Call to Action: Build It, They Will Come

If you’re looking to improve fishing off your home port, there’s no faster way than deploying an artificial reef. However, if you don’t live in Escambia, Bay or Okaloosa counties, where you can deploy your own private artificial reef, you won’t be able to go at it alone. Fortunately for you, 
if you’re on the coast, your county most likely already has an artificial reef program.

But, in reality, you already support the state’s artificial reef program via the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Sport Fish Restoration Program and Florida’s saltwater fishing license revenues and excise taxes on tackle sales. With funds you contribute toward, Florida has approximately $300,000 
available each year to spend on approved artificial reef sites. To date, Florida has distributed more than $26 million for artificial reef related activities.

But, back to how you can improve fishing off your home port today. Since the vast majority of you can’t apply for a new reef permit on your own, you’ll need your city or county to apply for the reef permit. And with local governments most likely dealing with staffing and/or funding issues, it’ll be hard to get their attention on your own, but not impossible.

The best approach, however, especially if you’re interested in helping get a reef deployed sooner rather than later, is to support an organization already working to deploy artificial reefs in your home waters.

A few of the organizations currently working on deploying reefs are: the West Palm Beach Fishing Club (WPBFC), Martin County Anglers Club (MCAC) Reef Fund and the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA). The West Palm Beach Fishing Club started Palm Beach County’s artificial reef building efforts back in the 1960s. The MCAC Reef Fund has sunk approximately 20 reefs since 2003. And CCA Florida has been involved in a total of 47 artificial reefs since 2010.

Tom Twyford, President of the WPBFC, told me even with a very successful history of reef deployments, the cost to secure, transport, clean and permit a ship has become nearly prohibitive. So he began looking for alternatives. “I developed the Reef Dart concept out of frustration from the lack of ships and a need to come up with a design that would have a high vertical relief,” Twyford said.

WPBFC has deployed 181 Reef Darts thus far offshore Palm Beach County. And if Dave Powell, VP of MCAC Reef Fund has anything to do with it, he’ll have a forest of 25- to 50-foot 10 ton darts off Martin and St. Lucie counties in the near future. “With the average cost of sinking a ship ranging from $50,000 to $150,000, and the time to secure and sink a ship taking between eight to 12 months, not including the permitting process, we’re seriously looking at utilizing Reef Darts moving forward,” Powell said. “They’re consistent to build, deploy and to fund.”

I also think the Reef Dart concept makes a ton of sense, pun intended. However, even with simple construction material needed, securing contractors to build the poles and land to stage the building sites is hard to come by.

So, how do we get a sea urchin of darts off your home waters? Bring the concept up to your county artificial reef coordinator. Or possibly better yet, if you have a fishing club or organization in your area, suggest it to them. Twyford told me that he’d happily share information on how to successfully build and deploy them.

Like Kevin Costner did with a baseball field, you can do it with a field of tall concrete poles.

Build it, and they, the fish, will come.

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Call to Action

Contact your county administration office and ask to speak with the person in charge of the artificial reef program. Tell them you’re interested in speaking to the individual or groups involved in furthering the artificial reef program in your county.

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• This article was featured in the July 2024 issue of Florida Sportsman magazine. Click to subscribe.

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