{"id":5460,"date":"2012-01-22T18:23:07","date_gmt":"2012-01-22T23:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=5460"},"modified":"2012-01-22T18:23:07","modified_gmt":"2012-01-22T23:23:07","slug":"10-new-artificial-reefs-coming-to-panama-city-beach-fla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=5460","title":{"rendered":"10 new artificial reefs coming to Panama City Beach, Fla."},"content":{"rendered":"

FELICIA KITZMILLER \/ News Herald Writer<\/a><\/p>\n

PANAMA CITY BEACH \u2014 Bay\u00a0 County has committed to build at least 10 new\u00a0 artificial reefs by the end of the summer and more are in the works.<\/p>\n

At their last meeting, county commissioners voted to accept a $60,000 grant\u00a0 from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to construct 10 new\u00a0 artificial reefs in an area approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about\u00a0 10 nautical miles from the entrance to St. Andrew Bay at a depth of about 88\u00a0 feet, according to a board memo. The reefs will augment an existing reef formed\u00a0 when the remnants of the old DuPont Bridge were sunk in that area.<\/p>\n

Each reef will be composed of four premanufactured concrete and steel pods\u00a0 arranged in grid pattern about 600 feet apart.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll be able to bottom fish, troll and dive. There\u2019ll be room for all of\u00a0 that,\u201d Commissioner Mike Thomas said.<\/p>\n

The grant was awarded as part of an annual, competitive process, said Bill\u00a0 Horn, an environmental specialist in the artificial reef program with the\u00a0 Division of Marine Fisheries Management. This was the first time in several\u00a0 years Bay County had submitted a proposal and was one of about 20 grants that\u00a0 received funding from about 30 applications, Horn said. This year FWC allocated\u00a0 about $700,000 for the construction of artificial reefs.<\/p>\n

A large majority of the submerged land on the continental shelf is sandy and\u00a0 not an ideal breeding ground for popular recreational fish including red\u00a0 snapper, grouper and amberjack, Hunt said. The reefs provide the hard surface\u00a0 necessary for habitat and reproduction.<\/p>\n

Improving recreational fishing opportunities is one of the few things that\u00a0 can be done to improve Bay County for tourists and locals alike, Thomas said.\u00a0 Fishing is an economic force in Bay County that brings in visitors, but is also\u00a0 a favorite pastime of locals, including Thomas himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up fishing and hunting and stuff here and now that the rules have\u00a0 changed so much it\u2019s hard to enjoy,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s absolutely impossible to\u00a0 know what the rules are going to be. \u2026 Every person who has grown up in Bay\u00a0\u00a0 County fishing has been disappointed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Varying regulations make planning long-term fishing trips difficult, so\u00a0 Thomas said he is committed to expanding local fishing opportunities that people\u00a0 can seize upon quickly, making enjoying the Gulf more convenient for\u00a0 everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is too good of a place to live for people not to enjoy it year round,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Bay\u00a0 County is also in the permitting process for two near-shore reefs, one\u00a0 off of each pier about three miles from shore. The Department of Environmental\u00a0 Protection has approved both sites and they are currently being reviewed by the\u00a0 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has issued a notice of intent to issue a\u00a0 permit, assistant county manager Dan Shaw said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a slow process, but we\u2019re getting over the hurdles that we need to and\u00a0 we\u2019re getting there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Bay\u00a0 County is also seeking money through BP for the construction of five\u00a0 additional sites, he said.<\/p>\n

Read more:\u00a0 http:\/\/www.newsherald.com\/articles\/new-99514-panama-artificial.html#ixzz1kET6JmOO<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FELICIA KITZMILLER \/ News Herald Writer
\nPANAMA CITY BEACH \u2014 Bay\u00a0 County has committed to build at least 10 new\u00a0 artificial reefs by the end of the summer and more are in the works.
\nAt their last meeting, county commissioners voted to accept a $60,000 grant\u00a0 from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to construct 10 new\u00a0 artificial reefs in an area approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about\u00a0 10 nautical miles from the entrance to St. Andrew Bay at a depth of about 88\u00a0 feet, according to a board memo. The reefs will augment an existing reef formed\u00a0 when the remnants of the old DuPont Bridge were sunk in that area.
\nEach reef will be composed of four premanufactured concrete and steel pods\u00a0 arranged in grid pattern about 600 feet apart.
\n\u201cYou\u2019ll be able to bottom fish, troll and dive. There\u2019ll be room for all of\u00a0 that,\u201d Commissioner Mike Thomas said.
\nThe …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,23,11,32,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artificial-reefs","category-events","category-reefs","category-reference","category-report"],"yoast_head":"\n10 new artificial reefs coming to Panama City Beach, Fla. - Divetalking<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Divetalking\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=5460\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"10 new artificial reefs coming to Panama City Beach, Fla.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Divetalking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=5460\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Divetalking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Divetalking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-01-22T23:23:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=5460#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=5460\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/02d5721103fd9d171fcc8cfb74d80947\"},\"headline\":\"10 new artificial reefs coming to Panama City Beach, Fla.\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-01-22T23:23:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=5460\"},\"wordCount\":536,\"articleSection\":[\"Artificial Reefs\",\"Events\",\"Reefs\",\"Reference\",\"Report\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=5460\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=5460\",\"name\":\"10 new artificial reefs coming to Panama City Beach, Fla. - 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