18 West Palm Beach Fishing Club annual contest standings conservation efforts Club Launches 'Reef Dart' Initiative MISSION: The mission of the Reef Dart program is to develop fish habitat and new fishing reefs that have notable vertical profile using utility poles. Ideally surplus poles that can be re-purposed for this effort would be used, preventing the need to take them to a landfill or grind them up. Some municipalities and utility companies have already expressed an interest in donating this material to the PBCFF for the Reef Dart initiative. CONCEPT: New or surplus prestressed concrete poles, ranging in lengths from 20 to 35 feet, will be modified in a man- ner that when deployed enables them to come to rest in a vertical orientation on the sea floor. The Reef Darts will create high profile marine fish habitat where none currently exists. Reef Dart prototypes were launched last fall with notable success in 106' feet of water east of Singer Island. These experimental Reef Darts have demonstrated that the concept is vi- able and has given us a great deal of encouragement. Additional refine- ments are being made based upon what we have learned from our initial deployment. The PBCFF plans to deploy another batch of Reef Darts this summer. Ultimately the goal is to deploy Reef Darts in 400+ feet of water where additional benthic habi- tat is critically needed. However, we believe Reef Darts are likely to prove very functional in a variety of water depths for baitfish, a wide range of reef species and even pelagic game fish like tuna and sailfish. NEED: Finding suitable material, such as old ships or oil rigs, for the creation of artificial reefs has become increas- ingly unreliable, challenging and costly. Many artificial reef projects using these structures cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, with some reefs exceeding one-million dollars to build. The availability of large scale reefing materials is limited and requires tremendous logistical coordination with regard to acquisi- tion, transportation, cleaning and deployment. While the PBCFF remains very supportive of creating reefs with ships or similar large scale material, we believe there is an opportunity to build reefs using surplus power poles that are deployed on a more regular basis. The PBCFF’s Reef Dart program could further enhance the county’s artificial reef program. ECOLOGICAL FUNCTION: Due to a variety of factors, marine fish species are under more pressure than ever before. The abundance of bottom fish in particular, such as grey grouper, snowy grouper, Warsaw grouper, speckled hind, greater amberjack, and many others have declined. The creation of high profile artificial reefs, especially in deep water areas would pro- vide much needed benthic habitat for these commercially and recreationally important species and may provide new spawning aggregation sites that could help rebuild fish stocks. The sites may also help colonize fragile species of coral like Oc- culina and other invertebrates. The eddies and current upwell- ing created by the reef would likely attract baitfish and in turn pelagic species like sailfish, dol- phin, wahoo and tuna. CONSERVATION BENEFITS: Creating deep water (400+ feet) high profile reefs with the complexity of the Reef Dart concept will create de facto marine refuges for bottom fish. The Gulfstream current and depth will prohibit divers from accessing the reefs, and most bottom fishing would be limited to ‘no current’ days. Reef Darts deployed in shallower depths would likely become baitfish hot spots, reducing pressure on existing baitfish sites. Additionally, using repurposed concrete poles from the power and utility industry will save on the need to dispose of the material in landfills and would likely reduce their disposal costs. Another conservation benefit is that Reef Darts could provide ‘habitat connectivity’ between existing and future reef sites. Since Reef Darts are constructed from concrete they will provide long-term ecological function. “The Reef Dart initiative is a continuation of the West Palm Beach Fishing Club’s very long history of artificial reef development and experimentation” – John Jolley, WPBFC Scientific Advisor The WPBFC, through its charitable affiliate, the Palm Beach County Fishing Foundation (PBCFF), has em- barked on a new artificial reef building effort that is unlike anything ever done before. The unique looking units that are the centerpiece of the project are called Reef Darts… Oct. 2017