Florida artificial reef news, notes and reminders

Hello Florida Artificial Reef colleagues,

Please see below for Florida’s latest artificial reef news, notes and reminders:

• Register for next week’s 2019 Lionfish and Artificial Reef Workshop in Northwest Florida: Feb 19-20, 2019 (note, remote participation will also be available via Facebook Live during the workshop)
• 2020 State-wide Florida Artificial Reef Summit: Request for input to guide planning
• Call for Florida Artificial Reef Grant Applications for FY 19-20: Due March 29, 2019
• Save-the-Date:  Southwest FL Artificial Reef Workshop, Palmetto, FL: May 15, 2019
• Welcome two New Artificial Reef Program Fishery Biologists: Jeff Renchen and Devin Resko
• Recent Artificial Reef Publications and Reports

---

2019 Lionfish and Artificial Reef Workshop in Northwest Florida: Feb 19-20, 2019

Emerald Coast Convention Center, Fort Walton Beach, FL

This two-day workshop, being held at the Emerald Coast Convention Center in Fort Walton Beach, FL, will focus on lionfish during day one and artificial reefs on day two.

The agenda for the lionfish presentations during the first day will highlight recent research and updates on the status of lionfish in the Florida Panhandle.  The artificial reef workshop on the second day will bring together about fifty artificial reef managers, scientists and others interested in artificial reefs to discuss new research, statewide initiatives and regional updates for Florida’s Northwest region.

Registration options are for one, or both days and trade show space is available for those interested in display booth space. To view the agenda and register for the workshop, please visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2019-lionfish-and-artificial-reef-workshop-in-northwest-florida-tickets-54012951191. 

For those wishing to participate remotely, the workshop will also be broadcast live via Florida Sea Grant’s “Florida Artificial Reefs” Facebook during the workshop (https://www.facebook.com/floridaartificialreefs/).

---

2020 State-wide Florida Artificial Reef Summit – request for input to guide planning

We are in the early planning stages towards the next state-wide Florida Artificial Reef Summit, which we anticipate being held in the Orlando/Melbourne area during February or March 2020. 

To help the steering committee with their planning efforts, we would appreciate if each of you could take a few minutes to complete this short survey.  The survey is expected to take approximately 3 minutes to complete: https://ufl.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_do27isJoxhrpVfT

Please complete the survey by March 6, 2019.

For more information about the Florida’s Statewide Artificial Reef Summits (planned every 4-6 years), and to view the archived 2010 and 2015 programs, please visit the Florida Artificial Reef Summit web page: https://www.flseagrant.org/fisheries/artificialreefs/summit/

---

FWC Call for Florida Artificial Reef Grant Applications FY 19-20: Due Friday, March 29, 2019

FWC artificial reef construction and monitoring grant applications are currently being accepted for fiscal year 2019-20. 

The forms are an Adobe .pdf document with text fields that can be typed and printed from your computer.  For those of you with Adobe Writer, you will be able to save your text entries (for those with Adobe Reader your entries will not be saved, but you can still conveniently type and print your text entries from the form). 

Applications from eligible applicants must be received no later than Friday March 29, 2019, by 5 p.m.  Applications for artificial reef construction must be accompanied by documentation of an active permitted site valid through Aug. 31, 2020.

As always, we strongly encourage all applicants to share a draft application proposal with us prior to final submittal.  This would give us an opportunity to help identify any questions, any missing items in the application, or provide assistance with any anticipated permitting challenges or other questions. 

The announcement, application forms and instructions can be downloaded from the FWC Artificial Reef Program website: http://myfwc.com/artificialreefs

---

Save-the-Date:  Southwest FL Artificial Reef Workshop, Palmetto, FL: May 15, 2019

Please save the date for the Southwest Florida Artificial Reef Manager’s Workshop. This meeting will bring together about fifty artificial reef managers, scientists and others interested in artificial reefs to discuss new research, statewide initiatives and regional updates for Florida’s Southwest region. This one-day workshop will be held at the Manatee County Extension Office in Palmetto, FL.  Stay tuned for registration information and the draft agenda.

