Coral Reef Conservation Program Update
By Chantal Collier
Manager, Coral Reef Conservation Program
The Coral Reef Protection Act will raise awareness of, and help minimize, the damages associated with vessel groundings and anchoring on Florida's coral reefs. Photo: Jerry Metz
In the last edition of Southeast Florida Reef News, you heard about new legislation that was introduced in, and passed both houses of, the Florida Legislature in May 2009 to create a Coral Reef Protection Act.The act, which went into effect on July 1, 2009, increases the protection of Florida’s endangered coral reefs by helping raise awareness of the damages associated with vessel groundings and anchoring on coral reefs. It also authorizes penalties for the destruction of reef resources and provides for efficient repair and mitigation of reef injuries.
As readers of the Southeast Florida Reef News, in addition to the intrinsic value of coral reefs, you know the value of the Florida Reef Tract to the state’s economy. Fishing, diving and other boating-related activities on Florida’s coral reefs generate $6.3 billion dollars in sales and income for Florida’s citizens and sustain more than 71,000 jobs annually. Through the Coral Reef Protection Act, the Florida Legislature recognized Florida’s coral reefs as an extraordinary biological, geological and economic resource, and acknowledged the importance of protecting these vulnerable resources by enacting monetary damage restitution to the state for injuries to the Florida Reef Tract. The new law will ...
Maritime Industry and Coastal Construction Impacts (MICCI) Update
By Joanna Walczak
Assistant Manager, Coral Reef Conservation Program/MICCI Project Coordinator
The new MICCI-FDOU project
will create recommendations
to standardize biological and
physical monitoring for coastal
construction projects. Photo: Dave Gilliam, Ph.D.
Meeting Held to Jump-Start Standardization of Coastal Construction Project Monitoring
On July 16, Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) Coral Reef Conservation Program staff led the kick-off meeting for a new MICCI-FDOU Combined Project: Coastal Project Monitoring and Evaluation at the Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center (NSUOC). This project will apply information derived from a literature review of coastal construction monitoring protocols, past permitted project monitoring plans and reports, and interviews with local, state, and federal permitting agency staff to develop recommendations for statistically robust standardized monitoring protocols for permitted projects that may impact coral reef resources. The project team met with contractors Dr. Alison Moulding of the National Coral Reef Institute at NSUOC and Cheryl Miller of Coastal-Eco Group, Inc. to discuss the extent of the data to be collected, identification of agency contacts for data mining of pre-, during- ...
You can view the schedule for meetings, workshops, meeting summaries and more for
the Southeast Florida Coral Reef Initiative and the Florida Department of Environmental
Protection's Coral Reef Conservation Program online.
Click here
Florida Dept of Environmental
Protection
Coral Reef Conservation Program
1277 NE 79th Street Causeway
Miami, FL 33138
E-mail: coral@dep.state.fl.us
Phone: 305-795-1233
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