health itself and the hobby.
There is even some genomic work being done involving corals that withstand acidification better than others like porites.

 

[Tradevg]

Natural reefs are dying globally for many reasons, mostly related to climate change. Why would a man made reef ( not a new idea) have a better chance of survival? Fully support trying to revive our oceans. I’m a diver and it sucks to see dying reefs everywhere, broken corals from fins of ignorant vacationers,etc. however I’m completely against trying to creat artificial reefs JUST so it can be used to harvest corals and circumvent preservation laws - this gives nothing back. If you want to give back to the environment, stop buying naturally harvested corals and fish. Don’t need folks blowing up reefs in the Philippines and elsewhere just to decorate aquariums. Buy tank grown corals only. Parting thought, what % of corals and fish taken from the oceans (or purchased online) survive more than a few weeks.. I have no idea but I would guess it’s less than 50%.

 

[Forsaken77]

The biggest problem with doing it in the ocean is you are introducing things from other parts of the world. I think it's far more realistic to essentially make lakes that are turned into reefs.

No, no. You don't put anything in it. Thwy just drop the structure and a reef grows on it. So only native species would be there.

 

[Fishfinder]

@sghera64 very good point. The local group does not own the land, or the reef. Anyone that happens across the spot can visit, dive, fish, or explore it. But the location of the spot is not available locally.

Turning the spot into a sanctuary is an entirely different matter. That is much more difficult and requires research studies. That essentially closes a public access area

 

[NY_Caveman]

No, no. You don't put anything in it. Thwy just drop the structure and a reef grows on it. So only native species would be there.

Got it. This makes your thoughts very clear.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

I'd be in for sure! I've thought about this, but didn't realize there was actually a way to do it! How cool would it be if Reef2Reef could have it's own reef made to give back to the environment!!

 

[Cultivated Reef]

We would support something like this as well. It's far from a solution but it is an interesting start.

 

[CenlaReefer]

Someone else pointed out this website prior. This is a link for how you folks trained in diving can volunteer. There also opportunities for land-base volunteers:

https://www.coralrestoration.org/volunteering

 

[sghera64]

Someone else pointed out this website prior. This is a link for how you folks trained in diving can volunteer. There also opportunities for land-base volunteers:

https://www.coralrestoration.org/volunteering

I did point that out, AND there are many other orgs based out of different countries trying to do similar work. The real issue is biodiversity. The orgs have become very clever and found ways to cost effectively repopulate some species.

But, we’ve seen this movie before with the rapid land development in South and Central America and the erasure of mega kilometers of rain forest. It was estimated that for every square mile of rainforest destroyed, so too was one species of animal - forever (never to be seen again, if were ever saw them in the first place).

Reefs are the aquatic equivalent to a rainforest. Nothing and no space is wasted. With 30% of the GBR toasted in recent years, we have certain lost many species of fish and coral forever. However, it not the first time our planet has endured mass extinction events (or localized mini-extinction events).

Things will recover. They just may be in a little different place and lack a bit of biodiversity. I suppose humans can hasten that process and maybe Mother Nature won’t mind. It’s a big experiment and we will learn much from it: what to do; what to do differently; and what not to do.

 

[Mark Gray]

Following nice idea

 

[ritter6788]

https://www.facebook.com/TexasParksAndWildlifeArtificialReefProgram/