FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Dec. 18, 2015
ADDITION OF NORTHERN REEF TRACT IN 'COAST PILOT' INCREASES PROTECTION OF CORAL REEFS
~Hard-to-see reef locations identified to help reduce harm by boaters~
MIAMI – The Florida Department of Environmental
Protection’s (DEP) Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) announces expanded
outreach efforts to further protect Florida’s valuable reef tract. The northern
portion of the Florida Reef Tract, from the northern boundary of Biscayne
National park to St. Lucie Inlet, will be included in the National Ocean and
Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) publication, “Coast Pilot.” The “Coast
Pilot” is a series of books that addresses information for navigators that is
difficult to show on the NOAA charts. Most boaters are familiar with reefs in
the Florida Keys, but the northern portion of the reef tract is often
overlooked, and boaters can unknowingly cause reef damage by anchoring or vessel groundings.
“We are very excited about this important information being
included in the ‘Coast Pilot’,” said Kevin Claridge, director of DEP’s
Florida’s Coastal Office. “Due to the low-relief nature of the coral reefs in
the northern portion of the Florida Reef Tract, boaters have a hard time seeing
the reefs on sonar and many don’t even know these reefs exist. This is an
important step in protecting our reefs.”
Prior to this update, there was no mention in the “Coast
Pilot” of the coral reefs north of Biscayne National Park. CRCP’s Reef Injury
Prevention and Response Program has been working with NOAA’s Office of Coast
Survey for the past year to incorporate information and reef locations into the
publication. Florida’s reefs are protected by the Florida Coral Reef
Protection Act, which makes it illegal to damage coral reefs in state waters.
The “Coast Pilot” will also link to CRCP’s website with information about this
law and ways to avoid damaging the reefs.
“We are always working to increase our outreach efforts and
build awareness of southeast Florida’s reefs and Florida’s Coral Reef
Protection Act,” said Joanna Walczak, southeast regional administrator for
DEP’s Florida Coastal Office. “With more than six million people living just
offshore of these reefs and more than 38 million visitors annually, we’ve got an
important job. This is a big step forward in educating our large population of
local and international boaters. The next step will be to work with NOAA to
update the navigational charts to include additional coral notations.”
Information was provided through mapping research conducted
during the past 10 years by Nova Southeastern University and funded by CRCP.
For more information on the "Coast Pilot" publication, please click here and for more information on the Coral Reef Protection Act, please click here. Information on the northern portion of the Florida Reef Tract can be found in Coast Pilot 4, Chapter 3, Section 114 (Edition 47, 2015).
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