2020 Florida Artificial Reef Summit: “Bringing the Future of Florida’s Artificial Reefs into Focus.”Melbourne Beach, FL: April 8-10, 2020.
The 2020 Florida Artificial Reef Summit Schedule-at-a-Glance is now available on the Summit webpage: 2020 Florida Artificial Reef Summit.
The hotel block is almost full, so if you have not made your room reservation – do so now!
Book before March 5 to receive the group rate at the Crowne Plaza Melbourne Oceanfront (group code is ARS). They only have rooms with King beds available, but if you need a room with more than one bed, please proceed with reserving a King bed room under the group rate and then contact Angela Collins (abcollins@ufl.edu) or Keith Mille (keith.mille@myfwc.com). They will work with the hotel to change your reservation to a room with two queen beds.
Regular Summit Registration is open through March 6, so there is still time to register for the conference at the regular registration rate: FLARS2020 Registration.
Keynote address: We are honored to share with you that Dr. Bill Lindberg will be delivering the 2020 Summit’s Keynote Address! Dr. Lindberg is emeritus faculty from the University of Florida’s Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, where he spent almost forty years on research that addressed behavioral processes contributing to population and community dynamics, the assessment of reef fisheries habitat and the application of artificial reefs in fisheries management.
Special Session, Hindsight is 2020: We are also excited to share with you that two of Florida’s artificial reef icons, Dr. Heyward Mathews and Dr. Jim Bohnsack, will be presenting on the history, science and continued development of artificial reefs in Florida. This session, “Hindsight is 2020”, will focus on the value of experience and historical perspectives developed over decades of research and immersion in the field.
We have a stellar line-up of invited and contributed oral presentations, and over 2 dozen poster and tabletop displays. The theme of this year’s Summit is “Bringing the Future of Florida’s Artificial Reefs in to Focus,” which highlights perspectives from the past, current research initiatives and vision for future planning and implementation of artificial reefs in Florida. Presentations will address today’s most relevant topics, including marine fisheries management, impacts of natural disturbances, environmental mitigation, monitoring, socio-economics, tourism, and regulatory policy.
Thank you to all of our fabulous sponsors! We are still accepting sponsors to contribute towards enhancing the quality of the scheduled breaks, lunch and networking sessions. Check out the sponsor levels and associated perks: FLARS2020 Sponsors
Looking forward to seeing you all April 8 – 10 in Melbourne as we Bring the Future of Florida’s Artificial Reefs into Focus!
Please feel free to contact any of the FLARS2020 Steering Committee members with questions or concerns:
Keith Mille, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Angela Collins, UF/IFAS Extension & Florida Sea Grant
Victor Blanco, UF/IFAS Extension & Florida Sea Grant
Ed Camp, University of Florida, Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Program
James Gray, Sebastian Inlet District, Indiatlantic, FL
Brittany Hall-Scharf, UF/IFAS Extension & Florida Sea Grant
Lesli Haynes, Lee County, Ft Myers, FL
Scott Jackson, UF/IFAS Extension & Florida Sea Grant
Sean Keenan, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Robert Turpin, Escambia County, Pensacola, FL
Ana Zangroniz, UF/IFAS Extension & Florida Sea Grant
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 FWC Call for Florida Artificial Reef Grant Applications FY 20-21: Due Friday, March 20, 2020
FWC artificial reef construction and monitoring grant applications are currently being accepted for fiscal year 2020-21.
Applications from eligible applicants must be received no later than Friday, March 20, 2020 by 5pm (ET). Applications for artificial reef construction must be accompanied by documentation of an active permitted site valid through August 31, 2021.
As always, we strongly encourage all applicants to share a draft application with us at least two weeks prior to final submittal. This would give us an opportunity to help identify any questions, 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/
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Recent Artificial Reef Publications and Reports
Switzer, T., A. Tyley-Jedlund, S. Keenan, and E. Weather. 2020. Benthic Habitats, as Derived from Classification of Side‐Scan‐Sonar Mapping Data, Are Important Determinants of Reef‐Fish Assemblage Structure in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. https://doi.org/10.1002/mcf2.