For more information, please contact Angela Collins, abcollins@ufl.edu or (941) 722-4524 ext. 1826.

---

Welcome two New FWC Artificial Reef Program Fishery Biologists: Jeff Renchen and Devin Resko

For those who have not already met our newest FWC Artificial Reef Program biologists, please welcome Jeff Renchen and Devin Resko who joined the FWC artificial reef team in Tallahassee, FL last May and June, respectively.

Jeff Renchen comes to us by way of the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, South Florida Regional Lab in Marathon.  During his five years with the Marathon Lab, Jeff worked on a number of reef fish research projects, including managing the Reef Visual Census program monitoring reef fish populations throughout the Florida Keys. Jeff has been a key contributor providing data analysis and developing explanations of the results for FWC presentations at workshops and Commission meetings, such as the recent management update on the Dry Tortugas National Park Research Natural Area. Jeff is an experienced AAUS technical SCUBA diver, with over 1,000 logged science dives from shallow water to depths of 150 ft. off Florida and the Caribbean. 

Jeff is originally from Fort Thomas, Kentucky, earned his B.S. in Marine Science from Coastal Carolina University in 2009, and M.S. in Marine and Environmental Science from the University of the Virgin Islands in 2012.

Jeff’s work with the FWC Artificial Reef Program includes managing state and federally funded artificial reef construction and monitoring grants, providing technical assistance to Florida’s coastal counties on artificial reef planning and development, incorporating current science and fisheries management objectives as a component of artificial reef planning, conducting dive assessments, tracking artificial reef deployments, and other artificial reef related duties.  

Devin Resko comes to us by way of the University of Guam Marine Laboratory where he completed his masters assessing differences in targeted fish species between MPAs and non-restricted waters on Guam. Devin's background also includes Florida marine fish and habitat, in the St. Johns River and nearshore hardbottom of Palm Beach County during his undergraduate studies. Devin is an avid AAUS scientific diver, with over 230 dives in Guam, Florida and throughout the Indo-Pacific. 

Devin is originally from Wichita, KS, earned his B.S. in Marine Science and Geography from Jacksonville University in 2014, and M.S. in Biology from the University of Guam in December 2017. 

Devin’s work with the FWC Artificial Reef Program includes managing artificial reef construction grant agreements and conducting monitoring and assessment of the NRDA artificial reefs under construction off northwest Florida.

We look forward to continuing to introduce Jeff and Devin to everyone, and to their future contributions towards Florida’s Artificial Reef planning, development and management.

Jeff Renchen can be reached by office phone 850-617-9634 and email Jeffrey.renchen@myfwc.com.  

Devin Resko can be reached by phone 850-688-6536 and email Devin.Resko@myfwc.com.

 

---

Recent Artificial Reef Publications and Reports

Stephen A. Bortone, editor (2018) Marine Artificial Reef Research and Development: Integrating Fisheries Management Objectives. American Fisheries Society Symposium 86, 321 pages, ISBN: 978-1-934874-51-6 (https://fisheries.org/bookstore/all-titles/afs-symposia/54086p/). 

Over the past 40 years, marine artificial reef researchers have explored a variety of key questions about the ecology and function of man-made marine habitat. While artificial reefs have long been presumed to offer an alternative management option to resource managers, in practice artificial reefs are often not formally incorporated into fishery management plans.

This volume addresses many of these issues with papers based chiefly on presentations given at a symposium held at the American Fisheries Society annual meeting in Tampa, Florida,  and the 11th CARAH (Conference on Artificial Reefs and Related Habitats) held in Terengganu, Malaysia, both held in 2017.

This topical work presents research results that address the incorporation of artificial reefs into fishery management strategies.  The book will be invaluable to natural resource researchers and managers.

To view the table of contents, order a copy of individual chapters or the entire the book, please visit the AFS website: (https://fisheries.org/bookstore/all-titles/afs-symposia/54086p/). 

Regards,

Keith Mille, Biological Administrator II

FWC Division of Marine Fisheries Management - Artificial Reef Program

Email: keith.mille@myfwc.com