PRESS
RELEASE: July 24, 2015
DEP’S FLORIDA COASTAL OFFICE PARTNERS TO REMOVE MARINE DEBRIS
~Multi-agency partnership leads to the removal of large derelict boat lift~
Barge with a crane removing the derelict boat lift.
KEY LARGO, Fla. – Florida Coastal Management
Program’s newly created marine debris rapid response team enjoyed a big success
with the recent removal of a derelict boat lift from Florida Keys National
Marine Sanctuary waters. The 35-foot-long lift was impacting marine resources since settling on a seagrass bed just south of John Pennekamp Coral Reef
Sate Park in Key Largo. A barge with a crane was used to remove the derelict
boat lift to avoid further damage to the seagrass bed and nearby coral reef
habitat. It was properly disposed of in an upland disposal site.
“Seagrass communities are vital to the health of Florida’s
waters and support many of the area’s economically important commercial and recreational
fisheries,” said Karen Bohnsack, the Florida Coastal Office’s reef resilience
coordinator. “Marine debris removals like this one contribute to bettering
Florida’s water quality and maintaining economic opportunities in the local
area.”
Florida Coastal Office’s Florida Coastal Management Program
(FCMP) spearheaded the creation of Florida’s first statewide marine debris
rapid response team. FCMP funds the emergency removal of marine debris in order
to minimize human and environmental safety concerns. The Florida Department of
Environmental Protection’s Florida Coastal Office partnered with Miami-Dade,
Broward and Palm Beach counties, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, the Florida Fish
and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the National Park Service and the
U.S. Coast Guard to form the initial marine debris rapid response team. The
flagship team is located in Southeast Florida, but the program concept allows
for the creation of additional regionally focused teams.
“The marine debris rapid response team was created to address
debris posing an immediate threat to marine habitats or wildlife not
covered by other programs,” said Erin McDevitt, FWC’s marine habitat biologist.
“This new program allows resource managers to quickly develop and implement an
emergency debris removal plan for the protection of the public and
environment.”
The Florida Coastal Management Program is based on a network of
agencies that protect and enhance the state's natural, cultural and economic
coastal resources through funding from NOAA. For more information about this
program, please click here.
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