Conservation Efforts to Combat Coral Erosion

Replenishing underwater structure benefits everyone

Oyster bars, mangrove islands, grass flats and grass shorelines, good ole wet-terra firma, nothing impacts the future of our inshore fisheries more than nature's natural filters, shoreline protectors and oxygen producers. And possibly even more important, to some of you, than snook, reds and trout, are the questions we share relating to our own future quality of life, especially in the lower third of the state.

With experts predicting increased coastal erosion and flooding on the horizon, there are some things we can do to begin slowing the effects of climate change, which is needed. But, in the short term there are things we can be doing right now, today, which will improve our fisheries and not coincidently will help mitigate the effects of sea level rise.

And how are we going to do that? Create more earth, in the right places. This month much of the world is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day. What better month to get started planting and growing our state into a better place?

All over Florida there are organizations actively working to restore and improve our waterways, hence our fisheries. They go hand in hand. Do our fishery, our state, our planet a favor and look into how you can become a change agent, someone looking to make a difference.

Tampa Bay Watch: Oyster reef ball construction: 10 to 20 hard-working volunteers to help build oyster reef balls. The project involves pouring marine-friendly concrete into a fiberglass mold to create oyster reef balls. Oyster communities help stabilize shorelines, provide hard bottom habitats for fish and wildlife resources, and promote water quality improvements in the Tampa Bay ecosystem. Here are the scheduled dates: April 2, 7, 13, 21, 27, 29 from 9 a.m. to noon on each date. www.tampabaywatch.org

Marine Resources Council: Melbourne-based MRC looks to plant up to 2,000 mangrove plants in 2020. This volunteer team typically meets the first Saturday of each month down at the MRC Greenway in Vero Beach or you can do this at home via their foster mangrove program. You can take home five mangrove seedlings and grow them in your windowsill or, like a few have done, replace your backyard grass with a mangrove grow-out facility. It'll take about three years to get a three-foot high, plantable mangrove tree. www.savetheirl.org/

Florida Oceanographic Society: Bring your mask and snorkel and help FOS document short and long-term trends in seagrass health and determine how those trends are attributable to changes in environmental conditions. April 1, 2020 from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Rosemary Badger, Volunteer Coordinator. www.floridaocean.org

The Florida Living Shorelines: A shoreline management practice that protects, restores, or enhances natural shoreline habitat. Most projects are quite expansive and involve large public and non-profit corporations, but you can soften or enhance a shoreline on your own. One example of someone not waiting for a project, started one on his own: Dean Travis Clarke, Jensen Beach, convinced his landlord, and neighbors on both sides, to take on the project of planting spartina grass along their combined 900 feet of Indian River waterfront. http://floridalivingshorelines.com/ FS

Published Florida Sportsman Magazine August 2020

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