Increasingly restrictive management regulations have greatly reduced the utility of fishery‐dependent data for characterizing temporal changes in the abundance of managed fish populations, so fishery‐independent data are becoming more important for the accurate assessment of stock status. A notable downside to fishery‐independent data is the high cost of conducting surveys, and efforts to maximize survey efficiency are critical given ongoing reductions in agency funding. We conducted a pilot study to explore the utility of classifying side‐scan‐sonar mapping data to provide a practical a priori characterization of reef habitat in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. An analysis of side‐scan‐sonar mapping data identified five distinct reef habitat types (low‐relief hard bottom, mixed hard bottom, fragmented hard bottom, ledges, and potholes) that were subsequently sampled with stereo baited remote underwater video (S‐BRUV) arrays and trap‐mounted GoPro cameras. The permutational analysis of variance indicated that the assemblage structure of reef fish differed significantly (P < 0.01) among all of the pairs of habitats except ledges and fragmented hard bottom; assemblage structure did not differ among cameras (P = 0.45). Overall species richness and diversity were significantly higher in the habitats with greater vertical relief, as were the abundances of several economically and ecologically important reef fishes, although many taxa were observed across all of the habitat types. Benthic habitats that are identified from side‐scan‐sonar mapping data are important determinants of reef‐fish assemblage structure and may prove to be useful as a stratification scheme for reef‐fish surveys, although additional research is necessary to explore the transferability of these results to the rest of the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
Harris, H., A. Fogg, M. Allen, R. Ahrens and W. Patterson. 2020. Precipitous Declines in Northern
Gulf of Mexico Invasive Lionfish Populations Following the Emergence of an Ulcerative Skin Disease. https://doi.org/10.1038/
Invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish Pterois volitans/miles have become well-established in many western Atlantic marine habitats and regions. However, high densities and low genetic diversity could make their populations susceptible to disease. We examined changes in northern Gulf of Mexico (nGOM) lionfish populations following the emergence of an ulcerative skin disease in August 2017, when estimated disease prevalence was as high as 40%. Ulcerated female lionfish had 9% lower relative condition compared to non-ulcerated females. Changes in lionfish size composition indicated a potential recruitment failure in early summer 2018, when the proportion of new recruits declined by >80%. Remotely operated vehicle surveys during 2016–2018 indicated lionfish population density declined in 2018 by 75% on natural reefs. The strongest declines (77–79%) in lionfish density were on high-density (>25 lionfish per 100 m2) artificial reefs, which declined to similar levels as low-density (<15 100="" 2018.="" 50="" also="" and="" approximately="" artificial="" biological="" catch="" collectively="" commercial="" control="" correlative="" cpue="" declined="" density-dependent="" effort="" epizootic="" evidence="" fisheries-dependent="" for="" had="" have="" impacted="" implications="" improve="" in="" indicated="" invasions.="" landings="" lionfish="" m2="" managing="" native="" of="" our="" p="" per="" population="" prior="" provide="" reefs="" removals.="" results="" sampling="" spearfishing="" species="" that="" these="" tournament="" understanding="" unit="">
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Koenig, C., F. Coleman, C. Malinowski. 2020. Atlantic Goliath Grouper of Florida: To Fish or Not to Fish. https://doi.org/10.1002/fsh.
The Atlantic Goliath Grouper Epinephelus itajara, a large indigenous tropical reef fish, approached local extinction in U. S. waters by the 1980s as a result of intense fishing pressure. In 1990, federal and state laws intervened to protect this species. The resulting fishery closure, over the intervening years, allowed limited, slow population recovery in Florida waters while populations outside of the United States remained vulnerable (IUCN 2019). The closure led to the blossoming of a dive ecotourism industry catering to local and international divers seeking opportunities to see and photograph these enormous fish. This fundamentally changes the paradigm for Goliath Grouper from a fishery resource to a non-extractive resource with a commercial value vastly greater than that gained through fishing. While federal and state agencies attempted to re-establish the fishery, all three stock assessments were rejected. Here, we discuss Goliath Grouper’s biology, the controversy surrounding its protection, and the drawbacks of re-establishing a fishery including: loss of nursery habitat, increasingly destructive episodic events like red tide and cold snaps, and the effects of mercury contamination on survival. Add to this the human health risk of consuming mercury-contaminated fishes, and the argument supporting re-opening the fishery evaporates.
Regards,
Keith Mille, Biological Administrator II
Division of Marine Fisheries Management - Artificial Reef Program
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
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